2025 Year End Top Tens, Part One
Welcome to 2026, and welcome to Maximum Rocknroll’s 2025 Year-End Top Tens. Once again, we asked MRR reviewers, friends, fellow travelers, and extended family from all over the world about what punk records defined the year for them.
Be sure to read parts two and three!
Alex Howell
Alex Howell reviews records for MRR and hosts the podcast Garbage in My Heart. You can find him around Indianapolis reading comics at third-wave coffee shops, running long distances, or flipping through kanji flashcards, hunched over his phone.
In lieu of a “2025 sucked, but at least we had punk” paragraph, I’d like to revisit what I’d initially considered one of the year’s more embarrassing moments: Martin Meyer’s Eulogy for Egg Punk.
There’s still plenty about this that I find embarrassing: that one of the more important figures in 2010s punk seemed to be punching down, that his take was totally antithetical to the ethos of the acts his current band (SOUP ACTIVISTS) apes, that it was gleefully published by a website named after a WEEZER song that hasn’t published an editorial before or since; that said site changed its name to Hot Sounds a couple of days after the article’s backlash and a day after Tobi Vail made fun of the recent WEEZER resurgence on Instagram; that I’m still banging on about all this ten months later—embarrassing! And while I’d agree that a lot of egg-punk sucks, I totally disagree with Martin’s take—it strikes me as elitist and anti-punk. But that it elicited such a strong response from me and lots of other folks is precisely why I’m bringing it up now.
Music writing at present is mostly devoid of negative takes. Instead, genuine criticism is being replaced by “Best 127 Punk Releases of December!”-style signal boosting. Reviews read like promotional copy or the paragraph equivalent of a string of fire emojis, or worse, they’re being written under the banner of some platform that’s trying to sell you music! I’m not saying you can’t find decent writing of this variety or that these channels aren’t good for discovering new stuff. But none of it will get people to engage with music as thoughtfully as they did when Lumpy shat on egg-punk. In retrospect, Martin’s article is one of the only bits of music writing that made me feel anything other than embarrassment this past year…though, to reiterate, I also felt embarrassment.
So, my hope for 2026 is that more people turn a critical ear to music. Have strong opinions! Share your musical hot takes! Let people know what you don’t like as well as what you do—it will help people calibrate your recommendations, think more about why they like what they like, and learn about more music in general. Otherwise, you may be raising awareness for the bands you like, but I worry it’s at the expense of relegating their music to the content heap.
I know, weird thing to write before segueing into a fucking listicle, but here we are.
Ten-ish releases I stand by from 2025 in alphabetical order:
ATOL ATOL ATOL – Dron Dron Dron LP (Mangel / Red Wig)
Freaked-out, nervy post-punk from Wrocław, Poland—kinda like if THIS HEAT were 75% more listenable (not a knock on THIS HEAT).
BLAMMO / RIBOFLAVIN – split LP
Two different bands with shared members and vibes (or one band operating under two different names and in slightly different modes) take a bunch of shit I don’t really like—borderline precious indie rock, post-hardcore, SONIC YOUTH—and somehow weave that into some shit I really do. One of my favorite records in a long time. If this were a just world, punk-leaning folks wouldn’t shut up about this record instead of the jangle pop that seems to be en vogue at the moment.
CRUELSTER – Make Them Wonder Why LP (Convulse)
KNOWSO – Hypnotic Smack LP (Sorry State)
PERVERTS AGAIN – The New Man LP (Saalepower 2)
It’s wild to me that a handful of Clevelanders can helm this many bands, each with such a singular, extremely weird aesthetic and just crank out record after record. And they all rule. A real artistic feat!
THE DRAGS – Dragsploitation… Now! LP (Total Punk)
I’ve never dug too far into Estrus’ back catalog—their output skews a little too garage turkey for me. Turns out one of the punker releases in all ’90s garage punk-dom was nestled among all those records festooned with pinup girls and Frankensteins! And I’d like to thank Rich from Total Punk for bringing it to the attention of all us folks who don’t wear pomade or have Bettie Page haircuts.
ERROR DE PARALAJE – Imagen Latente LP (Andalucía Über Alles)
Something like that ALVILDA record from last year mixed with MERCENÁRIAS. It’s so good.
G.I. JINX – Mind Freak LP (Celluloid Lunch / Psychic Handshake)
Face-melting noise rock from Montreal. Downer punk record of the year!
NORM DOGS – Electric Light EP (Flexidiscos)
It took a minute for this record to grow on me, but it really stuck around once it did. A great melodic punk highball: two ounces of Here Comes the Warm Jets, a dash of VELVET UNDERGROUND, four to six ounces of ORANGE JUICE.
THE LAVENDER FLU – Tracing the Sand by the Pool LP (In the Red)
Genuinely shocked to find out this record came out in 2025 and not two years ago. I guess time just inches by when you’re living in hell. Anyway, I really appreciate everything this band puts out. But what I appreciate most is when they actually play songs. These are good ones.
THE OBLIQUES – St. Petersburg / Cigarettes 7” (Hozac)
Maybe my favorite 7” of the year. Some Durham youngsters who sound kinda like someone pumped the CLEAN full of ketamine and asked them to play “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” from memory. Real good shit!
V/A – F(r)iends of GG LP (Scavenger of Death)
An ode to the folks who’ve put in time backing up GG KING, compiling tracks from their other bands. Complete with some data visualization art brut to demonstrate how everybody is connected! Warms my heart.
Ana Armengod
Ana Armengod is a Mexican filmmaker/multidisciplinary artist and vocalist of band DE RODILLAS.
Listening to the same records on repeat, fueled by coffee and sparkling water, is the only way I survive the insane deadlines I set for myself.
SOGA – Corrosión LP (Iron lung)
SOGA is a band that really speaks to me, created by amazing women I know from the Mexican punk scene who have consistently been part of great bands whose politics align with mine. This record does exactly that. Mexican punk has a very distinct noise—songs like “La Respuesta” carry that Mexican sound so well, I’m suddenly twelve again at a show in Mexico City.
LA RAF – Destruye digital single (self-released)
LA RAF is a perfect segue, an anarcho post-punk band from Mexico City and Monterrey, with members from SOGA, CRUZ DE NAVAJAS, HETEROFOBIA, CREMALLERAS, etc. I’m really stoked on this band; you can hear so many Spanish-speaking post-punk influences in their sound. Think DELIRIOS KRÓNIKOS, but with an anger driven by the reality and injustice of being a woman in Mexico.
EARLY GRAVE – Sewer Baby Eaten By Worms cassette (Sewer Baby Enterprises)
EARLY GRAVE is up there with some of my favorite current bands in Philadelphia. Everyone involved has such a huge repertoire of past projects that I won’t even attempt to list them all. EARLY GRAVE plays fast hardcore punk with a lot of thrash influence. I’ve heard John Cardwell be self-deprecating about his vocals, but it’s exactly those vocals that really tie everything together for me.
ALIENATOR – Meat Locker LP (Black Water)
My husband Allen (drummer of POISON RUÏN) suggested I listen to this record. He knows me so well. I called him and said, “It’s like ’90s metal-influenced hardcore had a baby with Japanese hardcore punk!” And all he said was, “That’s why I told you to listen to it.” An immediate yes from me!
