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100 Favorite Albums of 2025: 50-26

What a year for music, just like every other year. Here at PGMR we (I) love to celebrate as many albums as I physically have time for, hence a top 100 list curated and written entirely by one person with little time. We’ll continue with the third quadrant of the list shortly, but I am a little bit of a hater, so let’s briefly discuss some of the disappointments and duds. Truthfully, I’m doing this to dispel anticipation about the placement of one big album – Turnstile’s Never Enough. I very much enjoy Turnstile, and I will champion them as the faces of a thrilling and necessary hardcore revival. But, the album itself was a sleeper, full of either template hardcore or experimentations that half-worked. It currently sits at #238 on the list of 315 albums I’ve ranked – which doesn’t include 66 albums I didn’t get around to ranking.

In dead last is Arcade Fire, who again proved that it was Will Butler providing the good songwriting, not Win. Sure, Win’s allegations played a role in the ranking too. Taylor Swift shit out a potentially AI-abetted album that even the Swifties didn’t like, finding herself in my bottom 5 for a second year in a row. I can wager it a disappointment – an artist at this peak should be brilliant, and I’m not a Taylor hater. Lorde promised an album better than Solar Power, which was only marginally true. Maybe the biggest disappointment was David Byrne, whose follow-up to his rebirth American Utopia was a base-level alternative album with lyrics that sounded like second grade poetry. Finally, Car Seat Headrest’s first album in five years was so focused on the concept that it didn’t really have songs – though they still scraped themselves into my Best Songs List, ironically.

Alright, enough hating. Most music is good, so let’s talk about 25 great ones!

#50. Armand Hammer – Mercy

I mean, it’s Armand Hammer. Billy Woods and Elucid are unbelievable rappers when they’re working solo. Together, they’re unstoppable. Mercy is their second album done in full with production from The Alchemist, which isn’t just a name. He concocts some unique and gonzo backing beats for the two rappers. Their music is always experimental, without being too far out of the realm of conventionality. Their lyrics are always the strong suit: personal and political, more poetic than truly lyrical, and not without some fun too. It’s not a rap album for everyone, but for people who like things outside the norm, it’s a banger. In case you’re wondering, yes, more on Billy Woods later.

#49. Pile – Sunshine and Balance Beams

Pile! Pile! Pile! Boston’s best band is back, and they’re screaming again. Pile have always been great, but it’s been a while since they’ve been this energized. Their ninth album is dense and loud, some challenging rock music. They’ve mostly shed away the indie influences, opting for a sound I can only describe as cool dad. It hits, hard, and it’s super rewarding for the patient. This is just excellent songwriting, buried under guitars and Rick Maguire going nuts at the front and center. If someone tells you rock is dead, show them Pile. 

#48. Deep Sea Diver – Billboard Heart

With no ceiling on the number of people who can make music in an online world, there’s a massive bloat of indie bands. It’s fine, I’d rather too many similar bands than not enough, but alternative radio has become somewhat sterile. I put this record on expecting “yet another” pleasant, digestible indie record – but this kicks ass. It has the makings of today’s template indie, with catchy hooks and pleasant vocals, but they dial the guitars up in particularly every song. This feels more reminiscent of 90’s indie-rock, while still maintaining a distance from it. Loud, fun, catchy rock and roll music – an unbreakable formula.

#47. MIKE/Tony Seltzer – Pinball II

Pinball, the first collaborative album between MIKE and Tony Seltzer, was a shoo-in on last year’s list. It’s one of the best rap albums in years, full stop. It’s natural for successful rap collabs to do a sequel, but I wasn’t expecting a follow-up this quickly. The magic is still there, this is almost as good as the tentpole. It’s an effortless, low-key rap album that’s a ton of fun even through relatively minimalist songs. MIKE is one of our best lyricists, and his excellent cadence doesn’t hurt. When most of the rap that I like is on the bombastic side, it’s nice to enjoy a low-stakes one occasionally. 

#46. Deerhoof – Noble and Godlike in Ruin

Chances are, if you’re reading this, then you already know Deerhoof’s whole deal. They’re a legacy indie group by now, and one that’s never go to slip into any sort of complacent sound. I mean, this album is their 20th and it sees them making a concept record about Frankenstein that ropes noise and free jaz into their indie sound. They’ve always had their finger on the pulse, and I caught this unabashedly political album before they wiped all of their music off Spotify – among the first bands to do so in a growing wave. It’s one of the more challenging, and rewarding albums I listened to all year, a victory lap for a band already installed in the Indie Rock Hall Of Fame. 

