music of the year, 2025 edition addendum

intro

I love end of year lists for everything but particularly music. I shared several that I read and found a number of albums that would have made my list if I'd found them sooner. I thought I'd share them here in case you were interested.

2025 albums i somehow missed

Boneflower - Reveries

Honestly this album is killer. It would have very likely been my number 2 album of the year. It's that good. It might be my number one album of 2026 (if I measure by the music discovered in 2026). If post-hardcore/screamo gets you excited you should definitely check this out. So why didn't I hear about the album sooner? They are from Spain and it's my bad for not staying up on the international scene as well as I should. Again - check this out. Here a link to their Bandcamp where you can go ahead and pick it up.

Stay Inside - Lunger

I had never heard of this band but this album is fun. For whatever reason it's indie rock that brings a smile to my face. Ain't that a daisy? in particular is a bop. Check it out on Bandcamp!

Hayley Williams - Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party

This was on lots of lists. I'd ignored it as when I first looked it up I saw she was in Paramore which caused me to write it off. Right or wrong, my impression of Paramore was always CCM adjacent band trying too hard to not be CCM. Decided to give it a listen though because of how many times it came up and it's actually quite nice! It wouldn't have made the top of my list but likely would have been an honorable mention.

Of Monsters and Men - All is Love and Pain in the Mouse Parade

Not sure how I missed this in October. My Head is an Animal got so much playtime in my house more than a decade ago. Glad to have found it though on someones list - it's one that I don't mind listening to that my wife can get behind (unlike options like Boneflower).

Djo - The Crux

I had no clue Steve Harrington (actually Joe Keery) made really fun pop-rock music! I discovered it in the lead up to the final episodes of Stranger Things and we happily rocked out to it on the drive to see the finale in the theaters. It's a fun one to turn on in the car when I'm with the family - everyone loves it!

Geese - Getting Killed

This one is hard to describe. Art? Rock? It has horns too. This one is hard to describe but it's good. Real good. Right from the start where the singer is screaming,

there's a bomb in my car!