As the Doomsday Clock races, time speeds up, as 2025 is at its midpoint. With the impending end of times comes the need to get high, and these bands are making substantial soundtracks for that. These lists serve as a decent snapshot of where the year is heading in terms of music. I have already received promos for albums dropping as far out as August in my inbox, so they will need to bring it to compete with the top five albums on this list. For the mid-year report card list, I'm combining shoegaze with its close cousin, indie rock. So basically, they all are more surreal than post-punk, not punk, and left of center when it comes to rock n roll. I have included links to full reviews if you want to check these out, and with all that said, here are the top 10 indie-rock / shoegaze albums of 2025 so far.
10- Korean Cars -"#1"
This band proves Norway is capable of exporting more music than metal. This band is are fantastic musicians weaving challenging but nuanced instrumentals that find most of the vocals are incidental, but creatively employed. If you like prog that flows and unfolds as it jams along, then these guys are worth a listen.
https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/05/korean-cars-1.html
9-Jaye Jayle-"After Alter"
This project went from being Evan Patterson’s solo project that explored sounds outside of what he did in Young Widows, and has now become a full-fledged band. What makes this album work so well is its vision and artistic direction, not an album that rocks out, but an album that lurks within.
https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/01/jaye-jayle-after-alter.html
8-Black Country New Road - 'Forever Howlong"
The third album from these British indie folksters who flirt with rock music less and indulge in more woodwinds and jazz-tinged passages this time around. The vocals are what anchors them in indie rock, as the more folk notions lie in the poetic melodies that run the center course of their songs. Most of it flows really well and seems like how things just progressed. There is a more Beatles-like tone to things on this album. It reminds me of the more quaint pastoral moments from the White Album.
https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/04/black-country-new-road-forever-howlong.html
7-Smut -"Tomorrow Comes Crashing"
The Cincinnati-sourced band plays a raw punk-influenced take on indie rock that pulls from the more emotional side of 90s alternative rock. Tay Roebuck has both sugar and spice to her voice, with a syrupy knack for melodies that spill over the attack of the well-layered and intentionally lo-fi guitars.
https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/05/smut-tomorrow-comes-crashing.html
6-Mogwai- "The Bad Fire"
11 albums into their career, this Scottish band has a clear focus on their sonic journey. Showing they still have room to grow when it comes to their willingness to use vocals again.They give you what you want from them.
https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/01/mogwai-bad-fire.html
5-Bleed -"s/t"
This Texas band takes you back to the 90s in a weird, unexpected manner. By unexpected, this does not mean I have not already seen the writing on the wall when it comes to nu-metal making a comeback. These guys just go about it differently. The flourishes of DJs spun, scratched ambiance at the edges of their throb point this band's sound in the direction of nu-metal. There is some darker tension to the grooves that the vocals coo over.
https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/04/bleed-st.html
4-Swans - "Birthing"
Listening to this album through headphones is recommended. This album is an event. Almost more of an art show than a rock album. Not their best work, but it remembers to employ similar moods that bring them closer to the more classic sounds of the Jarboe era.
https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/05/swans-birthing.html
Going in a more Stone Roses direction for this one. In doing so, this means more melody. The vocals got more love in the studio and are crooned with less apathy. On the other hand, this album jangles more and has less punk rock left in its veins. The atmosphere is thicker and often more melancholic. They are in many ways the same band, but attacking things from a different direction.
https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/06/hotline-tnt-raspberry-moon.html
2-Sharon Von Ettan & the Attachment Theory- " s/t"
This album was spawned from Sharon walking into band practice and asking to just jam. The magic of spontaneity in this experience showed her that relinquishing creative control and being more collaborative was so freeing for her that it invited her band to become a part of the more organic writing process for this album
https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/01/sharon-von-etten-attachment-theory-st.html
1-Superheaven - "s/t"
The third album by this band has built buzz with their first two albums. They have a 90s sound that occupies the middle road between grunge and shoegaze, recalling "Gish" era Smashing Pumpkins, but with a less androgynous vocal approach. This album it gives you what you want from this sort of 90s shoegaze rock.
https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/04/superheaven-st.html
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