Decision paralysis. We all experience it. Especially when browsing whatever streaming platform and trying to decide between the comfort show or movie we’ve seen a hundred times versus something new that sounds interesting, but first we should check the Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB scores and see what Reddit says.

That was kind of the process in determining this list. The final result is unsurprising and perhaps not overly novel or inspiring. It is, however, truthful to me.

So whether you agree, disagree, or don’t give a shit, I present to you my 2025 picks:

Photo by Jimmy Fontaine

Artist of the Year: TURNSTILE

Turnstile have solidified themselves in the cultural zeitgeist. As mentioned in my recap from their performance earlier this year, I’m not exactly sure why it happened, but I’m not too mad about it. This is a band whose star continues to rise with each subsequent release.

From their hardcore Baltimore roots to the more ethereal and experimental flourishes thrown into their last two albums, GLOW ON and NEVER ENOUGH, their appeal continues to effortlessly and exponentially grow. And there are no signs of their slowing down. The natural progression, with a significant increase in sophisticated songwriting, while maintaining their ability to absolutely rock the fuck out, is apparent with each new release. While Time & Space remains my favorite album of theirs, I’ve yet to be disappointed by any of their output, and I welcome their newer era of experimentation and cohesive album flows.

I look forward to seeing just how far this journey takes them.

Album of the Year: Something to Consume by Die Spitz

I learned about the existence of Die Spitz on a whim. I’m pretty sure it was an online comment related to my musical tastes, but I can’t remember. As soon as I put on their latest record, I was immediately enthralled and became obsessed with learning as much about the Austin, TX-based outfit as I could.

As a band, they are primed for a huge year ahead with an opening slot for Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age overseas (among other performances), and I imagine songwriting things in the works. But this album is where the hype elevates them to the next level. From the punkier direction of their previous effort Teeth, Something to Consume builds upon so many varied influences without sounding directionless or in need of a singular identity. In fact, I’d argue their ability to effortlessly switch between the grungey rock of “Pop Punk Anthem (Sorry for the Delay)” to the heavy metal riffage of “Throw Yourself to the Sword” to the sludgey, reverb-drenched odyssey of “Sound to No One” all in the first half of a tight 34 minute album is a feat in and of itself, emblematic of their superhuman ability to rock at a level that many of their peers simply aren’t able to achieve.

They manage to explore a variety of sounds in a way that remains entirely focused–and there is not a second wasted. Start to finish, this album rips. It’s been on repeat for me, and I imagine it will continue to be until their next release catches my immediate and obsessive attention. Even better? It translates live into a feast of raw, high-energy good times.

Courtesy nugs.

Performance of the Year:
Jack White at The Pinnacle 04.19.25 (Night 2)
Nashville, TN 

I really wanted to pick a Philly show for this as I’ve seen so many excellent performances this year, but Jack White is in his era of demonic rock and roll possession, and his place at the top of this list is well-earned. After the surprise release of his best album since the dissolution of The White Stripes, No Name, last year, he continued his mission of spreading the spirit of rock and roll across the country, like a ghostly-white, leather jacket-wearing, guitar-wielding Santa. He has an unpleasant history with the city of Philadelphia thanks to a dead crowd at a White Stripes show over two decades ago, so who knows if he’ll ever come back (hey, at least he visited Citizens Bank Park this summer and had a good time… it’s a start).

Anyway, I was lucky enough to catch him on the second night of a two night stint at Nashville’s newest venue, The Pinnacle. It’s kind of like a bigger, better laid out, fancier version of The Electric Factory (sorry, I mean Franklin whatever the hell it’s called)–except maybe not. Apples and oranges, I guess–but it’s that “type” of venue. From the moment he and his support stepped on stage, the volume was up, and he took us on a two-and-a-half-hour journey through his entire discography. It was a relentless onslaught of rock in its purest form. I have never seen a “rock show” actually rock so hard.

All I can say is that any doubt that this man is the ambassador of old-school rock and roll sounds needs to be dismissed outright. He is on a whole other level of talent, and I plead to anyone reading this–go see him whenever and wherever you can. If he ever decides to let bygones be bygones and come back to the City of Brotherly Love, I have zero doubt we will amend the mistakes of our hipster forefathers and rock out in solidarity with a man somehow at the top of his game nearly 30 years into his career.

Courtesy of Ground Control Touring

Unsung Hero of the Year: Wavves

Nathan Williams deserves his flowers. Spun is neck and neck with Wet Leg's Moisturizer and Die Spitz's Something to Consume for my top albums of the year. It was simply edged out due to the novel excitement of those two releases, as I always expect at least some level of excellence from this band. And Spun is the most exciting Wavves release since Afraid of Heights. As mentioned above, I have decision paralysis when ranking things… maybe I’ll go change my picks… no, no no. I must commit.

Anyway, Nathan has been an unsung hero for entirely too much of his career. Starting out with weird lo-fi releases and graduating to surf punk and alternative rock anthems, his evolution has been quite the journey. I don’t know how Wavves never blew up. There was a moment in time when they were Pitchfork-era indie rock darlings and got some added exposure with a Grand Theft Auto video game, but it was relatively short-lived. The man is an earnest goofball who has written some of the catchiest, riff-laden hooks of the last two decades, and his proximity to so many beloved artists keeps him as culturally relevant as ever.