#45. Ty Segall – Possession

For a while, Ty Segall and Thee Oh Sees were neck-and-neck in the race to see who could release the most albums. Then, COVID hit, and both Segall and John Dwyer lost their minds. Both used the isolation downtime to explore more experimental, head-scratching paths. But Segall also slowed down, way down. This album, which is I believe his 16th solo album (which does not include dozens of other releases), is pretty back-to-basics. He already came back down to Earth on 2024’s all-timer Three Bells, but he sounds the most at peace here. These are pleasant, easily digestible psych-rock songs. It’s a far cry from the instrumental percussion he was doing just last year – this is just a nice album! He’s done acoustic, pared-down albums before, but he’s never sounded this content. If it’s a victory lap for Segall, it’s well-earned; he’s spent two decades exploring the spectrum of bruising garage rock to experimental pop. He has a lot to be content about. And it proves that sometimes, joyous complacency actually doesn’t hurt your songwriting. 

#44. Hayley Williams – Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party

Normally, when a frontperson releases a solo album, I want it to be something that’s a different direction from their primary band. But not every band is Paramore, who have probably a dozen skippable songs across their whole catalog. Williams’ solo career is taking off, separately, and this behemoth record is filled with both songs that sound like Paramore, and some new directions interspersed. It’s a daunting record for an artist so easy on the ears, but practically every song is brilliant or at least completely pleasurable. Hayley is quietly building one of the most solidified collections in American songwriting, and there are a lot of quiet surprises here. 

#43. Ho9909 – Tomorrow We Escape

Something you’ll find out about me through this post is I generally prefer hip-hop that is loud and full, whether it’s abrasive shit like Death Grips or just big beats like Cardi B. Ho99o9 is the former, some kind of moderately unquantifiable punk, experimental, horrorcore mix. It’s very loud and heavy, often adapting punk rock music for a hip-hop landscape. This is probably music that a lot of people will write off – and some horrorcore can be written off – but it’s really genius stuff. It’s loud enough to thrash but there’s so much mental anguish too. It’s depressing, downbeat music, and endlessly fascinating. 

#42. Black Country, New Road – Forever Howlong

There’s countless examples in music history of a key member leaving a group. What do you do next? Do you split up? Replace them? Use it as an opportunity to change your sound? Well, when singer Isaac Wood left the experimental indie group, the band tried something new: just have everyone else sing. The band’s pre-existing bassist, pianist and string player all sing lead on this album. Oh, and they mostly changed their sound, too. They largely ditched the heavier and more experimental elements in favor of melodic, baroque indie. At nearly an hour, it sounds like an exhausting concept, but it really never tires. It’s definitely more conventional than their previous albums – on a grading curve – and might not appeal to the same fans. It really isn’t similar to their excellent first two releases at all, but the songwriting juice is just as strong. Give it a chance!

#41. The Men – Buyer Beware

I’m a simple man; at the end of the day, I just love some whiplash garage rock. Doesn’t have to be good, just has to be fast and loud. Luckily, The Men are also good, and they’ve delivered another back-to-basics album after last year’s excellent New York. This is the band’s 100th or so album, incredible that they are still so locked-in. This band has done some more experimental or slower works, but they’re at their best with no-frills old-school rock. 

#40. Beach Bunny – Tunnel Vision

It’s no secret that I’m a huge Beach Bunny fan. Their mix of fun, fuzzy punk and squeaky-clean vocals and lyrics makes for a super unique band, even if there are tons of similar acts out there. I don’t even really care for power-pop most of the time, I want to shake power-pop artists and tell them to either quiet down or make it louder. But Beach Bunny have a spunk that many others don’t. Their third album doesn’t change the formula, thankfully, it just locks in and delivers some whipping indie-punk tunes with a saccharine touch. Fun fact: my partner and I’s song is “Cloud 9.” 

#39. The Armed – The Future Is Here And Everything Needs To Be Destroyed 

This is the entry point to the upper echelon of this list, the all-time great albums. Every time I think I have a handle on the Armed, they do something new. The collective has neither a solidified line-up nor genre, and have in the past worked pop music into their explosive noise/post-hardcore/metal albums. Destroyed, however, is a cacophonous onslaught of sound, fiery guitar mixed in with horns mixed in with many various voices. They’ve never felt more like a collective, with seemingly every song having a different singer. Some tunes do resemble traditional post-hardcore songs, other songs delve far into untraceable noise. It reminds me of Liturgy and their efforts to make something as loud and confusing as possible. This isn’t for everyone, but it’s real damn exciting. 