RIGOROUS INSTITUTION – Tormentor 12” (Roachleg)
Honestly, I love this band. The dark, heavy sound of this record is unreal. Crust and synths are an incredible mixture. I like music that makes me feel like I’m somewhere else, and this record does that for me. DE RODILLAS played with RIGOROUS INSTITUTION in October, and I was deliriously sick, self-medicating with every throat remedy imaginable because we were in the middle of recording an LP. I stood there listening to RIGOROUS INSTITUTION, possibly high as hell on cough syrup, and I was locked in.
NO TIME – Comply or Die EP (Mendeku Diskak / TKO)
What’s in the water in PA? Because when it comes to hardcore/punk bands—damn! Pittsburgh has done it again. Even if Oi! is not for you, this band will change your mind. They are such a catchy band, and their live energy is contagious. I have so much respect for frontman Adam Thomas: he doesn’t hold back, he speaks about politics in a way that is digestible, and I get to witness him influence people every time they play.
TOTAL NADA – Aquí y Ahora LP (11 PM / Discos Enfermos)
I love this band, and this record didn’t disappoint. Honestly, I think it stands out compared to their past releases. It’s angry, it’s fast, it’s raw, it’s fucking good! You could argue that I’m biased toward Spanish-speaking bands because they sing in my language, but even if you don’t understand the lyrics, Boris’s raw intensity comes through loud and clear.
CONDUMB – Disassociation EP (Stupid Bag)
Another Philly banger. CONDUMB is fast, raw, and noisy as fuck. When the members are all legends with impeccable music taste, it’s hard for them to make anything but impeccable music. I honestly love Amy Opsasnick on vocals—loud, fast, and chaotic in the most intentional way. I hadn’t seen her front a band since STUTTER, and it was such a pleasant surprise to see her do it again.
HOME FRONT – Watch it Die LP (La Vida Es Un Mus)
Since “Light Sleeper” came out, I haven’t been able to get this song out of my head. It plays on repeat, and it absolutely rocks. I admit I love a band that sounds different from one song to the next, and HOME FRONT has that interesting range. Sometimes that BLITZ sound comes through, other times it’s straight-up new wave, but Graeme’s energy always makes you feel like you’re hearing something completely different, especially when you catch them live.
HARAM – Why Does Paradise Begin in Hell LP / ليش الجنة بيتبلش في الجهنم؟ (Toxic State)
It’s no coincidence that most of the bands I’ve reviewed are politically-charged: politics matter to me. Given the current state of the world—genocide, racism, inhumanity—it’s both difficult and urgent to speak out against the brutality we’re witnessing. HARAM did exactly this while also delivering an incredible record. Because trust me, this record is fucking good.
Bobby Cole
Bobby Cole is a musician and gig promoter based in Leeds, England. He runs Brainrotter Records.
This list was incredibly difficult to compile, as this year saw more top-quality hardcore and punk releases than most in recent memory. This list is largely in no particular order.
DESTRUXION AMERIKA – Gritos Norteño LP (Unlawful Assembly)
My choice for favorite release of the year. With a strikingly original sound that makes it stand out from the rest of the pack, combining fast hardcore punk with elements of anarcho/peace punk and goth. Coupled with overtly political subject matter and top-notch musicianship, you have a true winner.
SAVE OUR CHILDREN / STUNTED YOUTH – split LP (Unlawful Assembly)
Texas has been killing it with new, unbridled hardcore this year, and this split LP is a shining example. Snotty, fast, and abrasive, no frills and no fancy stuff. Yes, please. More splits in 2026!
TRAMADOL – Crucifixion EP (Donor)
I consider myself very blessed to have an outstanding and thriving punk scene right on my doorstep. Raw, blazing D-beat hardcore from right here in Leeds, tackling the increasingly worsening cesspit of the modern British political landscape. No flag-waving here.
IDENTITY SHOCK – Traces EP (Designated Moshers Unit)
A modern youth crew classic, picking up right where bands like STRAIGHT AHEAD left off. Blazing fast. Executed to perfection, with eight songs in seven minutes. Ticks all of my boxes for this style.
DAUNTING NIGHTMARE – Bloodshot EP (Sex Fiend Abomination)
Damaged hardcore noise. Blown-out, raw, down-tuned, punishing. If you played this to someone in a dark, padded cell, they would most likely experience a full psychotic break about halfway in. Also, these guys made the incredibly respectable move of releasing this record, playing a few shows, and then immediately disbanding. Respect.
NECRON 9 – People Die LP (Unlawful Assembly)
These Midwest cats do it again, and do it in style. Raw and fast, just as you would expect. The re-recordings are better than the demo versions, and the new songs are even better than that. A modern-day blueprint for fast hardcore. Although now sadly disbanded, NECRON 9 will certainly not soon be forgotten.
G*U*N*N – G*U*N*N LP (Going Underground)
The long-awaited full-length from Orange County’s finest delivers in full force. Fast yet very memorable and tuneful, in that old school OC tradition. Jam-packed with reggae samples and dumb humour. Hardcore without any pretence.
KALEIDOSCOPE – Cities of Fear LP (La Vida Es Un Mus)
The KALEIDOSCOPE guys never fail to craft some truly fantastic music, in this band and in others (including DESTRUXION AMERIKA, STRAW MAN ARMY, and TOWER 7). This comes five years after their last record, and in that time, global politics have reached all new levels of authoritarianism and brutality. As a result, Cities In Fear is KALEIDOSCOPE’s angriest record yet, while also not losing hope for a positive future. This record sparks inspiration, which is not something you can say for a lot of music today.
MOTHER NATURE – Loving, Joyful and Free LP (Static Shock)
Hailing from Leeds, but destined for the outer limits of our solar system. This album picks up where bands like DIE KREUZEN, SPIKE IN VAIN, and the more out-there SST bands left off. Wacked-out psychedelic space punk, done in an incredibly original fashion.
CRIMINAL ASSAULT – Criminal Assault demo cassette (Sound Grotesca)
Texas strikes again. More fast, more snotty, more abrasive hardcore ferocity. As great as it is when bands expand on the template, if it ain’t broke, why fix it? It packs one hell of a punch.
Honorable Mentions
The first three releases in this section are new archival releases from classic ’80s hardcore bands. They are placed here as I wanted to limit the main list to contemporary acts.
MECHT MENSCH – Anthology LP (No Coast)
RIPCORD – The Damage is Done LP (La Vida Es Un Mus / Quality Control HQ)
DEATH SIDE – The Will Never Die 2xLP (La Vida Es Un Mus)
ENDLESS JOY – Endless Joy LP (Iron Lung)
SUBJECTS – Subjects demo cassette (Youth Attack)
TOTAL NADA – Aquí y Ahora MLP (11 PM / Discos Enfermos)
TORMENTED IMP – Punishment EP (Donor)
WITS END – Wits End demo cassette (Counterculture / Rebirth)
LIFE SUPPORT – Borrowed Time EP (Youth Attack)
SEUDO YOUTH – Nobody Gets Down Like… LP (Going Underground)
It requires constant repetition: free Palestine and free the Filton 24. Fuck Israel, fuck the United Kingdom, and fuck the United States.
