The Fire Note Writer Edition Top Albums of 2025

At The Fire Note, our writers are the spark behind every review, premiere, and hidden gem we feature. Their curiosity, their deep listening, and their love for championing great music make the Writers’ Top 25 one of our favorite traditions. We even bring a few retired voices back into the fold — once TFN, always TFN.

Some writers drop full commentary, others keep it clean with a ranked list, and a few come loaded with honorable mentions. However they format it, each list reflects the personality and perspective that make TFN feel like a real community of music obsessives.

And new this year: the consensus top 10 list of our writers’ picks — the albums that showed up everywhere. You’ll see that list to the right.

With the Official Top 50 on the way, you can check out below what the TFN crew has been spinning and championing all year long.

Discover. Support. Share.

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CHRIS TAHY — TOP 25 ALBUMS OF 2025

1. Goon – Dream 3
A lush, textured shoegaze record that unfolds in unexpected ways. Songs like “Closer To,” “Patsy’s Twin,” and “This Morning Six Rabbits Were Born” always kept me coming back. Even once you know every twist, it still hits with a twilight-driven emotional pull.

2. Wednesday – Bleeds
Noise-country grit, goth-punk edges, and some of their strongest songwriting yet. “Elderberry Wine” should have been everyone’s song of the summer. A standout release in an already stacked year for the band.

3. Tropical Fuck Storm – Fairyland Codex
A return to the exhilarating chaos that made their early work so special. Wit, frustration, self-reflection, and joy collide in a shape-shifting record that constantly surprises.

4. Ryan Davis & The Roadhouse Band – New Threats From the Soul
A sleeper hit full of sharp lyrics and incredible instrumental performances. Carries a real David Berman/Purple Mountains spirit. A right-place-right-time kind of album.

5. Magic Fig – Valerian Tea
Like a UFO landing in pastoral England. Every track is an audible trap for goosebumps. One of Exploding in Sound’s strongest releases this year.

6. Alex G – Headlights
Warm, groove-driven, beautifully told. If Rocket was your entry point, this album feels like its emotional cousin. A tender, life-affirming listen.

7. Maruja – Pain to Power
A politically charged, brass-fueled storm of emotion. Bold, angry, cathartic. Some of the most thought-provoking lyricism of 2025.

8. Okonski – Entrance Music
Spiritually charged and warm, like a blanket for the brain. A calm, reflective album that elevates peaceful moments.

9. Hayden Pedigo – I’ll Be Waving as You Drive Away
Instrumental storytelling at its finest. Vivid, melodic, and emotionally rich. A record that paints entire landscapes in sound.

10. Guerilla Toss – You’re Weird Now
Fun, wild, and irresistibly danceable. Packed with clever arrangements and big personality. The most fun album of the year.

11. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Phantom Island

12. Doom Gong – MEGAGONG

13. Stoned Jesus – Songs to Sun

14. Deftones – private music

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

16. Pile – Sunshine and Balance Beams

17. Wet Leg – moisturizer

18. Lucy Dacus – Forever Is a Feeling

19. pôt-pot – Warsaw 480km

20. Packaging – Packaging

21. Caroline – Caroline 2

22. Hannah Frances – Nested in Tangles

23. Frankie and the Witch Fingers – Trash Classic

24. Hotline TNT – Raspberry Moon

25. Geese – Getting Killed

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SIMON WORKMAN — TOP 25 ALBUMS OF THE YEAR

1. Chris Crofton – I’m Your Man (YK / Arrowhawk)
A heartfelt, humorous, sharply written set of indie-folk confessions that lands with surprising emotional weight.

2. M Ross Perkins – What’s The Matter M Ross? (Karma Chief)
Warm, 70s-soaked pop craftsmanship from one of Ohio’s most effortlessly melodic songwriters.

3. Population II – Maintenant Jamais (Bonsound)
A swirling blend of psych-rock and jazz-damaged grooves that feels both loose and tightly wound.

4. Kendra Morris – Next (Karma Chief)
Soulful, cinematic, and richly arranged — a confident evolution for Morris.

5. Denison Witmer – Anything At All (Asthmatic Kitty)
Intimate, understated folk populated by Witmer’s unmistakable warmth and clarity.