#38. Obongjayar – Paradise Now

Obongjayar is Nigerian, grew up in England, and raised himself on American hip-hop. His music was bound to be a melting pot even if he didn’t want it to be, but he so clearly does. Paradise Now, the singer’s sophomore record, is just completely unpredictable, bouncing wildly between rap, indie, soul, spoken word and electronic, and never goes a beat that feels forced. It’s largely very fun, if only because you’re listening to an artist absolutely cook for 42 minutes, but also because some of these songs are big and boisterous. You should understand by now that I tend to prefer music that keeps one on their feet, and this does just that for 15 songs. There’s exactly one guest feature on the song “Talk Olympics,” which features British rapper Little Simz – more on her later. 

#37. Ada Rook – UNKILLABLE ANGEL & 59 NIGHTS & naiad

Triple threat! Ada Rook had a busy 2025, releasing two full-length albums and one EP. The noise artist is generally a shoo-in for my list, her music really hits me hard. It’s abrasive and intense, but usually manages to stay within the confines of traditional songwriting. Rook’s music is filled with genuine anguish, mixed with a desire to entertain. I don’t know how to classify it – industrial, or maybe hardcore punk, or maybe just noise – but it’s music I come back to regularly. Nights might be the achievement here, but all three are pretty equally great. If you like to upset your ears, go with Ada Rook. 

#36. Water From Your Eyes – It’s a Beautiful Place

Only a few days before writing this blurb, I learned that I didn’t know as much about this band as I thought. The blog I write for, Allston Pudding, hosted the experimental indie group’s show in Boston, and I kept telling people “I didn’t really like their first album, but I love this one!” Only to learn that “their first” and “this one” were in fact their sixth and seventh records. They’re starting to become more established, and they’re tapping into the zeitgeist. This record is littered with loud guitar and hypnotic rhythms, and the music is dense and unpredictable. It’s part of a growing trend in rock to make music as chaotic as this, look at heavier groups like Knocked Loose and Callous Daoboys. It finds the center between melody and experiment. It’s suave and fresh. It’s just big, loud, raucous fun. 

#35. Porridge Radio – The Machine Starts To Sing

2025 kicked off with some bummer news. I got to see Porridge Radio play their first and last ever Boston show, as they announced an impending break-up just as it seemed they were gathering steam. I have historically been a big fan and supporter, so it was melancholic to see that their final offering was just as good as the albums before it. This is only four songs and 15 minutes, but they left us with a final piece of brilliance. The moody, jangly indie has never been better and Dana Margolin’s vocals sound as hypnotic as ever. This is the closest to The Cranberries they ever sounded, which is a compliment. Best to go out on top. 

#34. Greg Freeman – Burnover

Tell your dads that there’s a new musician they might like. Freeman is what I imagine The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle would sound like it if it were made today. Freeman is officially listed as an alt-country musician, but he’s got a bluesy, lounge vibe to him, backed by a full band with a vibrant energy. He’s a raconteur at heart, these songs are full of characters and personal oddities. He’s got Neil Young lyrics in a 2016 Sturgill Simpson sound. It’s fun music that’s easy to listen to, but has a million little things going on at the same time. If he doesn’t blow up, the world isn’t just. 

#33. Big Thief – Double Infinity

The best band in the country are back. The indie band’s sixth album is scaled down in comparison to the gigantic Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You and the double-dip of albums we got in 2019. This album feels smaller in scale and scope, but the band balances it out by being bigger in sound. These are the closest to….rock? songs that the band has done to date. While quiet rhythms and holes in the sound have always been prominent in their music, these songs feel fuller and bigger. Might the good folks in Big Thief actually be happy? The lyrics aren’t as emotionally destitute as normal, and the music is livelier. It’s no complacency though, as these are still just perfectly-written tunes. 

#32. Model/Actriz – Pirouette

Coming in at #32, the second Model/Actriz album is a bit of a step down from their debut. It’s still one of the best albums I heard all year. The band’s first album was a mix of staccato dance music and existential industrial. It was somehow heavy and funky all at once. Pirouette sees the band embracing the poppier side more, shaving away some of the heaviness in favor of clearer vocals and more fluid rhythms. To level the weights though, the lyrics get crazily personal. There’s a section in “Cinderella” – my favorite song of the year – where singer Cole Haden sums up years of therapy sessions in one verse, and you absolutely cannot avoid it as the instrumentation dips away. This album challenges you to face your biggest regrets while dancing involuntarily. Feels bad man. I can see this one climbing up this list on further listens, even now I feel this is too low.

