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04. Coast – Snocaps (Anti Records) With the exception of 2022’s collaboration with Jess Williamson as Plains, everything Katie Crutchfield has touched since 2015’s Ivy Trip has been an end of the year finalist for myself, she’s been on that kind of roll these past 10 years. This year is no exception with the surprise
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05. Again – Belair Lip Bombs (Third Man Records) he Belair Lip Bombs have been kicking around the Australian indie music scene since roughly 2018 when they released their first LP, the eponymous Belair Lip Bombs. But it’s taken some 7 years and their 2nd full length release (they do also have 2 EPs to
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07. Always Been – Craig Finn (Thirty Tigers) I realize that what I’m about to say might be blasphemous to some but I’m at the point that I appreciate and enjoy Craig Finn’s solo efforts even more than his recent work with The Hold Steady. That’s not a knock on albums like The Price of
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The original Brooklyn Bowl in Williamsburg (it has now been franchised all over the country) and its owner Peter Shapiro have been very kind to the New Orleans music world for years now. Over the course of its history Brooklyn Bowl has hosted a myriad of amazing shows from not only well known NOLA acts
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07. American Recordings – Truman Sinclair (R & R Digital) I first came to know the name Truman Sinclair when I saw his name listed as a performer at the 2025 Green River Festival. After making some inquiries about said festival and any obscure names I should not miss, Truman Sinclair was mentioned as a
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08. The Squirms – The Squirms (Rad City Records) The Squirms (The Sqirms) – In a year when I ended up with numerous extremely new and different names on my year end list, The Squirms and their self titled debut LP has to be right at the top of my “off the beaten path” surprises.
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09. Who Will Look After The Dogs – PUP (Diminishing Returns Music) PUP’s 2019 release, Morbid Stuff was my favorite album of that year. To me, it was a quintisential pop punk album. Unfortunately 2022’s The Unraveling of PUP, The Band did not strike me the same way. Well, with this year’s Who Will Look
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10. Primary Colours- Dropkick (Bobo Integral Records) AUTHORS NOTE: Let me preface this next offering by saying that the previous 15 albums were in no specific order. Albums 11 through 25 could have been mixed and matched and the finishing order could have changed (and certainly has) almost constantly. What follows is my top ten
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Late Great- Laura Stevenson (Really Records) There’s no way around the fact that Laura Stevenson’s 2025 release on friend and collaborator Jeff Rosenstock’s Really Records is a breakup album. But in typical Stevenson fashion it isn’t the kind of breakup album filled with anger and venom. No, Late Great is an album about heart break,
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Beliefs & Thieves- The Kilograms (Rad Girlfriends Records) I write this with a certain amount of sadness as it appears that Beliefs & Thieves will be the last full LP from The Kilograms. They did release an EP, Strike A Match earlier in the month which also ought to be checked out. It was probably