There aren’t many artists who can so effortlessly blend the California stoner vibes with Weezer's Blue Album by way of Nirvana's Nevermind riffage. He wears his heart on his sleeve and will forever remain one of my personal musical heroes and icons. So, Nathan, these flowers are for you. Please keep on rocking.

Original Soundtrack of the Year: “Tron: Ares” by Nine Inch Nails

This one might be somewhat of a hot take, as the Jared Leto-led (seriously, why?) Tron: Ares was a box office bomb that will more than likely hold zero cultural relevance moving forward. I think the most relevant takeaway was the sarcastic Twitter comment stating, “it’s cool that the new Nine Inch Nails album comes with a movie.”

For fans of NIN, the film was secondary, if even a thought at all. I haven’t seen it, and I don’t plan to–but I listened to the soundtrack a lot. A big enough deal to be labeled as a proper Nine Inch Nails album, as opposed to a Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross score, I was highly anticipating this release. And my expectations were both exceeded and unmet in very specific ways. My disappointment came from the fact that of its 24 tracks, only four of them feature vocals. But my expectations were exceeded by the fact that those four tracks in particular are the most exciting Nine Inch Nails songs in more than a decade and, I hope, a sign of things to come.

With Trent and Atticus’ latest collaborator, Boys Noize, they seem to have comfortably settled into their electronica era. NIN has always been electro-centric, but with the Challengers and now Tron: Ares respective soundtracks, it's obvious that this is a solidified direction for the pair–and I have zero complaints. Even much of the instrumental-only output on the Tron: Ares soundtrack is straight up bangers. Truth be told, I didn’t dive deep into original soundtracks or scores this past year. So this pick is almost a default. But I’m also pretty sure that “Shadow Over Me” on its own is strong enough to solidify this as my number one pick, regardless of the competition.

Music Film of the Year: The Beatles Anthology on Disney+

This is basically a nine-hour exploration of The Beatles as told by The Beatles. A restored re-release of the original “Anthology” documentary with some “controversial” edits and a brand new epilogue episode, it's worth it for sheer volume of content alone. There are no new revelations to be had, almost 70 years after their start, but damnit if this series isn’t like a warm blanket of musical history by the best band to ever do it.

There is no analog for a modern-day Beatles. Sorry, Taylor and whoever else, but the sheer popularity and permanent influence they’ve imprinted upon the entirety of popular music is unprecedented and once-in-a-lifetime (if not more). Whether you love them, hate them, or are indifferent, their reach and ripple effect into modern music across genres cannot ever be overstated. And seeing and hearing it through the eyes of each of them is pretty special, especially since John and George are both gone from this mortal plane.

My favorite takeaway is that Ringo comes out the most sane and endearing. Looks like Zooey Deschanel in 500 Days of Summer was right after all, but I digress. For musical history nerds, it’s a worthy watch. For Beatles fans, it’s like church. For haters, I don’t think it’ll sway you, but your loss. 

Foxing. Photo by Hayden Molinarolo.

In Memorium: Foxing

At least they went out on top.

Foxing's self-titled fifth and final release was easily one of my top albums of 2024. The truth is I wasn’t super into these guys until hearing it. But the album was a cross-genre exploration from hardcore punk sounds, to dance-y electronic-tinged alternative, to more psychedelic to melancholy ballads, and everything in between. And like Die Spitz above, they made it a cohesive whole that didn’t struggle to sound complete. I still don’t know much about the band’s history, I never got to see them live, and I’ll always maybe feel a bit sad that they called it quits just when they caught my attention. But at least they’re ending on their own terms and their parting gift is one of the most exciting albums of the last few years. Best of luck, gentlemen. RIP.

Most Anticipated: Empty Hands by Poppy

I am a Poppy fanatic, perhaps to an unreasonably biased degree. Her journey from weird YouTube persona to metal queen is incredibly fascinating to me. While I enjoy Poppy’s, well, pop, I really became a fan thanks to her ability to genre bend so boldly, specifically into the realm of metal. But not just metal like, “oh here’s some guitar distortion and loud vocals,” but more like “here’s a guitar tuned low enough to shake the earth and I’m going to scream bloody murder at the top of my lungs and scare your parents” kind of metal.

While that’s par for the course for any metalhead, it’s made infinitely more interesting to me that the same person responsible for a song like “Let’s Make a Video” is the same person responsible for “The Center’s Falling Out.” And ever since ditching her former producer and known abusive dickhead (who will remain nameless) and collaborating with the likes of Justin Meldal-Johnson and, most recently Jordan Fish, she’s come into her own in a very powerful way. The currently released singles from next year’s Empty Hands (out January 23, 2026) sound like a natural continuation from her last album (and my 2024 album of the year pick) “Negative Spaces.” And while that may seem like a safe bet, especially for someone as sonically versatile as Poppy, I have zero doubt the album will come with all kinds of interesting genre-bending surprises.

Either way, Poppy is the shit and we should all be happy to have artists as interesting as her leading the charge into the women-led popularization of loud as hell rock music.

Final shoutouts to some other artists who heavily carried me through the year: Idles, Spiritbox, Phantogram, Denzel Curry, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Kendrick Lamar, Father John Misty, Sleigh Bells, SZA, Joywave, Pixies, The Weeknd, Beyoncé, The Blue Stones, and many more.

Until next year…