#31. Lambrini Girls – Who Let The Dogs Out

A riotous, raucous debut from England that was set to be the punk breakthrough of 2025 before Bob Vylan got censored for truth. Dogs hearkens back to riot grrrl in spirit, blending it with the punk of 2025. It’s a load of fun, and also viciously satirical and angry. Songs like “Company Culture” and “Filthy Rich Nepo Baby” have specific targets behind them. Some of it feels a little like 2010’s-era Tumblr feminism, but when the songs are this good, that doesn’t matter. 2025 saw a lot of punk upstarts and breakthroughs, which has to be a sign of a global vibe shift.

#30. SPELLLING – Portrait of My Heart

Spellling is one of those artists that’s been on my radar for years, but I had never really checked out. Glad I finally amended that! I had Spellling pegged as an indie-R&B singer in my head, and while that’s accurate, she’s very rock too. The songs on Heart pull from equally from Motown and Subpop, diving headfirst into sultry R&B or double-bass drums on a whim. The only constant factor is energy, the rest is entirely unpredictable. Really had fun listening to this. Three L’s in the name but none to be found on the record. 

#29. clipping. – Dead Channel Sky

On the flipside of Spellling is artists I’ve loved for years. The experimental rap group clipping. are a personal favorite, and their fifth album delivers on all fronts. The band’s abrasive music mixed with Daveed Diggs’ lightspeed rapping make for consistently thrilling tunes. There isn’t necessarily anything new here, but the formula still works – heavy, fast rap songs that very rhythmic but still shun any radio-friendly elements. Second-straight present-tense verb artist, which is a huge coincidence.

#28. Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – Death Hilarious

I found myself surprisingly disappointed with Pigsx7’s previous album, 2023’s Land of Sleeper. They remained one of my favorite metal bands, but I was worried that their continued trajectory from doom metal into psychedelic rock would render them boring. Alas! Their fifth album is just as good as albums 1-3. Heavy riffs and dense songs abound. There’s classic, doom-y Pigs (“The Wyrm”) and there’s entirely new ideas (“Glib Tongued” which features El-P of all people). This band is about as much fun as you can have in metal. Plus, it’s fun to tell people what band you’re listening to. I saw these guys over the summer, and it was a hell of a live show.

#27. Baths – Gut

I hadn’t kept up with Baths after his first two records, both electro-indie albums that presented two sides of a coin; the debut was fun and bubbly, the sophomore record much gloomier. I wasn’t sure what to expect with Gut, but I really wasn’t expecting a Perfume Genius record. This is a set of vulnerable, pretty, shaken and queer indie songs, written in the same manner as Michael Hadreas does. You can make the argument that the album’s front half is too similar, but there’s a lot of open space for this kind of thing. It’s gorgeous, I was floored. Grab the tissues. And surprisingly, this was necessary, as Perfume Genius himself released his first ho-hum record since his earliest days and missed the cut here. 

#26. DARKSIDE – Nothing

This one caught me way off-guard. I only really knew on Darkside song prior to this, “Liberty Bell,” and I really love it. But the band’s atmospheric, electro-indie is akin to a handful of other bands that I appreciate but don’t really like. The same goes for Nicholas Jaar’s solo music. But this album is just a blast. These songs are light and vibe-y, but they’re still funky and fun. I listened to this on a morning commute and it really set my brain in a righted mood for a workday. Definitely an album I’d revisit, and I rarely do that. Summer music!

My favorite part of the year is writing these, my least favorite is compiling everything into blog form. Thanks for reading! The grand conclusion is tomorrow, and promises some Welsh punk, some jazz-indie, two punishingly heavy black metal albums, African rock, and four regional Boston releases.

Five more albums I regret having to cut off the list: Lonnie Holley – Tonky | Preoccupations – Ill At Ease | Gelli Haha – Switcheroo | Pulp – More | Fleshwater – 2000: In Search Of The Endless Sky

100 Best Albums of 2023: 25-1

Jump to: Songs | 100-76 | 75-51 | 50-26

I hope you’ve been doing a drumroll for four days, because it’s time: here’s my 25 perfectly ordered, objectively correct favorite albums of 2023. This has been a year of pleasant surprises, massive disappointments, and huge handful of wonderful discoveries. There are a couple big name artists on this list, and probably few surprises, but this final edition is mostly under-the-radar albums that I found myself returning over and over again. Happy new year’s folks, and here’s to another great year of music in 2024.