The Counterforce
Greetings MRR readers, Martin Force, Coordinator and Ambassador of The Counterforce here to present a hybrid hive-mind year-end top ten.
The Counterforce is an initiative to push back against the corporate capture of hardcore punk. Established in 2024, we work tirelessly against the evil constellation of corporate apps, platforms, and services and their dominance in our current hardcore punk culture. We are at war with Instagram and Spotify, and I think we might be winning.
On top of many other projects, we produce a web zine full of reviews, interviews, reportbacks, columns, and how-to guides. All that content is regularly compiled into print zines. We don’t do mailorder—instead, we provide printable PDFs for these zines, so punks in any town can easily start a local zine distro (and many do). We also do a cheeky thing where we take all the MRR reviews every month and lay them out as a zine that’s also available for anyone to print.
Enough self-promo—on with the year-end list. I’ve compiled this list strictly from 2025 releases that other people reviewed in The Counterforce. I’m starting with a small pool (we aren’t MRR after all!), but the result is a reflection of the experiment in human-driven curation we’ve built (filtered through my own taste).
In no particular order:
BLACK DOG – Sewn Into Confusion EP (Iron Lung)
I lied when I said “in no particular order.” BLACK DOG is first because they’re my favorite. I got to see them several times this year, but the best time was in a tiny room full of smoke coming out of the bass cab because the amp was cranked too loud. Bands like BLACK DOG should be enjoyed at maximum volume, accompanied by the smell of burning electronics.
CAUSTIC – Demo 2025 cassette (self-released)
I’ve been to Kamloops, I used to know the Kamloops punks, but I didn’t hear about this until it showed up in the reviews. It sounds like a long-lost classic ‘80s USHC demo except for the part where they start playing the Canadian national anthem riff to let you know they can’t help it if they’re from Canada.
EMPART – Extremenoisehardcore digital (self-released)
We don’t know where this band is from (perhaps Austin?), or anything about them, really. I usually don’t like the combination of blown-out and overcompressed mixing that gets applied to hardcore drums these days, but I’m sold after the opening fill on this one. You couldn’t play it quiet if you tried.
SISTEMA OBSOLETO – Esmagado Pela Engrenagem Capitalista EP (Neon Taste)
The original reviewer (hi Ralph) wasn’t too excited by this record, but it energizes me. It makes me feel similar to when I listen to that SALVAJE PUNK LP.
CONDUMB – Disassociation EP (self-released)
I know people in this band, but I don’t use Instagram so I learned about it from our reviews! I love it, but I feel like the music isn’t dumb enough to justify the name. I hope I get to see them play, maybe it’s dumber in person.
POISON SPEAR – Institutional Trust cassette (self-released)
A Montreal/PEI cross-Canada hardcore punk project. I think this is the only release on the list with a member who is also a (very occasional) Counterforce contributor. When I saw them play live, he dislocated his knee immediately from jumping around and just finished the set anyways.
CRUELSTER – Make Them Wonder Why LP (Convulse)
I would normally not like a band like this. I’d probably never listen to them once. But the review of this record submitted by a friend compelled me and gave me added context. It made me listen differently and engage more openly. As a result, I even enjoyed it and I’ve returned to this record a few times this year. The power of a convincing review!
AYUCABA – Operación Masacre LP (Educación Cínica)
Debut LP from a Barcelona band made up of expats from elsewhere, if I understand correctly. I was clued in early thanks to a Counterforce review of their 2024 Demo 01. I don’t normally go for slower, rock-adjacent music, but some of the catchy riffs on this record got stuck in my head easily. “Anarchic rock’n’roll!”
ZYCLONE – Visions of Impending Death EP (General Speech)
This list is really going from B-Z, starting and ending with ripping, fast, overpowering D-beat EPs. This one came out late last year/early this year, so if you forgot about it, it’s time to revisit. In grabbing the link, I noticed a flyer for a show they are playing in NYC. I instantly messaged a friend who is there (hi Slim) to let him know so he can catch this live! I will have to settle for living vicariously through him.
Crash-Test MagaZine
Bonus item number ten is a zine! Crash-Test from Brussels. I came across this zine while on tour with TOTAL NADA this summer. Issue #1 came out in 2025, so I consider it a 2025 release. They have gotten a new zine out every month this year, packed full of punk and anarchy (mostly in French). They distro locally but, as with The Counterforce, the PDFs are available online for anyone to print and distro. The overlap of punk and anarchist politics, the local and global scope, the Print-It-Yourself model—they are kindred spirits. Si tu parles français, checkez ça!
Erika Elizabeth
Erika Elizabeth plays bass in the bands COLLATE and the INTIMA, puts out records via Domestic Departure, and does reviews and radio for MRR. She lives on unceded Cowlitz/Clackamas land in so-called Portland, Oregon.
Ten things from 2025, in alphabetical order:
ATOL ATOL ATOL – Dron Dron Dron LP (Mangel / Red Wig)
ATOL ATOL ATOL’s 2023 LP Koniec Sosu Tysiąca Wysp completely threw me for a loop—taut, twin-vocal Polish art-punk with a minor DOG FACED HERMANS fixation? I might as well be Pavlov’s dog. Follow-up Dron Dron Dron is just as mind-warping, centering the band’s anxious electronic textures and snap-tight rhythms like an alternate-timeline Hardcore-era DEVO that wound up on Ron Johnson Records.
BLACK EYES – Hostile Design 12” (Dischord)
One of the bands that was a psychic lifeline for me as a teen weirdo finally finding some sense of belonging in the early ’00s DIY punk scene, indelibly marked in my brain as the soundtrack to trading letters, mixtapes, and zines with people I’d mostly only ever interacted with through the written word and building a community that extended far beyond the (psycho)geographic limits of my own city. I have an even deeper appreciation for BLACK EYES’ no wave/free jazz/dub-damaged take on punk now at age forty than I did at eighteen, and Hostile Design (their first new record in over twenty years) picks up those frayed threads of the past like no time has passed at all.
CASUAL HEX – Zig Zag Lady Illusion II LP (Youth Riot)
Zig Zag Lady Illusion II arrived seven years after the last record from CASUAL HEX, but the more things change, the more they stay the same. The trio’s recurring lyrical themes of devalued labor, mindless consumption, social engineering, and the corrupting effects of power are all still firmly in check here (and as relevant as ever), with an instrumental backing that’s just as scathing—think Confusion is Sex-era SONIC YOUTH, 99 Records-style danceability, and the caustic no wave crush of the STATIC and THEORETICAL GIRLS.
COLD MEAT – Cake & Arse Party EP (Helta Skelta / Static Shock)
A concise, immediate five-song statement of intent, taking aim at a multitude of damaging modern world bullshit. “Machine” blazes with one of the most furious, slow-build accelerating rhythms this side of the BAGS’ “Survive,” with vocalist Ash breathlessly shrieking about hustle culture reducing human value to the output of one’s productivity, as the bratty garage bash of “Prick at the Pub” tears down male energy vampires like a switchblade-carrying Slampt Records act. A perfect encapsulation of the supremacy of the 7” as a punk art form.
