For fans of My Bloody Valentine, Lil Ugly Mane, Smashing Pumpkins, internet bedroom noise rock, and the use of mass quantities of noise to drown out the pain, Canyon Flourish Town by Waterproof Goldstar stretches shoegaze to its limits, producing a sound so maximalist and distorted as to border on the edge of rock music entirely.

For fans of Show Me the Body, Moreru, My Wife’s an Angel, sludge metal, and the viral spread of trauma into all corners of the soul, Cloth Mother by PIGPEN takes aim at those demons which haunt our relationships and fires off blisteringly intense rounds of hardcore chaos.

For fans of Cap’n Jazz, Mineral, Frail Body, first-wave emo, and that anxious middle section of the hero’s journey, Ressociation by Joybun begs for divine revelation while languishing in a sea of doubt.

For fans of Asleep Country, Faust, The Caretaker, free jazz, and misreading random goings-on as pure tragedy, Pandemonium by Martinez/Roach forces us into an anxious, melancholic headspace through a portal of intense, immersive sound collage.

For fans of Tortoise, Gastr Del Sol, Sigur Rós, ambient Americana, and the conscious decision to cherish every moment we share with loved ones, III by Pullman looks back on decades of groundbreaking music and creative community with a warm, fuzzy take on instrumental post rock.

For fans of Jeffrey Lewis, Daniel Johnston, The Velvet Underground, old-school slowcore, and ending up in conversations with strangers about shows you’ll never watch, Repetition by Kill-Kennie presents an anti folk slice of life depicting a stagnant speaker with no clear path ahead.

For fans of Molchat Doma, Cime, Deafheaven, krautrock, and the anxious preparation for the worst case scenario, Bruxismo en la familia by El Café Atómico conducts horrific slasher tales through the wiring of their unique, hypnotic brand of post punk.

For fans of Duster, Have a Nice Life, Cindy Lee, early post rock, and the willingness to grapple with and make sense of the deepest, darkest feelings of depression, Some of Us Stay, Some of Us Go by Atomiste takes an instrumental slowcore approach to describe an urgently dangerous mental health crisis.

For fans of Black Dresses, Suicide, Melt-Banana, industrial hip hop, and reflecting chaotic energy back into the world, Thirteen Tales of Depravity by Stice recounts stories of dead-end escapism in the form of a driving, energizing electropunk album.

For fans of Geordie Greep, Decapitation in the Food Court, Cisnienie, the current wave of unhinged noise rock, and that gut feeling that something has gone horribly wrong, Going to Hell by Godzilla Nether Portal grasps desperately for meaning in a sea of suffering with its snarled hands of symphonic post hardcore.

For fans of Cardiacs, They Might Be Giants, Husker Du, the Elephant 6 Collective, and the death of the so-called American Dream, Is Lemons by Gavin Caine brings a baroque flamboyance to 80s college rock to add depth to the famously jaded narratives of the forerunners of mass-market alternative rock.

For fans of MF DOOM, Injury Reserve, Armand Hammer, vaporwave, and that absurd space halfway between here and psychedelia, DRAYMOND BROWN by THEFOODLORD and Konart1st takes a glitchy approach to classic samples to form a hip hop sound equal parts traditional and transcendent.

For fans of Geese, Algernon Cadwallader, Mogwai, the more emo-tinged side of the Windmill Scene, and the desperation to feel something in the midst of a numb depression, Many Other Things by Fargo crafts love songs which burn with the desire for all ends of the romantic spectrum, from heartbreak to passion to tenderness to chaos.

For fans of Oneohtrix Point Never, 23WA, Schpongle, and syncretic gnostic mysticism, the channeled electronica of O Great Epiphany! Pt 2: Echoes in the Kundalini Maze by IHP is like a power-drill to the third eye, a surgical operation of auditory trepanation.

another full rotation around the sun; another album of the year list. these are the outside noise top 50 albums of 2025 from the world of underground music. released, characteristically, much later than every other publication. some things are worth waiting for.

want to know more about how we selected album of the year? view our spreadsheets in all their glorious beauty here.

For fans of Brian Eno, Moribet, Spiritualized, dungeon synth, and the nagging belief that there’s something out there beyond sensation, Unschooled by Disorganism chastises us for the abandonment of our curiosity, setting us out on a much-needed adventure with an experimental electronic soundtrack.

For fans of A Tribe Called Quest, McKinley Dixon, Squarepusher, hard bop jazz, and the little victories in a tough world, Joint4u! by Kaicrewsade pulls together vintage and contemporary styles to craft an upbeat testament to the immortality of jazz rap.

For fans of early Animal Collective, Sleep, Olivia Tremor Control, noise pop, and the harrowing abyss at the center of the psychedelic experience, Then & Now by The Goslings entombs its psych pop sensibilities in dense layers of distorted chaos.

For fans of LSDXOXO, Siu Mata, Lechuga Zafiro, industrial techno, and dance as a radical, subversive act, Aftermath by Twofold vocalizes our desire to escape this imperial machine through a lush, organic take on heavy electronica.

For fans of Brave Little Abacus, Algernon Cadwallader, Tiny Moving Parts, spiritually folksy math rock, and the melancholic pastime of staring into the daytime sky, hay algo sobre el reflejo del cielo en el pavimento mojado que no me deja pensar en algo que no seas tú by Tori Inu combines complex songwriting with a lo-fi aesthetic to craft a Midwest emo sound equal parts charming and intense.