And so we reach the end of another year of music. Another year of madness. Another year of... I dunno. Monkeys? Certainly not money. For all the good "m" words I can think of, one of the biggest ones that comes to mind is "meh".
Why meh? That's a fantastic question, and I'm glad you asked it. You see, the Top 20 Countdown is almost old enough to vote, and music is easier to find than ever due to streaming. Unfortunately, due to streaming and lack of interest, the simple pleasure of finding new music on the radio has become almost a thing of the past.
When I look back on previous years, I can clearly remember specific times when I first heard a song while either driving somewhere, or sitting in my room, or wherever it might have been. "Here's the newest single from..." has preceded many a classic J1T20 hit. "Bloodbuzz Ohio", "Check My Brain", "Alienation", etc. Locked in my brain is where I was the very first time I heard those songs and how they impacted me. The very first time I watched the video for "heartsigh" by Purity Ring. Staying up until midnight to hear the first new Cold song in almost a decade. The Top 20 Countdown has become an archive of memories, be they good, bad or indifferent.
2025... has been a weird year. Our local alternative station officially went out of business, and even our local hard rock and Christian rock stations have put more focus on previous years as opposed to new releases. The last two years, I had so many choices for the back end of the Top 20, while this year I struggled to even have 20 until the last two months. Literally, I'm barely finishing cobbling it together with two days to spare. Woof.
Let's look back at last year and push through this.
20. Courtney from Work - Superfun!
19. Vampire Weekend - Capricorn
18. Badflower - Teacher Has A Gun
17. Jack Kays - Blow It
16. David Swanson - Pocketknife Heart
15. Flesh Field - Demon
14. Soft Kill - Joy is a Crime
13. Letdown. - Hate Myself
12. Neuroticfish - Bring The Noise
11. Tommy Richman - Million Dollar Baby
10. Walk the Moon - Mono No Aware
9. Knox - Me, Myself & Your Eyes
8. Amira Elkefy - Tonight (demo)
7. Red Wanting Blue - Killer
6. Till Lindemann - Nass
5. Softcult - Shortfest Fuse
4. The Struts - Hands On Me
3. Watershed - Hey Lydia
2. Metric - Days of Oblivion
1. LØLØ - wish i was a robot
Old friends like Metric and Walk the Moon, new discoveries like Lolo and Amira Elkefy... lots of interesting mixes of music came with 2024. Lots of solid jams didn't make the list... much like this year. Let's see who just missed the cut.
Linkin Park - Two Faced
Album: From Zero
Linkin Park threw a huge wrench into the world by announcing their new vocalist was Emily Armstrong from Dead Sara. My first thought... do we actually need new LP, sans Chester Bennington? Second thought: I like Emily and Dead Sara, who had just put out a pretty solid record a few years prior. So I gave it a shot, and it's decent. As with any LP record, there are odd experimental things and dull tracks that are super glossy, but there were a few good jams in this one, and I didn't hate that they tried to come back.
A Flock Of Seagulls - Some Dreams
Album: Some Dreams
Take an 80s band, break them up for a bit, let them come back together and tour as a novelty artist... and then suddenly drop your first record in 30 years? Sure, go right ahead A Flock of Seagulls. The album feels like the honest progression of a band that scored hits with "I Ran (So Far Away)" and |Space Age Love Song", but released in 2025. The opening synth on "Some Dreams" is outstanding.
Royale Lynn - Greed
Album: Black Magic
There isn't a song from 2025 that I have more mixed feelings for than this one. Upon hearing it as a standalone, I was intrigued at the potential that Royale Lynn might have. After listening to the full album, OUCH. Every song is the same copy/paste alt-metal formula that tons of other "solo" artists have embodied in the last 5 years. And her voice... it works for exactly 1 song. Second song? Shrill, screeching, painful. It tainted a song that I thought was certainly destined for the top 10.
Echo Pilot - Above the Skies
Album: Above the Skies single
Spotify has this odd fascination with taking random artists that have nothing in common with anything I listen to, and peppering them into my Release Radar every Friday. Sometimes they are decent, but more often than not I never even bat an eye towards anything released in the future from those artists. Echo Pilot ended up capturing my attention with a Foo Fighters-esque hook and feel good riffs on "Above the Skies" that helped it almost reach the Countdown.
Franz Ferdinand - Audacious
Album: The Human Fear
When I was in high school, Franz Ferdinand was humongous. Every station, every publication, every alt -anything. They flamed out quickly and disappeared... and suddenly came back. They're just as clever and hooky as they were before, but I could barely make it through this album. Fortunately they put the best track right at the top and let it play through my mind in 2025.
Tomorrow, noon, you know how we do it.
HM: Lord of the Lost - Light Can Only Shine In The Darkness (ft Within Temptation); Dropkick Murphy's - Who'll Stand With us?; Mary Chapin Carpenter - The Saving Things; Mammoth - The End; Evanescence - Fight like a Girl (ft K. Flay); Zetra - So; Buddy Guy - Land Man Standing (ft Switchfoot); Deftones - Cut Hands