6. Black Country, New Road – Forever Howlong (Ninja Tune)
A sprawling, unconventional, deeply moving document of a band reinventing itself in real time.

7. Rip Van Winkle – Blasphemy (GBV Inc.)
Lo-fi charm and sharp songwriting wrapped in a perfectly skewed GBV-adjacent spirit.

8. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Phantom Island (pdoom)
A genre-jumping band still finding new ways to surprise — intense, vivid, and wildly imaginative.

9. Smug Brothers – Stuck On Beta (Anyway)
Jangly indie pop bursting with immediacy and tuneful brevity — one of the band’s most consistent sets.

10. Guided By Voices – Universe Room & Thick, Rich, and Delicious (Rockathon / GBV Inc.)
Two albums, one unstoppable creative run — Pollard’s songwriting machine refuses to slow down.

11. Squid – Cowards (Warp)
Art-rock precision meets emotional urgency in one of the year’s most ambitious releases.

12. Wednesday – Bleeds (Dead Oceans)
Gritty, catchy indie rock that cuts deep with vulnerability and power.

13. Cardiacs – LSD (The Alphabet Business Concern)
A long-awaited burst of manic brilliance — complex, joyful, and unlike anything else.

14. Geese – Getting Killed (Partisan / Play It Again Sam)
Sharp, wiry, creatively restless indie rock from one of the most exciting young bands.

15. Swearing At Motorists – 31 Seasons In The Minor Leagues (BB*ISLAND)
A raw, narrative-driven return full of lived-in detail and emotional punch.

16. Matt Berry – Heard Noises (Acid Jazz)
Psychedelic pop, baroque textures, and Berry’s trademark eccentric charm.

17. Bill Fox – Resonance (Eleventh Hour)
Beloved singer-songwriter Bill Fox returns with his first album since 2012.

18. Sven Wunder – Daybreak (Piano Piano)
Lush, atmospheric instrumental soul-jazz with a warm cinematic sweep.

19. Jonathan Richman – Only Frozen Sky Anyway (Blue Arrow)
Minimalist, earnest, deeply human — classic Richman storytelling.

20. Canyon Lights – Breathe Easy (Sgt. Honeyeater)
From swampy riffs to soulful slow-burns, Canyon Lights make their first statement a bold one.

21. Jeff Tweedy – Twilight Override (dBpm)
A thoughtful, introspective set from a songwriter in constant quiet evolution.

22. Okonski – Entrance Music (Colemine)
Spiritual, meditative, beautifully understated — a standout instrumental release.

23. Wet Leg – Moisturizer (Domino)
Another playful, hook-forward burst of personality from the UK duo.

24. Say She She – Cut and Rewind (drink sum wtr)
Glossy, groove-heavy, and irresistibly catchy — a modern soul triumph.

25. Frankie & the Witch Fingers – Trash Classic (RAS / Greenway)
A blistering psych-rock barrage with big riffs and bigger energy.

Top 10 Reissues / Archival Releases

1. Various – Brown Acid: The Twentieth Trip & Twenty-First Trip (RidingEasy)
2. Yezda Urfa – Boris (Noble)
3. Yesterday’s Children – S/T (Ancient Grease)
4. Love – The Complete Elektra Albums (Rhino)
5. Los Jaivas – Alturas De Macchu Picchu (The state51 Conspiracy)
6. Ted Lucas – S/T (Third Man)
7. Various – Jugoton Funk vol. 2 (Everland / Croatia)
8. Stanley Cowell – Musa • Ancestral Streams (Strata East)
9. Rose Blossom Punch – Ephemere (Pacifire)
10. Various – Maybe I’m Dreaming (Anthology Recordings)

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LENA BISHOP — TOP 25 ALBUMS OF 2025

1. Wednesday – Bleeds
A raw, emotional storm where rock weight and country glow collide into one of the year’s most affecting releases.

2. Florist – Jellywish
Hushed, glowing intimacy built from fragile melodies and quiet emotional details that land with surprising force.

3. Joanne Robertson – Blurrr
Soft shadows, whispered edges, and drifting emotional currents — a haunting, deeply interior world that feels lived-in and unguarded.