ERASER – Hideout 12” (Siltbreeze)
Motorik, electro-damaged meltdowns that mentally transported me right back to the first few years of our current millennium—it’s 2001 or 2002, I’m on the second floor of an old, dilapidated former downtown department store where I’ve come to see NUMBERS or ERASE ERRATA, everyone is smoking indoors, and the wood floors are buckling under the weight of people dancing in the light of a few junk store lamps and a half-broken chandelier. Wild no wave scrape lurking just beneath a claustrophobic robo-punk buzz, some of the best out-sounds out there now.
THE EX – If Your Mirror Breaks LP (Ex)
There are two kinds of music as far as I’m concerned—the EX, and not the EX. Real talk, is there any other band within (or even outside of) the realm of punk that has been active for almost fifty years(!) and continuously pushed the stylistic envelope without ever missing a single beat over the course of their entire discography? A truly endless source of inspiration. (See also: the live version of “The Apartment Block” that they contributed to this crucial compilation benefitting Gaza Soup Kitchen.)
MARAUDEUR – Flaschenträger LP (Feel It / Kakakids / Red Wig)
Sometimes deadpan, sometimes shouty multilingual vocals manipulated with just enough echo and delay to push them toward the edge of the uncanny valley, rubbery, loose-limbed bass (doubled-up DELTA 5-style) tangling with spartan, metronomic beats, paranoid synth squiggles spiked with single-note guitar—fast track to my top ten, always.
MOLESKINE – Affective Experience of Urban Space cassette (Chrüsimüsi / Urticaria)
Economical French art-punk that’s constructed like matchstick architecture, simultaneously precarious and precise. Spacious but taut mutant funk rhythms provide the grounding for short, scratchy shocks of guitar, blasé guy/girl spoken word vocal trade-offs, and on tracks like the gyrating, 99 Records-styled “Adjoining Wall,” some emphatic punctuation from a skronking saxophone, with occasional detours into smoldering, dubbed-out grooves and urgent FIRE ENGINES klaxon calls.
NAPE NECK – The Shallowest End LP (Dot Dash Sounds / OCCII / Red Wig)
Perhaps the one contemporary band that might be capable of blurring my assertion that the two kinds of music are the EX and not the EX—this is the most EX-like not-the-EX record of the year (or any other in recent memory). We could all only be so lucky if NAPE NECK also ends up holding it down for several decades to come.
SELF IMPROVEMENT – Syndrome LP (Feel It)
For all of its strengths, SELF IMPROVEMENT’s debut Visible Damage landed so squarely between two extremely au courant punk trends (jittery SUBURBAN LAWNS-indebted neo-new-wave, and clean, precise post-punk with talky Brit-accented vocals) that painting themselves into a corner seemed like a distinct possibility. Syndrome articulates their own identity much more clearly—the stern/sweet vocal switch over increasingly harsh electronic flourishes in “Settle Down,” the frantic, anxiety-addled drum machine rush of “Crashing,” the almost YOUNG MARBLE GIANTS-like “The One,” all signposts of a promising future.
João Seixas
Drummer in a thousand bands, singer for SISTEMA OBSOLETO, dystopic punk artist at @violence.paranoia, part-time arsonist, rulebreaker, defier of a world falling apart.
THE BERSERK – Where’s the Dictator? EP (self-released)
Rabid USHC that bites back. For anyone still dreaming of OUT COLD and NECROS, this is your fix. Fronted by a pitbull of a vocalist who practically drags the pit into the room (yeah, their mugshot is on the cover, in case you needed a warning). Relentless stomp, zero mercy, chaos stitched together with snarling precision. 2025’s breakout band, no contest.
SHITCONTROL – Hungriga, Frusna och Lamslagna cassette (Brus / Misslynt / Mosslik / Prescription)
Pure uncut Swedish hardcore, picking up the chains right where DISFEAR slammed them down before drifting into rock’n’roll. The bass demolishes like it’s trying to smash the walls down, doing its best to sound like Rainy in his heyday. Every riff, every hit screams DISCHARGE; no side quests, just that signature hammer-to-the-chest hardcore assault.
UNIDAD IDEOLÓGICA – Choque Asimétrico LP (La Vida Es Un Mus)
I had to take off another entry just to make way for this killer record. Glad I gave it a listen before I submitted my choices. An amphetamine-induced fist fight between CROW and KORO in a dark alleyway. Super intense and anxious hardcore done by the busiest Colombian punks known to man. Every band they do is fire!
G.A.Z.E. – G.A.Z.E. 12” (D-Takt & Råpunk)
Finnish punks absolutely crushing the Burning Spirits-style hardcore. And it’s not a cheap trick of watered-down metal-infused hardcore with a Japanese flare (with exceptions!), this is the real deal. They channel that bright, soaring, laser-sharp energy of PAINTBOX and DEATH SIDE with ridiculous precision. Uplifting, wild, and totally dialed in. Pure fire, no cosplay.
FOG – Spring EP (Always Never Fun / R.I.P. Peace)
A dead-on resurrection of the ’80s UK anarcho/peace-punk pulse. From the smudged, Xerox-scarred cover to the bleak, razor-sharp lyrical bite, this EP sweats OMEGA TRIBE, the MOB, and CRISIS from every pore. It’s that windswept, haunted melancholy of the old tapes, reimagined without losing an ounce of contrast. Spring is when the doves return…but these songs make you wonder what they’ll find when they get here.
ANGSTMÄLER – 4 Track EP cassette (Brainrotter)
D-beat wrecking ball swung by the hyperactive Haarlem crew also responsible for TRAUMATIZER, ROBBER, and ASBEST BOYS. Six minutes of amps redlined to death, rabid yelling, and breakneck pacing. Subtlety is nowhere to be found, and nobody’s pretending to care. No pretentiousness, no mercy, just ugly hardcore doing exactly what it’s supposed to do.
BLACK DOG – Sewn Into Confusion EP (Iron Lung)
Nova Scotia’s BLACK DOG snaps and growls on Sewn Into Confusion, and yeah, it’s basically like their other releases all over again, which is exactly the point. Crasher crust doesn’t need frills—the uglier, the better. These guys drag you through the garbage-strewn alleys of the UK, evoking legends like DOOM and EXTREME NOISE TERROR with some added over-the-top fuzziness of Japanese acts like GLOOM or FRAMTID. No bells, no gimmicks, no reinventing the wheel, just filthy, crusty punk done right, and it hurts the ears in all the best ways.
RIGOROUS INSTITUTION – Tormentor LP (Roachleg)
Musick that makes the flowers turn black. These Portland sorcerers conjure the same bleak, rust-eaten atmosphere the UK spat out in the ’80s with their post-punk-infected crust, but warped and wired through their own rotten metallic circuitry. Think KILLING JOKE getting stabbed by DARKTHRONE in an abandoned factory, with AXEGRINDER-style synths flickering like half-dead fluorescent lights. This isn’t the mid-’00s metallic crust assembly line, as it dodges every stereotype the “crust checklist” crowd tries to slap on it. Grim, original, and uncomfortably alive.
NISEMONO 偽者 – Nisemono 偽者 LP (Toxic State)
Total kängpunk worship with a bit of a Japanese hardcore flair. It’s got the same feral pulse as NOMAD (yeah, remember them?), but with the grime scraped off just enough to let the hits land even harder. NISEMONO has been lurking in the underbelly of the scene for years. We’re talking folks who’ve spilled noise in L.O.T.I.O.N., DOLLHOUSE, and WARTHOG. Got your damn attention yet? Thought so.
