2025 was definitely a year. I checked. It had the right amount of days, but it didn't always feel like it had the right amount of records. I definitely bought less new music this year than any previous year I've been alive since high school, I think. I'm not sure if that's something that is just going to keep happening as I get older, or if I wasn't as aware of what was going on this year. Or maybe this year simply had fewer records for me. I'm not really sure, though putting together a really strong top ten was still pretty easy.
Despite only having had it for a month, it is very obvious to me that Plosivs put out my favorite record of the year. As I mentioned on Monday, it's one of those records that grows on you and every time I listen to it I like it more and more. If I had more time with it, I think it would have been a runaway number one, but I debated quite a bit between Plosivs, Melvic Centre and the Swami John Reis album.
Melvic Centre was certainly the best new band I've heard this year, or at least a new to me band as this album is their second. What a record. The Swami John Reis album is the best of his solo records I think and was quite close to taking the number one spot for me. All three of these records are excellent and if I had put any of them at the top, it still would have been correct.
As far as the rest, they're all great too. Radioactivity is not going to put out a bad record and disappoint the legions of Marked Men fans out there. If you are looking for some stellar melodic UK punk, Diaz Brothers and Roach Squad have you covered. Bob Mould and Superchunk are as consistent as ever, each turning in a very good album this year. And if there are bands that I think might have been overlooked in 2025, it's Lutheran Heat and Model Martel. I haven't seen much chatter about those records (though admittedly, I don't even know where chatter happens anymore), but both are worth going out of your way to check out.
01 - Plosivs - Yell At Cloud - Swami
02 - Melvic Centre - Trawler - Brassneck / Evil Tone
03 - Swami John Reis - Time To Let You Down - Swami
04 - Diaz Brothers - The World Is Yours - Dead Broke / Serial Bowl / Waterslide / Break The Silence
05 - Radioactivity - Time Won't Bring Me Down - Dirtnap / Wild Honey
06 - Lutheran Heat - Hi Again - Pinata
07 - Roach Squad - Roach Squad - Little Rocket / Sounds of Subterrania / Waterslide / Rad Girlfriend
08 - Bob Mould - Here We Go Crazy - Granary / BMG
09 - Model Martel - A Thousand Couple Times - Snappy Little Numbers
10 - Superchunk – Songs In The Key Of Yikes - Merge
On the reissue side of things, rock and roll releases were quite excellent this year. LONG time wants like Sultans, Beezewax and Fig Dish got first time vinyl releases of some of my favorite albums. After me screaming about it forever, DGC Rarities Vol. 1 finally got reissued and I couldn't be happier. It's awesome that the Leatherface Peel Sessions got an LP release, and I couldn't be happier to see some singles comp action from Bum and Gentleman Jesse.
08 - Bob Mould - Here We Go Crazy - Granary / BMG
09 - Model Martel - A Thousand Couple Times - Snappy Little Numbers
10 - Superchunk – Songs In The Key Of Yikes - Merge
On the reissue side of things, rock and roll releases were quite excellent this year. LONG time wants like Sultans, Beezewax and Fig Dish got first time vinyl releases of some of my favorite albums. After me screaming about it forever, DGC Rarities Vol. 1 finally got reissued and I couldn't be happier. It's awesome that the Leatherface Peel Sessions got an LP release, and I couldn't be happier to see some singles comp action from Bum and Gentleman Jesse.
On the hip hop side of things 90s Tapes continues to be the gold standard of record labels, While there aren't as many of their records in my top 15 this year as there were last year, had I done a top 30, they would have had most of the bottom 15. They also had the number one spot with their glorious release of the one and only album from The Future Sound. It's one that had been on my wishlist forever and it's great to finally have a nicely done, full artwork copy of this record on vinyl. Their take on the Rough House Survivers album is also incredible.
Casual's sophomore album was released as a double LP with full artwork for the first time. All of the Cenobites songs were compiled onto a double LP and you know how I love me some early 90s Kool Keith and Godfather Don. I was also really excited to get the chance to pick up the first Ugly Duckling on vinyl, thanks to the excellent reissue that Back2dasource put out in 2025.
The Absolute Best Reissues of 2025
01 - The Future Sound - The Whole Shabang Volume 1 - 90s Tapes
02 - Sultans - Shipwrecked - Swami
03 - V/A - DGC Rarities Vol. 1
04 - Beezewax - A Dozen Summits - Boss Tuneage / Sellout
05 - Leatherface - The Peel Sessions - Little Rocket
06 - The Cenobites - The Cenobites - Downtown Music / Fat Beats
07 - Fig Dish – That’s What Love Songs Often Do - Forge Again
08 - Casual - Meanwhile... - Trumindz
09 - Gentleman Jesse – I Wonder If You Would Even Notice - Beach Impediment
10 - Bum - Kidd Bitz (& Glazed Rookies) - Hey Suburbia / Radiation
11 - Rough House Survivers - Straight From The Soul - 90s Tapes
12 - Ugly Duckling - Down The Road - Back2dasource
13 - Clikatat Ikatowi – The Trials And Tribulations Of... Box Set - Numero Group
14 - Pudgee Tha Phat Bastard - Give 'Em The Finger - Rarebreed
15 - Smif-N-Wessun - Dah Shinin' - Fat Beats
And that's going to be a wrap on 2025 for me. As I say every year, I'll be taking a couple of weeks off to recharge those batteries and then I'll be back at it. In particular, I have a bunch of reissues I didn't get a chance to write about before the end of the year (several are on the list above), so I'll be hitting those pretty hard when I start back up again. Merry New Year!
The Absolute Best Reissues of 2025
01 - The Future Sound - The Whole Shabang Volume 1 - 90s Tapes
02 - Sultans - Shipwrecked - Swami
03 - V/A - DGC Rarities Vol. 1
04 - Beezewax - A Dozen Summits - Boss Tuneage / Sellout
05 - Leatherface - The Peel Sessions - Little Rocket
06 - The Cenobites - The Cenobites - Downtown Music / Fat Beats
07 - Fig Dish – That’s What Love Songs Often Do - Forge Again
08 - Casual - Meanwhile... - Trumindz
09 - Gentleman Jesse – I Wonder If You Would Even Notice - Beach Impediment
10 - Bum - Kidd Bitz (& Glazed Rookies) - Hey Suburbia / Radiation
11 - Rough House Survivers - Straight From The Soul - 90s Tapes
12 - Ugly Duckling - Down The Road - Back2dasource
13 - Clikatat Ikatowi – The Trials And Tribulations Of... Box Set - Numero Group
14 - Pudgee Tha Phat Bastard - Give 'Em The Finger - Rarebreed
15 - Smif-N-Wessun - Dah Shinin' - Fat Beats
And that's going to be a wrap on 2025 for me. As I say every year, I'll be taking a couple of weeks off to recharge those batteries and then I'll be back at it. In particular, I have a bunch of reissues I didn't get a chance to write about before the end of the year (several are on the list above), so I'll be hitting those pretty hard when I start back up again. Merry New Year!
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