4. caroline – caroline 2
Open space and slow-unfolding tension shape an album that rewards stillness, patience, and deep listening.

5. Florry – Sounds Like…
Loose, lived-in folk-rock refracted through surreal warmth, full of honest imperfections that give the songs their pulse.

6. Horsegirl – Phonetics On and On
Dream-rock minimalism with hazy melodies and a 90s glow, quietly confident and emotionally grounded.

7. Greg Freeman – Burnover
A smoky, slow-burning record full of subtle shifts and lingering emotional afterglow that stays with you long after.

8. Water From Your Eyes – It’s a Beautiful Place
Art-pop strangeness meets emotional clarity in a way that feels both disorienting and unexpectedly tender.

9. Snocaps – Snocaps
Warm fuzz, jangly hooks, and a homespun immediacy that radiates charm from the very first note.

10. Gus Englehorn – The Hornbook
A playful, off-kilter collection where odd shapes and surprising turns always circle back to unexpected emotional hooks.

11. First Day Back – Forward
First Day Back balance raw edges with genuine emotion, landing on a sound that nods to the ’90s while carving out their own lane.

12. Automatic – Is It Now?
Minimal synth grooves with cool tension and understated mood, drifting between detachment and warmth.

13. pôt-pot – Warsaw 480km
Mathy edges and shimmering textures fold into a detailed, melodic whole that rewards attention.

14. Good Flying Birds – Talulah’s Tape
Lo-fi indie warmth with gently glowing melodies — simple in the best way, and instantly comforting.

15. Psychic Pigs – Psychic Pigs
Noisy, jagged, and emotionally off-center; the kind of chaotic indie energy that feels cathartic rather than abrasive.

16. M(h)aol – Something Soft
Sparse, powerful post-punk built on sharp lines and emotional vulnerability held just below the surface.

17. Panda Bear – Sinister Grift
Abstract art-pop textures swirling through nostalgia and subtle emotional pull — strange, warm, and mesmerizing.

18. Tony Molina – On This Day
Short melodic bursts, perfectly crafted, full of yearning and effortless power-pop precision.

19. Osees – Abomination Revealed At Last
A shapeshifting noise-rock maze that thrives on chaos, momentum, and wild experimentation.

20. Go Kurosawa – soft shakes
Ambient psych-folk sketches that drift gently between meditation, curiosity, and melodic haze.

21. AFI – Silver Bleeds the Black Sun…
Dark, theatrical, and emotionally charged — a dramatic, pulsing atmosphere from start to finish.

22. The Unknowns – Looking From The Outside
Brisbane’s finest prove punk’s heartbeat is loud, fast, and very much alive in 2025.

23. Lily Seabird – Trash Mountain
A gritty, emotionally raw indie-folk record filled with stormy vulnerability and unguarded honesty.

24. The Tubs – Cotton Crown
Jangly indie rock with beautifully moody songwriting and tracks that stay in your head.

25. They Are Gutting a Body of Water – LOTTO
A fogged-out collision of vapor, noise, and melody — beautifully broken, immersive, and hypnotic.

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THOMAS WILDE — TOP 25 ALBUMS OF 2025

1. Geese – Getting Killed
A wiry, unpredictable guitar record showing a young band sharpening their sound and identity.

2. Wednesday – Bleeds
A heavy, emotional breakthrough where indie rock and twangy grit collide into the band’s boldest statement yet.

3. Possible Humans – Standing Around Alive
Jangle-pop perfection — tight, melodic, fuzzy, and endlessly replayable.

4. Ryan Davis & The Roadhouse Band – New Threats From the Soul
Warm, witty, and deeply felt songwriting with a strong Berman-esque pulse.