THE DAMAGE – The Damage demo cassette (self-released)
Spiritual successor to QUARANTINE. The ultimate mashup of US hardcore violence: NEGATIVE APPROACH/NECROS mindset. Catchy? Hell yeah. Relentless? You better believe it. Toss in some of the weirdest UNITED MUTATION/NO TREND riffs, and you’ve got a rollercoaster of teeth-clenching rage. Every track hits like a hardcore freight train. Agony already made heads spin, but this demo doesn’t just raise the bar, it smashes it into shards. No shocker here!
Honorable Mentions
ZYCLONE – Visions of Impending Death EP (General Speech)
RAPID DYE – Rapid Dye LP (11 PM / Cool Death)
FLECKENTARN – Feu du Ciel, Feu de l’Esprit LP (Croux)
TRAUMATIZER – Nuclear War Machine EP (Discos Enfermos)
TOTAL NADA – Aqui y Ahora (11 PM / Discos Enfermos)
DESTRUXION AMERICA – Gritos Norteño LP (Unlawful Assembly)
TOTAL CON – Who Needs Peace Corps? EP (Static Shock / Unlawful Assembly)
PLASMA – Mua Et Voi Omistaa LP (Little Jan’s Hammer / Nunchakupunk / Sorry State)
VAURIEN – Merveilleux Décombres LP (Croux)
THE MASSACRED – Nightmare Agitators LP (ACTIVE-8)
THE III – Dig Your Own Grave cassette (Roachleg)
John Toohill
SCIENCE MAN and @SwimmingFaith in Buffalo, NY.
In no particular order…
NO VICTIM – No Victim cassette (Sex Fiend Abomination)
I hit play and knew 30 seconds in that this was for me. Raw, real, sweat dripping from the ceiling, absolutely ripping hardcore punk. Fast, pissed, creative, and free.
LAUGHING CORPSE – Beyond Recognition EP (Sorry State)
Hell ya! Nonstop cool riffs of just nasty, blistering hardcore, and guitar players who know how to have a little fun with atmospheric noise. They can take it someplace scary without losing a drop of intensity before slamming right back in.
SILO KIDS – Silo Kids demo cassette (Earth Girl)
SILO KIDS – II cassette (Earth Girl)
I’m gonna combo two releases into one spot cuz both the tapes party, and it’s my list. Plus, if you listen to them in a row, you get to hear a band evolve in real time. Hardcore punk should feel immediate, and this one-two punch is about as alive and now as it gets. High-energy, frantic, fun as fuck, rolling-around-and-doing-the-limbo-mid-pit kind of shit. Hattiesburg still got it.
RECALL – Corpse EP (11 PM)
Dystopian wasteland noise-drenched D-beat hardcore punk from Montreal that I had the pleasure of playing shows with twice this year. Pump yer fist and headbang what’s left of your brain cells into the void.
NECRON 9 – People Die LP (Unlawful Assembly)
I got to see them last year under a bridge, and had been waiting for this LP to drop. Little secret here: all these picks are the same genre of hardcore/punk in my mind. The good kind. I’m certain this will be on a ton of other peoples top ten lists too, so I’ll just leave it at that.
JAIL – Rotations of Rot on Stations of Fear LP (Sangreal)
This is like the band John Connor should have started after surviving Terminator 2. Blistering, sinister, dystopian motorcycle music. Putting the correct ratios of punk, metal, and crust into a toxic barrel that’s sure to destroy anything you drop in it. Oh, and they deliver live, too.
EARLY GRAVE – Sewer Baby Eaten by Worms cassette (Sewer Baby Enterprises)
Man, I don’t know shit about this band or who told me to check it out. I couldn’t even figure out how to order the tape. It’s just psycho riff after psycho riff, and way more fun than anything their name, song titles, or vocals would leave you to believe. The YouTube page I listen to this on also hosts that NASA SPACE UNIVERSE LP, so that checks another box and makes sense to me.
COLD MEAT – Cake and Arse Party EP (Helta Skelta / Static Shock)
Their 2020 LP was arguably my favorite that year, so I was so pumped to have a new release. Their vocalist just legit has the best voice, the hooks are vicious, and despite their best efforts to scare me away with all the extremely painful guitar feedback tones on this album, I love it.
THE HELL – Cut the Chord EP (Drunken Sailor / Sorry State)
Fast, snotty hardcore straight from Hell (Cleveland). Sneering, cynical vocals that weave in and out of those tight, rhythmic shifts like a drunk ape fighting through crippling intoxication to occasionally take a deadly swing at you for disturbing their rest. Stay on your toes through that final song though, cuz that’s when they land the knockout punch.
RIGOROUS INSTITUTION – Tormentor 12” (Roachleg)
A lot of the words I would use to describe this band would probably turn me off had I not heard it first. Bludgeoning art-crust with a dark fantasy villain reciting apocalyptic spells through a harsh sludge wall that will surely bring about the end of times. Actually…that sounds sick. So is this record.
Kai Bosworth
Kai Bosworth lives in Richmond, VA and very infrequently posts mixes and musings at https://stochasticslide.wordpress.com/
Records are $30 and streaming services all enmeshed not merely genocidal tech fantasies but also (as revealed in Liz Pelly’s Mood Machine:The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist) horrific and baldly-admitted attempts to devalorize the role of music, art, and artists to bringing emotion or analysis into our lives. I’m tempted to ask the question: is punk supposed to sound good? Is it supposed to be accessible for the whims of one’s grindset soundtrack? Does punk need to be at least a little bit secret, to require a little bit of effort beyond the algorithm—to wrest oneself out of the everyday into some rancid basement or confusing backwater blog? I can’t be too cavalier about it while commenting (and thus publicizing) music, but maybe the existence of anti-LLM/AI writing can lead to more serendipitous discoveries. Go see bands, delete your account, ask a punk!
K9 – Thrills LP (Who Ya Know)
This Richmond, VA band features a fresh combination of catchy pop vocal melodies and occasionally bluesy chords that’s difficult for me to pin down! At times quite poppy, while elsewhere unexpectedly hardcore (I’ve witnessed kids moshing!). Other songs invoke for me regional lineages, like BRAIN F≠ or even PINK RAZORS? This record is all over the place in a good way, shifting tempos and themes in a way that never feels flat. At twenty minutes, it’s very easy to flip and repeat.
ADDED DIMENSIONS – Jane From Preoccupied America LP (Domestic Departure)
Another fantastic Richmond, VA group—no longer a bedroom project, but a three-piece I’ve been lucky enough to catch a few times. That said, the writing truly shines in this production’s layering of vocal melodies and backing tracks around the wry and deadpan lyrics. By the way, there’s no need to preface any review with “When you think of Richmond, you think of hardcore…”—this city (like many!) is full of scene-busting DIY music (see also STAR SIGN and KITCHENETTE links below!).
THE EX – If Your Mirror Breaks LP (Ex)
Notoriously prolific and with a rotating cast of members and collaborators, it might be easy to cruise past “another EX record.” Yet this is more of a culmination of forty years of skill and craft, an accumulation of experimental tendencies that has the band sounding exactly like the EX and no other group.