#25. Fucked Up – One Day

This album is suspiciously basic. Fucked Up have made careers out of universe-spanning, deeply complex and dense conceptual albums. Their last release was actually a four-disc, four-song “album” that was part of their ongoing Year of the ____ series. This album is back to basics hardcore, something they haven’t done in over a decade. It also proves that they can still put out one of the most brutal and blisteringly-intense albums of the year even with their ambition reined in 1000%. This album isn’t as good as, say, Dose Your Dreams or David Comes to Life, but its placement is a testament to how unbelievably good those heady, lengthy albums really are. The run this band has been on is unprecedented.

RIYL: Converge, Titus Andronicus, feeling angry every moment you’re awake

#24. Throat Locust – Dragged Through Glass

I’ve been going back and forth on the inclusion of this one, as it is just a 3-track demo EP. But if we’re calling it an EP, then it’s eligible for the list. There’s also little to say other than “it’s good ass death metal.” This is very standard death metal, with immaculate production and a confidence of a band that’s been doing it for decades. And they’re named after my favorite TAD song to boot. Metalheads, get this on your radar now. You heard it here first!

RIYL: Cannibal Corpse, Bolt Thrower, you know, death metal

#23. boygenius – the record

The first boygenius EP was near perfection, taking three of the brightest and best indie talents and tossing them all together. The full-length, initially a surprise but now a wildly popular release, only builds on it. There’s more diversity in the songs here, as some songs like “Satanist” and “$20” are closer to rock than you’d expect. Others, like “Not Strong Enough,” sound exactly like you’d expect a Julian Baker/Phoebe Bridgers/Lucy Dacus song to sound like. Soft, sensitive and sad. What makes boygenius work so well is that they clearly came together as friends first and musicians second. The interplay between the members is more natural than most supergroups. This could still be a one-off, but I hope we get more from the Traveling She’llburys. 

RIYL: Big Thief, Snail Mail, either being or loving a sad girl

#22. Noname – Sundial

For some reason Noname seems to have dropped off the radar. This came out in August but I only noticed in November. The reason could be, of course, her utter refusal to play by the rules of the industry. The rap icon has always worn her heart on her sleeve, unabashedly political and earnest in a way even the “political” musicians shy away from. In one key song here, she connects the dots on how superstars contribute to the country’s insultingly overinflated defense budget, namechecking Kendrick and Beyonce (and herself) for playing Coachella. On top of the refreshingly honest politics, there’s just great rhythms and raps here. These songs are quick, full and fun. It’s a short but intense rap record from someone choosing to stand alone.

RIYL: Flatbush Zombies, Clipping., getting nauseated at whatever the hell “hologram Tupac” was

#21. Black Country, New Road – Live At Bush Hall

Under normal circumstances, I would never consider a live album for a year end list, as they are collections of previous material, usually at least somewhat the artist’s best. But Black Country are never ones for normal circumstances. After dropping their first two albums in quick succession, their singer dipped. Rather than break up or hold tryouts for a replacement, they brought in a handful of guest singers and recorded a live album of entirely new material. And because this is Black Country, these songs are everything from smooth and jazzy to manic and unpredictable. The band loves to stretch themselves in every direction, ostensibly under the “alternative” banner but touching many different points. The use of multiple singers and a live setting lends a particular vibrancy to these tracks. On the DL, I didn’t care for their second album – and this one is a marked improvement! There’s something for everyone here.

RIYL: black midi, the Hold Steady, going to a classy party you’re dreading but having a surprisingly good time

#20. feeble little horse – Girl with Fish

This is the exact byproduct when you take 90’s fuzzed out alternative and channel it through today’s DIY bedroom movement. At only 26 minutes, this album looks slight. But jump in and you get a number of intricately-layered, crunchy and introspective alternative songs. They may be brief, but they are not underdeveloped. There is a painful earnestness to the vocals and lyrics of this record, which can often get buried (intentionally?) under the ceaseless distorted guitars. If you’re a sucker for 90’s grunge-adjacent sad rock, like me, then grab this one right away.

RIYL: Pavement, Hotline TNT, reading your old journal entries

#19. Young Fathers – Heavy Heavy

The British funk scene is strong right now, all things considered, and the biggest standout of 2023 was Young Fathers. The group has always embraced their funky ways, but “Heavy Heavy” is a downright party. It’s a short album, and the tracks don’t stick around too long, which only adds to the ambiance. Songs come and go, occasionally feeling incomplete, like wandering through a party listening to parts of conversations. But one thing is for sure: it’s impossible to not have fun listening to this.