5. Sharp Pins – Balloon Balloon Balloon
Scrappy, hook-heavy indie rock bursting with GBV-styled lo-fi charm.

6. Pile – Sunshine and Balance Beams
A confident return to rugged, rhythm-forward noise rock with emotional weight.

7. Alex G – Headlights
A luminous, introspective record full of subtle grooves and heartfelt storytelling.

8. Gus Englehorn – The Hornbook
Playful, off-kilter art-pop shaped by quirks, hooks, and unpredictable turns.

9. Water From Your Eyes – It’s a Beautiful Place
Art-pop chaos refined into something emotional and strangely direct.

10. The Gnomes – The Gnomes
A wild psychedelic ride full of riffs, whimsy, and elastic energy.

11. Horsegirl – Phonetics On and On
Dreamy, structured indie rock with 90s warmth and understated confidence.

12. Lifeguard – Ripped and Torn
Angular, urgent post-punk brimming with youthful momentum.

13. Good Flying Birds – Talulah’s Tape
Lo-fi melodic sparkle with tape-warp charm and catchy immediacy.

14. Fust – Big Ugly
Dusty, narrative-driven indie-folk that deepens with every listen.

15. The Boojums – The Boojums
A fuzzy, personality-packed debut with strong melodic instincts.

16. M(h)aol – Something Soft
Sparse, emotionally carved post-punk delivering quiet but powerful impact.

17. caroline – caroline 2
Expansive and cinematic, building tension and beauty in equal parts.

18. Wet Leg – moisturizer
Playful, sharp, hook-loaded — a vibrant step forward for the band.

19. The Telephone Numbers – Scarecrow II
Gorgeous jangle-pop melancholy glowing with timeless melody.

20. Tunde Adebimpe – Thee Black Boltz
TV on the Radio frontman delivers a solo record which was genre-blurring, rhythmically adventurous, and bursting with identity.

21. DOOM GONG – MEGAGONG
Heavy, hypnotic sludge-psych with massive atmosphere.

22. Bee Bee Sea – Stanzini Can Be Allright
Kinetic garage-pop with sharp hooks and a raw spirit.

23. Twisted Teens – Blame The Clown
Blame the Clown is a sharp, scrappy burst of hooky punk energy—raw, restless, and impossible to ignore.

24. Superchunk – Songs in the Key of Yikes
Melodic, urgent indie rock from veterans who still hit with surprising force.

25. The Tubs – Cotton Crown
Jangly, shadowy indie rock filled with heartfelt vocals and sharp writing.

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KEVIN POINDEXTER — TOP 25 ALBUMS OF 2025

1. Guided by Voices – Thick Rich & Delicious, Universe Room (GBV Inc.)

2. Cosmic Ear – Traces (We Jazz)

3. Krokofant – 6 (Is It Jazz?)

4. Organic Pulse Ensemble – Ad Hoc (Puro/Ultraääni)

5. Water From Your Eyes – It’s a Beautiful Place (Matador)

6. Sharp Pins – Radio DDR / Balloon, Balloon Balloon (K/Perennial)

7. Linda May Han Oh – Strange Heavens (Biophilia)

8. Fieldwork – Thereupon (Pi Recordings)

9. The Men – Buyer Beware (Fuzz Club)

10. The Bug Club – Very Human Features (Sub Pop)

11. Geese – Getting Killed (Partisan Records)

12. Possible Humans – Standing Around Alive (Hobbies Galore)

13. Frankie and the Witch Fingers – Trash Classic (Greenway)

14. Snocaps – Snocaps (Anti-)

15. Radioactivity – Time Won’t Bring Me Down (Dirtnap)

16. Brown Spirits – Cosmic Seeds (Soul Jazz)

17. Shrunken Elvis – Shrunken Elvis (Western Vinyl)

18. Ville Lähteenmäki Trio – Second Sight (RR Gems)

19. James Brandon Lewis – Apple Cores / Abstraction is Deliverance (Anti- / Intakt)

20. Marshall Allen – New Dawn / Live in Philadelphia (Mexican Summer / Otherly Love)

21. Kannaste4 – Out of Self and Into Others (We Jazz)

22. Lifeguard – Ripped and Torn (Matador)

23. Rip Van Winkle – Blasphemy (Splendid Research)

24. Good Flying Birds – Talulah’s Tape (Carpark)

25. Sultan Stevenson – El Roi (Edition Records)

Honorable Mentions

The Moles – Composition Book (Splendid Research)

Bill Fox – Resonance (Eleventh Hour)

Tree of Smoke – Enders (Dirt Cult)

The Telephone Numbers – Scarecrow II (Slumberland)

Theon Cross – Affirmations (New Soil)

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DANIEL TAYLOR — TOP 25 ALBUMS OF 2025

1. Anytime Cowboy – Voice in the Clouds
A country-fried Capstan Shafts, delivering laconic cowboy post-punk. Fans of David Berman and Silver Jews will feel instantly at home. This desperately needs a physical release.