MOLESKINE – Affective Experience of Urban Space cassette (Chrüsimüsi / Urticaria)
I associate the elements of MOLESKINE with the art-punk tradition: non-traditional song structures, skronky saxophone, off-kilter spoken vocals, and a grounding in a strong, at times dubby rhythm section. I appreciate the way this Nantais group zags away from the tendency towards the hyperfast tempos common today; instead, these songs have an open sparseness that allows all of the instruments to filter through.
NAPE NECK – The Shallowest End LP (Dot Dash Sounds / OCCII / Red Wig)
Wood blocks proliferate on the list this year, but none are as syncopated as NAPE NECK’s. The power trio inherits something from FUGAZI and adjacent second-or-third-generation Dischord-orbiting groups (HAPPY GO LICKY and BASTRO come to mind). Or if Europe is your tendency, maybe the bass-driven sound of DAWSON. This isn’t a style I hear too often these days, which is maybe why it is so refreshing!
PUPPET WIPES – Live Inside LP (Siltbreeze)
I feel a bit odd writing about this band constantly, but there is something about Alberta’s PUPPET WIPES that is precisely what punk ought to sound like to me: dissonant, juvenile, distorted, and still somehow catchy. Includes a cover of a truly deranged 1977 KBD (or punksploitation) track from SEPTIMUS that has me once again asking “what is punk?”
SEUDO YOUTH – Nobody Gets Down Like…Seudo Youth LP (Going Underground)
Blasted-out SoCal guitars that immediately hit my AGENT ORANGE button, while the vocals are a dead ringer for last decade’s EXIT ORDER LP. Really fun band, I bet these songs rip live!
KALEIDOSCOPE – Cities of Fear LP (La Vida Es Un Mus)
Their last LP didn’t hit me as hard as others—it was a consensus MRR year-end top ten pick. But Cities of Fear feels like the band hitting another gear. While still having that characteristic KALEIDOSCOPE sound, some of these songs verge toward crust in a way that is generally outside of my wheelhouse but definitely rip.
MARAUDEUR – Flaschenträger LP (Feel It / Kakakids / Red Wig)
Growing beyond the more firmly “post-punk” aesthetics of their first two records, Flaschenträger finds Leipzig’s MARAUDEUR with a more intimate sound that to my ears combines elements from synth-punk and krautrock in a novel way.
SOGA – Corrosión LP (Iron Lung)
Short and sweet punk tending the Mexico City flame. At times it veers into riff-laden pogo territory in a way that I did not expect but has grown on me quite a bit.
Also worth a listen!
STAR SIGN – Star Sign cassette (self-released)
KITCHENETTE – Kitchenette demo cassette (self-released)
PIGGY BANK – Pattern Recognition cassette (Discos Peroquébien)
MARATHON 77 – The Park Street Studio Sessions cassette (self-released)
FAKE LAST NAME – 2025 Practice Tape cassette (self-released)
BLUG – Turnip Nation cassette (Music for People)
JANITORS – Promotional Tape digital (self-released)
EDDY CURRENT SUPPRESSION RING – Shapes and Forms EP (Cool Death)
LIQUIDS – Earthlings Make Piss / Happy Halloween 2018 LP (Under the Gun)
COLD MEAT – Cake & Arse Party EP (Helta Skelta / Static Shock)
Max Easton
Max Easton writes and releases books, zines, tapes and records under the Barely Human imprint. He’s played guitar, bass, or drums for Sydney bands BB & THE BLIPS, ROMANCE, and the BABY, and he currently plays in EX-COLLEAGUE and DOUBLE DATE.
Individual ascendency narratives might have won over the common sense of contemporary punk practice, but there’s still gold in the hills of the DIY international. Roll the end credits on Q1 of the 21st century with these ten nuggets!
BAD ANXIETY – No Shit EP (Feral Kid / Refuse)
BAD ANXIETY is the recording project of Hampton Martin from Hattiesburg, the coolest town I saw touring the US in 2018 (the gig featured a three-band battle royale to determine who got to play a full support set, I kid you not!). Bathe in the joys of the diss track no less than twice on this 7” EP, with “Big City” speaking to the small town quitter, and “Cool Moves” speaking to the guy in the pit who’s all elbows (save the broken nose for the ideological dispute in the back alley!).
COLD MEAT – Cake & Arse Party EP (Helta Skelta / Static Shock)
Perth’s COLD MEAT could release an EP of fart samples over paint-by-number D-beats and it would still make my top ten, but this 7” was a real gem! Taking to task anything from bullshit jobs to identity crises, Cake & Arse Party is the type of pressure release via proto-punk stomper that COLD MEAT have mastered over a decade of playing together. I walk around renovated Sydney every day with the lyric in my head: “How can you have so much money and only serve yourself?”
COMUNIONE – Se Chiudo Gli Occhi Non Esisto cassette (Sentiero Futuro Autoproduzioni)
Sentiero Futuro Autoproduzioni is my favourite label on the planet, adding to their faultless track record with the return of esoteric punkers COMUNIONE. This short tape carves a psychedelic edge into the mid-tempo Italian hardcore the band inherited from their origins in Milano. Rock out on the astral plane!
HARAM – Why Does Paradise Begin in Hell LP / ليش الجنة بيتبلش في الجهنم؟ (Toxic State)
I can’t believe what HARAM did with this LP! Riffs, beats, and rhythms might be familiar to anyone who has followed the “Ground Zero” NYHC sound since the early 2010s, but there’s a real effort here to build upon that style. Massive production, lead guitars that reference traditional Arabic melodies, and another all-timer vocal performance by Nader all make for a brilliant return by one of the great punk bands of the contemporary era.
MEMORY WARD – Memory Ward LP (Total Peace)
A band and label that makes me feel like all is not lost! MEMORY WARD is back with their first LP on Total Peace, the Arizona-based imprint that has managed to make Phoenix a go-to tour stop in the USA, logistics be damned. The LP is a master-class in barely-contained chaos. Is the drummer playing with seventeen cymbals? The guitar split through fourteen amps? The vocalist in a cage hanging upside from the ceiling? The wildest of wildest rides.
MKNAOMI – MKNaomi demo cassette (self-released)
Among the best bands I got to play alongside this year! Melbourne’s MKNAOMI is the genuine article, not just on stage or here on tape (which carries my favourite brand of recorded-in-a-paint-tin production value) but as builders of an alternative to the technocratic hell of contemporary life via zines, gigs, websites, a digital pirate radio station, and more. With highest praise to the lyric, “I like my chains / They’re in my colour.”
THE NATIVE CATS – Aces Low / Lose Count 7” (Rough Skies)
There’s no creative relationship I love more than that of Hobart’s post-punk heroes the NATIVE CATS. I hate to once again make obligatory mention of Nintendo DS Korg emulator, Julian Teakle’s juicy goddamned bass lines, and Chloe Alison Escott’s lyrical nous (we will crown her poet laureate of 21st Century DIY on the eve of the apocalypse), but it’s a formula so dependable that “Lose Count” is up there with the best tracks they’ve written after sixteen-plus years of jamming!