RIYL: Sudan Archives, Four Tet, making friends with everyone at the party (i don’t know what this one is like)

#18. Boris/Uniform – Brand New Disease

The collaborative album from Boris and Uniform brings exactly what you would expect and, perhaps more importantly, a lot of things you wouldn’t. Japanese noise institution Boris have frequently left their comfort zone, releasing straightforward rock or even jazzier albums. But NY noise upstarts Uniform – who have graced my lists before – generally stay in one noisy, angry lane. This album is bookended by harsh, bitter and grinding songs that you wouldn’t want to play at a party. But in the album’s middle is some more meandering, introspective tunes. Frankly, I wasn’t expecting it. The whole end result is a well-rounded album that doesn’t feel constrained to the walls of noise music, but takes time to revel in them gleefully nonetheless.

RIYL: The Body, Melt Banana, thinking about an interaction that made you angry and getting angry about it again

#17. Genesis Owusu – STRUGGLER

Oh man I love this one. I had the lucky opportunity to cover Genesis twice this year and let me say, this man puts on one of the most thrilling live shows you’ll ever see. The tracks on STRUGGLER are very funky, very synthy, very jazzy and still shaped around conventional rock songs. Everything feels very simple, and yet it is a mindmeld of genre fusion. And it is done completely effortlessly. For a man with very little experience under his belt, Owusu has supreme confidence in the power of his tunes. That this is also a concept album – about still finding reasons to love and cherish in the midst of an apocalypse – only adds to the strength. I have said it before: get this man on your radar.

RIYL: Talking Heads, Parliament, dancing as the bombs fall

#16. The Hirs Collective – We’re Still Here

The metal band that made their name doing albums full of 90-100 songs that are all <1:30 made a bold decision: do something a little more normal. The album clocks in at 31 minutes, less than half the length of some of their bolder works, but features their strongest production and most well-written songs to date. The band ropes in elements of grindcore and black metal into a ceaseless aural pounding. As always, they’re joined by huge name guests, like Melt Banana, Shirley Manson and Soul Glo, among others. How hard does this band go? They did a two-month tour behind the album and didn’t take a single night off.

RIYL: G.L.O.S.S., The Locust, slamdancing until you get so sweaty that your mohawk collapses

#15. 100 Gecs – 10,000 gecs

Listening to the first 100 gecs album was a humbling experience, because it was the first time I felt too old for an album. I didn’t entirely “get” it, and thought it was wildly hit-and-miss. For whatever reason though, their sophomore album clicked. From ska songs about frogs to genuine nu-metal, this album revels in everything that is uncool, thus making it cool again. These two kids have firm control over the zeitgeist, bringing old influences into brand-new hyperpop madness. Find me an album released this year more unique than this.

RIYL: Fire-Toolz, Machine Girl, every song on every machine at an arcade playing at the same time

#14. Oozing Wound – We Cater to Cowards

Oozing Wound have long been one of my favorite metal bands, with a distinct blend of rough thrash and tongue-in-cheek, pessimistic vocals. Well, this album is different, as the band takes more of a grunge approach. The tracks are slower and even rougher, with less of a focus on vocals/lyrics. And I’m a massive grunge-head, so I think I like this one *even more* than their previous albums. The new direction blindsided me, but once I adjusted I welcomed it wholeheartedly.

RIYL: Soundgarden, TAD, committing vehicular manslaughter

#13. JPEGMAFIA/Danny Brown – Scaring the Hoes

Peggy and Danny have always been masters of the same thing – rap that exists on the fringe of the mainstream, balancing the precision of radio sweetness with the ambition of pure avant-garde, and both men have allowed their solo work to swing in both directions. On their collaborative album, they simply both do what they do best: wild raps with huge beats, over the top comedy and intensely catchy rhythms. There’s a certain sense of derangement here, comedically apocalyptic. It’s fun as hell. It was only a matter of time before these two linked up, and it produced some of the finest work of both men. Check out the bonus EP they put out, which is just as great as the album. 

RIYL: Run the Jewels, Denzel Curry, the Alfred Molina scene from Boogie Nights

#12. Pile – All Fiction

I’m all in on bands messing around with genres and experimenting, but sometimes you just need some good old-fashioned rock, too. Pile does get sympathy points for being a Boston group, but their newest earns a high spot solely on songwriting. This album is full of dense and conceptual alt-rock, often lingering towards post-hardcore rather than indie. The band favors complexity over melody, which makes for a general lack of earworms, but a tremendous amount of curiosity. This is a rare mix that demands immediate replays – and not because the songs are stuck in your head. Tremendously original stuff.