2. Gus Englehorn – The Hornbook
Off-kilter indie rock with quirky art-pop storytelling. The weirdness tightens into sharp hooks. LIYL: Pixies, Daniel Johnston.

3. Porto Geese – Pop Songs
Heavy psychedelic shoegaze from Norway, where swirling noise collides with bright, melodic pop. Rich, layered, and constantly shifting.

4. Lawn – God Made The Highway
A genre-melting blend of Besnard Lakes-style dream-rock, tense post-punk, and playful indie-pop detours. Their most adventurous record yet.

5. Pile – Sunshine and Balance Beams
Boston’s noise-rock pillars return to their jagged foundations while preserving the vulnerability they’ve developed over the last decade.

6. Leopardo – Side A / Side B
Swiss avant-pop that shapeshifts between lounge-psych, lo-fi fuzz, and warped pop experiments. One of those bands you always double-check on a playlist.

7. Delivery – Force Majeure
Melbourne post-punk/garage-punk hybrid with wiry guitars and power-pop hooks that land clean every time.

8. Sharp Pins – Balloon Balloon Balloon / Radio DDR
Lo-fi indie rock with deep Guided By Voices DNA. The Radio DDR reissue adds scrappy charm, while Balloon Balloon Balloon keeps the Bee Thousand spirit alive.

9. Good Flying Birds – Talulah’s Tape
Bright lo-fi pop from Indianapolis, tugging at GBV and Superchunk melodic threads with its own twee sparkle.

10. Franco Rossino – Franco Rossino #1
Vancouver protest folk-punk with grit and clarity. If Dumb is truly on hiatus, this raw solo detour softens the blow.

11. Moreish Idols – All In the Game
London indie rock with angular post-punk edges and slacker wit. Like a UK Pavement filtered through modern art-pop.

12. Possible Humans – Standing Around Alive
Melbourne jangle-pop and fuzzy indie rock blending R.E.M. shimmer with GBV immediacy. Effortlessly strong.

13. Lambrini Girls – Who Let the Dogs Out
Brighton punk fury powered by riot-grrrl energy, noise-punk chaos, and unapologetic political bite.

14. Stuart Pearce – All This Vast Overproduction
Belfast post-punk leaning heavily on The Fall’s wiry DNA, with talk-snarl vocals and sharp, noisy scrapes.

15. Denude – A Murmuration of Capitalist Bees
Math-leaning noise rock that jerks, twists, and crashes like early Pile. Abrasive, tight, and compelling.

16. PYREX – Body
NYC hardcore with thrash edges. Fast, punishing, and delivered with zero hesitation. Pure adrenaline.

17. Heavy Lungs – Caviar
Bristol post-punk bruisers bringing the album some hoped Idles would make. Feral rhythms and noise-rock punch.

18. The Bug Club – Very Human Features
Welsh indie-garage charmers returning with another witty, jangly, story-driven album. This band never misses.

19. Wednesday – Bleeds
Asheville noise-country heroes dialing up the heaviness, mixing shoegaze walls, alt-country vulnerability, and Southern grit.

20. Wallplant – Fall Together
Chicago lo-fi power pop from Donny Walsh (Stuck), loaded with fuzzy immediacy and basement-pop hooks.

21. Horsegirl – Phonetics On and On
Chicago dream-rock minimalism with warm ’90s college-rock vibes. Understated and quietly joyful.

22. So Cow – Rebel Bishop
Galway DIY fuzz-pop at its finest: jangly, catchy, and handmade. A treasure for lo-fi pop fans.

23. CLAMM – Serious Acts
Melbourne heavy noise-punk with barked vocals and raw urgency that deepens on repeat listens.

24. M(h)aol – Something Soft
Dublin/London post-punk blending minimalism with intense emotional weight. Quiet power meets sharp edges.

25. Mclusky – The World Is Still Here and So Are We
Cardiff noise-rock legend Falco returns swinging—abrasive, witty, and razor-tight. Another nasty, perfect entry in the Mclusky canon.

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