PHENOMENA – Phenomena demo cassette (R.I.P. Peace)
PHENOMENA was a surprise addition to 2025 for me, and this might have been my most listened-to tape. Only a city like Brisbane can pull off this kind of scrape through hardcore history’s outtakes pile, muddied by an industrial slice via scary-synth Dan (who also runs R.I.P. Peace, one of the great new DIY labels in Australia). I feel like this band would be at their best playing in a pitch-black basement, though I’d be too afraid to verify that.
V/A – Still No P.E.A.C.E. Still War LP (Warbad)
Listening to this compilation from Poland’s Warbad Records is like trying to explain a dream to a table full of friends (“…and you were there!”). SPIRITO DI LUPO, S.H.I.T., MURO, SIAL, and WARTHOG are just a handful of the representatives of the hardcore international here. Latter-day favourites reminding us that now’s not the time to stop fighting the warmongers and their corporate lackeys. Hard not to appreciate the echo of R Radical Records’ 1984 P.E.A.C.E. compilation in a time when history is very much repeating.
VASTA RUÍNA – Guerra Ao Pobre cassette (R.I.P. Peace)
VASTA RUÍNA has been a breath of fresh air in Sydney, delivering some DIY oomph to a disordered city determined to roll over to the interests of its hospitality magnates. Easily the best new hardcore band in town—Guerra Ao Pobre brings their sharp and direct live set to tape with world-class riffage setting the backdrop to a vocal performance on par with anyone on this list. I believe in what this band is doing so much that it’s bordering on embarrassing!
Seth McBurney
Seth McBurney has been a record reviewer for Maximum Rocknroll since 2022. Their attendance at local gigs is sporadic at best, but they do support the scene by being a rabid cassette collector and merch enthusiast.
Fuck this past year. 2025 has been a steaming pile of hot dog shit and I’d rather it be left in the rearview. The one bright spot: all the killer recordings released. These are in no particular order as they could all easily be number one.
NECRON 9 – People Die LP (Unlawful Assembly)
I’ve been lucky enough to catch NECRON 9 live a couple of times, and their performances are always top-tier. The People Die LP is also tops with its ’80s hardcore influences mashed into a frenetic speed run.
FLAT AFFECT – Flat Affect demo cassette (self-released)
This demo by FLAT AFFECT is probably the beginning and end of the short-lived band. However, the lo-fi production and riff-heavy anarcho-punk is hard to deny and accurately conveys the feeling of a Pittsburgh basement show.
DUKKHA – Dukkha cassette (self-released)
DUKKHA plays the sort of rough crust punk the Rust Belt region has been developing for literal generations, but they contain an emotional depth rarely shown in the subgenre. Guttural vocals explore the harsh reality of living in our world while thrashy guitar riffs fill the voids between lyrical delivery.
PERSONAL HELL – Window Painted Shut LP (Natural Sciences)
Sometime in late summer or early fall, the directorship of Natural Sciences out of Manchester contacted me about PERSONAL HELL. A few short listens later, and I was hooked on their nuanced presentation of hardcore. Thick, burly blasts of modern hardcore that occasionally meander into a metallic sound, all while the lyrics dissect the emotional underbelly of working class existence.
COMMITMENT – Commitment demo cassette (SRA)
When I saw COMMITMENT play at Skull Fest this year, I was blown away. Impossibly fast, heavy, pissed-off, and really, really tight. Their set was over in a flash, and I could do nothing but stand in stunned amusement. Some of the best Philadelphia hardcore I’ve heard in a while.
INHUMAN NATURE – Greater Than Death LP (Church Road)
As a person born in the mid-’80s, I was probably exposed to thrash metal at a questionably young age, and I’ve enjoyed it since. INHUMAN NATURE certainly recalls the era of IROC-Zs and Flying V guitars. However, their Greater Than Death full-length also cites death and black metal all while being punk as fuck.
PHOBOPHLYPTIX – Phobophlyptix LP (Radical Documents)
PHOBOPHLYPTIX play crossover that recalls early Three One G output with stompy blastbeats intermingling with riff-heavy guitars that feel mathematical at times, all while the vocal-cord-shredding lyrical delivery tells portents. This auditory spectacle happens in fractions of seconds. Don’t believe me? Check out the fifteen-second-long song “Haunting the Cube,” or the three-second-long “Drugged Confession.”
HEKÁTĒ – Μαύρη Τρύπα LP (Mascara Rocks)
Grecian band HEKÁTĒ plays dark-tinged punk that pulls no punches when it comes to social commentary, with intricate synthesizer work forming the basis of most song compositions.
SYMPATHY FLOWERS – Dreams of Lurking Fear LP (Cellofame Recordings)
SYMPATHY FLOWERS from Oakland, CA play gothed-out indignant punk rock that may make you have an existential crisis or cause you to laugh in the face of death, depending on who you are.
FOG – Spring EP (Always Never Fun / R.I.P. Peace)
The Spring EP by FOG is four tracks of contemporary anarcho-punk that’s sonically gnarly, with rapid-fire punk rock bolstering poetic yet critical lyrics.
Steve Henderson
Steve, a.k.a. Sir Bobos, is an artist and musician from Chicago. He plays guitar and sings in NIGHTFREAK and plays guitar in IMPAIRMENT. He writes reviews for Maximum Rocknroll, is one-third of What’s For Breakfast? Records, and never sleeps.
2025 was a wild one, but we made it! I played some sick gigs, wrote and recorded a bunch of new music, and helped put out killer LPs by PET MOSQUITO and WATERMELON. Here’s a list of ten-plus things that got me through.
NISEMONO 偽者 – Nisemono 偽者 LP (Toxic State)
NYC’s NISEMONO dropped this beast in March, and it blew me away. It’s got a heavy Japanese hardcore influence and a Scandinavian D-beat thread that runs through it, and it’s just nasty! It’s a raw, riff-filled monster that honors the past but pushes things a step forward. It’s very refreshing in the most intense way. It was no surprise to find out the band is made of members of WARTHOG and DOLLHOUSE. It’s a crushing debut that is still on repeat.
SCIENCE MAN – Monarch Joy VHS (Swimming Faith)
Buffalo artists John Toohill and Lindsay Tripp created this series of videos to accompany the SCIENCE MAN LP of the same name. It’s equal parts Jodorowsky and Brakhage, a sci-fidelic journey, devoid of a narrative, swimming in color and texture. It’s a surreal adventure set to the enigmatic proto-industrial hardcore that is Monarch Joy. The use of stop motion and animation is next-level, and Lindsay’s paper machete masks and costumes could fill a gallery space any night of the week. It’s as inspiring as it is jaw-dropping and serves as the perfect companion to a sinister LP.
Ignorant People fanzine
A sick zine from the suburbs of Chicago—I look forward to every issue. The creator isn’t pushing hype or an agenda, but shares things she’s passionate about, and it really comes through as you flip through it. It’s cut-and-paste, and assembled by hand; you can tell it’s a labor of love and I dig that.
ALIENATOR – Meat Locker LP (Black Water)
I love riffs, and this record is packed with ’em! The cover art is downright menacing, and the music backs it up. It’s nasty, thrashy hardcore delivered at maximum intensity. It’s a monster and top contender for hardcore record of the year.