RIYL: Pissed Jeans, Big Ups, knowing that you have better music taste than someone else

#11. Mandy, Indiana – i’ve seen a way

There seems to be a growing trend in music to blend genres beyond the normal definitions. Now this has always happened, of course, but there are always new avenues to explore. Mandy, Indiana – hailing from Europe – are a moody but fun group that tosses elements of dark synth and noise rock into indie. The final concoction is one of the best debut albums of the year, and one of the most eclectic albums in general. Recorded in a cave, you’ve got noisy guitars, foreboding synths and lyrics all in French. And yet it’s groovy. I can’t figure it out, maybe you can. I found them on indie radio, but I also didn’t bat an eye when one of their songs was remixed by Clipping. It’s all over the place, in serenely unpredictable chaos. 

RIYL: Sonic Youth, Savages, the general feeling of confusion

#10. Jeff Rosenstock – HELLMODE

My favorite musician, so it’s almost guaranteed he’d rank highly here. Rosenstock made his name doing immature, lonely and inebriated ska-punk songs, so with each passing year, he finds his muses further and further away. This is his prettiest record, with a number of songs softer and/or poppier than fans are used to. This is maturity, and while his lifelong themes of jealousy, loneliness and occasional fun are still present, they’re now more nuanced and diluted. But it’s also still distinctly punk – 90-second bruiser “Head” is one of the wildest songs he’s ever done. Rosenstock may have changed a lot over the years, but he’ll never be different. Perfect sound, whatever.

RIYL: Against Me!, PUP, hangovers

#9. Caroline Polachek – Desire, I Want to Turn Into You

This one got super hyped, and for good reason. Polachek took her decent previous albums and elevated every single good element, giving us an unexpected classic on impact. Polachek has been pivotal in the mainstream development of hyperpop, and this may be the first album to successfully dilute hyperpop to a broader audience while still keeping it interesting. Really, it’s just a fantastic pop album, one that bangs start to finish. It’s all bangers, all songs that are fun and wildly unique. It rocks. Chances are, you know that already.

RIYL: SOPHIE, FKA Twigs, basement raves

#8. Margo Price – Strays

With a release date of January 13th, this is the earliest entry on the list, and it sat at #1 for quite a while. Of course, a country album was always going to be a longshot to be the chart-topper here at PGMR, but I do love a good one when I hear it. Price fine-tuned every track on this album so they are all distinct and memorable songs, and most of them are bangers; there’s no getting bogged down in repetitive weepers here. Throw in some guest spots from decidedly non-country artists (Lucius, Sharon Van Etten, and Mike Campbell, guitarist for Tom Petty), and you’ve got an absolutely delightful stew of songs that really sneak up on you. The album doesn’t feel memorable at first, until you realize your feet have been tapping the whole time, and you toss it on repeat.

RIYL: Nikki Lane, Jason Isbell, havin’ a cold one on a hot night

#7. Jessie Ware – That! Feels Good!

With an album title like this, you kinda know what you’re getting into. Jessie Ware’s fifth album doesn’t reinvent the wheel, because it doesn’t need to. It’s the biggest party of the year, an album chock-full of disco-pop bangers crafted solely to make you, well, feel good. If you gave these songs to a different artist, you could very well end up with overly-produced plastic slop. But with Ware, we’re gifted by her outstanding vocals and healthy touches of soul music. These songs feel startlingly original and earnest within the confines of a genre that often disavows that. It’s simply the most fun album released all year.

RIYL: Lady Gaga, Rina Sawayama, playing that funky music, white boy

#6. Bully – Lucky For You

After the year opened with a string of disappointing albums from artists I adore, I was delighted that Alicia Bognanno released her best album yet. This compact album follows in the ways of her previous three albums, of indie rock heavily influenced by grunge and, more specifically, grunge-adjacent 90’s icons like Dino Jr. and Pavement. These songs, largely inspired by the passing of Bognanno’s dog, are despondent and jealous, and her snarl has never sounded better. Crisp production matches her best songwriting yet. A late-album pinch hit by Soccer Mommy is great, but it’s not needed – the whole album is already a distorted, melodic and depressive home run. It’s gonna make you feel like shit, but it’s so catchy that you won’t even care.

RIYL: Screaming Females, Hole, obsessively checking your ex’s social media to see that yes, they’re still doing better than you 

#5. Kelela – Raven

Something about me, possibly evident from this list, is that I always tend towards the bangers. Nine times out of ten, I’ll choose the louder and faster songs, whether that’s hardcore or bubblegum pop. Well, this is that tenth time. The R&B singer’s sophomore album is so minimalist and so fluid that it serves as one long 62 minute song cut into fifteen tracks. The album rarely moves at anything louder than a whisper, resulting in something that’s both calming and haunting at the same time, somehow. And even though there is fundamentally very little going on here, it grabs you from the opening moments and doesn’t let go. The album never wavers or falters, staying remarkably consistent across all fifteen songs. It is smooth and addictive, with positive lyrics about inclusivity within the dance music scene. It’s soft and feel-good, admittedly a nice antidote to many albums on this list.