MECHT MENSCH – Anthology LP (No Coast)
This is a very well done anthology of one of, if not the, best early hardcore bands from Wisconsin. Bobby Hussy spent five years putting this together, and good things come to those who wait! It includes all their recorded output, plus some live stuff. Henry Rollins even provided the ¼” master reel for the tracks for the seminal Acceptance EP. Midwestern hardcore has never sounded better! There’s a thirty-six-page zine that includes tons of flyers and photos, plus a three-foot poster is included with the first press. Essential listening.
SATIN BLACK – “My Mind’s Diseased” from the split EP with CALAMITY (Snot Box)
Snotty scum-punk from DeKalb, Illinois. This is the first track on the A-side of their split EP with CALAMITY from Wisconsin, and it’s better than the entirety of the split! It sounds like it was recorded on a broken four-track inside of a moldy basement. The drums overpower everything in the best way, but the guitar still manages to rip through the mix in short, sonic blasts. The vocals are young and snotty, reminding me of CAREER SUICIDE.
SICK THOUGHTS – Another Piece of Plastic EP (Rokk)
I’ve never really been a SICK THOUGHTS fan, but goddamn, this EP rips. It made me go back and revisit their whole catalog, and now “I got sick thoughts!” “Just Die Fast” is perfect punk, and “The Doom” is one of my favorite tracks of the year. I love when punks push the boundaries and venture into new sonic territory. Props for throwing in a sick-ass slide guitar solo to end one of the year’s best records.
RAZORBLADE – Razorblade LP (Razor)
Heavy-as-a-heart-attack, basement-brewed metalpunk from Pittsburgh. There’s an early SLAYER influence here, and the riffs get downright thrashy, but there’s also a strong ANTI CIMEX influence that balances the whole thing out. If that’s music to your ears, you’ll love the chaotic 30-second sandblasted guitar solos and guttural vocals. “Nocturnal Beast” fucking rips.
SPLIT SYSTEM – No Cops in Heaven / Pull the Trigger 7″ (Legless / Static Shock)
This 45 dropped as masked dipshits stormed the city I call home and waged war on my neighbors and community. It’s a shotgun blast of perfect ACAB-inspired street punk and exactly what I needed. Fuck cops forever!
CITRIC DUMMIES – Split With Turnstile LP (Feel It)
This is one of those records that somehow feels like a classic but also completely modern, without sounding like anything else. I usually cringe at humor in rock’n’roll—honestly, I kind of hate it—but these DUMMIES pull it off. The absurdity of the lyrics is a perfect match for the band’s over-the-top performance. Musically, they’re locked in and cranked up to ten. It’s blisteringly fast, airtight, and played with speedball intensity. Vocalist and bassist David Lunch knows how to craft a hook, even while delivering lines at warp speed. These guys can really play, and don’t shy away from a killer melody while keeping it undeniably punk. Highly recommended.
Honorable Mentions
BESTA QUADRATA – Besta Quadrata LP (Swimming Faith)
DEAD MOON – In the Graveyard cassette (Creep Purple)
JACKET BURNER – Eat Shit & Die LP (Goodbye Boozy)
PURE INTENTION – “American Muscle” digital single (Snot Box)
Sydney Salk
Sydney Salk is a Brooklyn-based writer and deejay on WFMU. She writes the zine Compilation Nation and has a new band called VAN GOTH.
In alphabetical order, because I hate applying quantitative analysis to art:
ARTIFICIAL GO – Musical Chairs LP (Feel It)
Cincinnati’s art-punk superheroes are at it again! The follow-up to their 2024 debut is shinier than ever, with instant hits like the confident strut of “The World is My Runway” and canine ode “Circles.” Their freewheeling, cathartic, smiles-all-around energy is even more infectious live, so if you have a chance to see ARTIFICIAL GO play near you, do not miss it.
CHRONOPHAGE – Musical Attack: Communist + Anarchist Friendship EP (Post Present Medium)
Tender but tight, utopic but grounded. Despite all odds, CHRONOPHAGE proves that you can apply DIY punk values to an indie rock context. Four tracks from the band’s New York incarnation are all that’s needed to reinstitute your faith in humanity, from the relaxed drive of “We Must Be Evil” to the intricate single “Swords ‘n’ Sandals.”
CRUELSTER – Make Them Wonder Why LP (Convulse)
Twenty-one songs of proper, hard punk, not a single one over three minutes, and most just around one. But there’s plenty of intention to CRUELSTER’s blitz on their third album, the Cleveland band spitting political commentary over tightly crafted choruses. Like in “Jerks,” the anthem of the year that places its sing-along romp from the perspective of a really shitty asshole. Bonus shoutout to sibling band KNOWSO for also having a great album this year, Hypnotic Smack.
DOROTHY FUZZ – Run Devil Run! LP (self-released)
DOROTHY FUZZ has summoned the creative soul of ’80s downtown and transferred it into a new, cooler body. Singer Dodi croons “Is That All There Is?” by CRISTINA with the hair of CHRISTIANE F, which should be enough to entice you. And this is actually the two-piece’s second release of the year: the follow-up to Mad Art for a Mad Age features a studio recording set-up, some new tracks, and full transformations for the repeats.
FUGITIVE BUBBLE – What Will Happen If We Stop? LP (Sorry State)
Name another punk band that would make space for a mid-album piano interlude. You can’t. With dual vocalists and a penchant for politics, FUGITIVE BUBBLE’s sophomore effort is hard-hitting and high-energy. What Will Happen If We Stop? is a question that the listener of this album does not want to know the answer to.
GENRE – Genre cassette (self-released)
This group from Kansas City takes cues from math rock and noise art when crafting layered harmonies and wailing synth lines, but it’s the tangible, home-spun quality of their recording that brings intelligent craft to the punk level. The self-titled nature of this release corroborates that this is GENRE’s most self-assured statement yet, riding like the soundtrack to a sugar-high crash.
MOLESKINE – Affective Experience of Urban Space cassette (Chrüsimüsi / Urticaria)
Fashioned like the post-punk version of a jazz quartet, this band from Nantes turns concrete sterility into infectious grooves. MOLESKINE’s rotation of instruments (each member has more than one duty) leads to a strong sense of collectivism, and the rhythm is front and center, with bass steadiness leading the charge. Every interaction is perfectly paired-up and pared back.
PINK LADY MONSTER – Ponk LP (self-released)
The art school kids are alright. Using a wide variety of programmed synthesizers and vintage instruments, Serpentine Ludicrous and the gang make music that is equal parts punky and funky. Droll affectation matched with surprising compositions is what makes Ponk a genre of its own.
SCHIMMEL ÜBER BERLIN – Eisenmund cassette (Billo / Static Age)
Due to its inherent sharpness, punk vocals sound amazing in German. The album was originally recorded without lyrics two years ago and just finished now, but you’d think it was all meant to go together from the start. Dark and synthy, the world created by SCHIMMEL ÜBER BERLIN, which translates to “Mold Over Berlin,” is an atmospheric fantasy.
V/A – Weird Scenes From Inside the Droll Mind EP (Celluloid Lunch)
Four great bands from Montreal, one 7” piece of orange vinyl. The good folks over at Celluloid Lunch bring us tracks from PRIVATE LIVES, G.I. JINX, GARDEN OF LOVE, and the WRONG SKY, some released elsewhere, others entirely new. The creative consensus among these acts is that noise rock is in, and the sound barrier is merely a suggestion.