RIYL: The Fugees, FKA Twigs, sitting inside and watching the rain

#4. King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard – PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation

Yeah, yeah, more Gizz. I’m fully initiated into the cult of Gizz. This album is about as ridiculous as the title implies, and they aren’t doing any favors to the naysaying crowd that for some reason thinks this band is to be taken seriously. This album – their second true metal album after Infest the Rat’s Nest – covers an extremely familiar Gizz topic: the apocalypse. In this one, the world is destroyed, and the survivors begin to praise a new god, in the form of a Gila Monster. Unlike their first metal album, which mind you was also about the apocalypse, this one is dense and slow. They’ve ditched the thrash influences that permeated both their previous metal album and some of the psych albums in favor of an old school hard rock album. It sounds similar to last year’s good-not-great album Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava, in that everything feels very dense and murky. There’s a full production to this. It’s the opposite of Rat’s Nest, which wasn’t even recorded with the full band. It isn’t exactly the newest ground they’re treading in this one, but there isn’t another Gizz album like it, either.

RIYL: Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, cool little lizards

#3. Model/Actriz – Dogsbody

Bands often come out of the gate hot, but this is one hell of a debut album. This band occupies the same sort of paranoid noise hellspace that Daughters vacated (because there is no jail that Alexis Marshall is worthy of being buried under). These are songs that have a certain paranoia to them, but one drawn through patient melodies. It’s not really post-hardcore, but it’s even less anything else. It’s extremely noisy and crazy while remaining even-tempoed, like the anxiety of realizing you’re bombing at an important job interview. This music is straight up stressful. Fun for the whole family!

RIYL: Daughters, black midi, accidentally perjuring yourself in a court of law

#2. Liturgy – 93696

If you’ve ever seen movies like Come and See or Ikiru or even Requiem For A Dream then you’ve probably described them as “absolutely incredible and I never wanna watch it again.” Well that same logic applies here. Liturgy, a paradoxically religious black metal band, have dropped some classic albums during their run; but the last couple have been weak, and I didn’t think they had the juice left. Well, 93696 proves otherwise, taking everything they’ve done in their career from heady and complex metal to maximalist harsh noise, and throwing it all into one 82-minute long album. It’s too much for one listen – it is two discs – as it is just too heavy, too daunting. I haven’t relistened to this one yet, and I may never. But my brain, which often forgets songs and albums the second they end, remembers this one start to finish. Thank you for reading this list, this is the single heaviest album on it.

RIYL: Deafheaven, Thou, suffering from religious trauma

#1. Wednesday – Rat Saw God

Instant classic. You may have seen my songs list, where this band took up three spots – and the guitarist took another with a solo track. This album is proving as a worthy breakthrough for the North Carolina group, which defies all classifications while remaining grounded in a grim reality. The band was already making waves in the indie underworld for their blending of country, americana and grunge into something resembling early Wilco, Drive-by Truckers, or – strictly contextually – Neil Young. Songs like “Chosen to Deserve” have a lot of country flair, while “Bull Believer” is straight grunge, the heaviest song the band has recorded to date. Lyrically, singer Karly Hartzman explores all of the lonely alleyways of America; these are songs of teenage alcoholism, domestic disturbances, loveless marriages and days spent just passing the time. There’s a specific type of American loneliness that runs rampant on this album, something that isn’t necessarily sad but just exists. It’s more flyover state, but all Americans feel it. Ten years from now, we’ll be holding this in the same regard that we hold Sonic Youth in now. 

RIYL: Neko Case, Drive-By Truckers, visiting your hometown and realizing all your childhood friends are in jail 

Thank you for reading this or, at least, thank you for scrolling to the bottom. As always, there were tons of other records I wanted to write about but didn’t have the space. Just to highlight a couple, those are: Dryad – The Abyssal Pain, an awe-inspiring metal album that blends tons of subgenres into one; The Armed – Perfect Saviors, a once-pop-metal band turned indie in an album that’s suspiciously conventional; Purling Hiss – Drag on Girard, one that initially made the list but didn’t stick in my brain enough – think a rougher Dino Jr.; The Croaks – Croakus Pokus, a wickedly fun local band that mixes all types of folk from folk-punk to straight medieval music; Death Valley Girls – Islands in the Sky, a punk group I absolutely adore that is reluctantly growing up and moving towards indie – maybe their weakest album, and still almost made the cut.

My wrists hurt. See you next year!