The Top 10- Indie Rock / Shoe-Gaze Albums of 2025 ... so Far

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

3-Hotline TNT - "Raspberry Moon"  

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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January's top 10 Albums

 It's time for January's top 10 albums. Staying abreast of the month's highlights might help casual readers see what they missed and check these artists out. I am not writing little blurbs on them; I am just linking the reviews. Inclusion here does not mean that these albums have been released this month, but it is a list of new or upcoming albums I have enjoyed the most, I have albums in my in-box that are not coming out til April so I am normally way ahead of the curve in this regard. They are ranked in order of what I have listened to the most. This month there is a wide variety from indie rock to death metal so you may find your new favorite among them. Here are the Top 10 albums of January

10- Ingrown-"Idaho"

Hard-core

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/01/ingrown-idaho.html

9-Fleshspoil - "The Beginning of the End" 

Death Metal 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/01/fleshspoil-beginning-of-end.html

8-Avatarium - "Between You, God, the Devil and the Dead" 

Rock 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/01/avatarium-between-you-god-devil-and-dead.html

7-Mogwai -" The Bad Fire" 

Post-Rock

 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/01/mogwai-bad-fire.html

6-Sacrifice- "Volume Six

Thrash 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/01/sacrifice-volume-six.html

5-Sharon Von Etten & the Attachment Theory - "s/t" 

Indie Rock

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/01/sharon-von-etten-attachment-theory-st.html

4-(16) - "Guides For the Misguided"

Stoner-Metal 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/01/16-guides-for-misguided.html

3-Shedfromthebody : "Whisper and Wane" 

Post-Rock

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/01/shedfromthebody-whisper-and-wane.html

2-VACUOUS - "In His Blood" 

Death Metal 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/01/vacuous-in-his-blood.html

1-NITE- "Cult of the Serpent Sun" 

 Metal

 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/01/nite-cult-of-serpent-sun.html

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Sharon Von Etten & 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. Despite opening with a more electronic pulse, you can hear how things are jammed out as the song evolves with the drummer employing a greater sense of dynamic playing when given free rein to do so.. 

Lyrically the first two songs seem to dwell on aspects of mortality. Her singing carries a more hopeful soul to it for "Afterlife". This finds her shedding some of the more brooding introspection. "Idiot Box" moves with a more post-punk groove. Aside from a few multitracked harmonies, the vocal production is more stripped down on this album."Trouble" cruises with a slightly more introspective ambiance draping her vocals. So fat, this one reminds me the most of her previous work. "Indio" picks up the pace with more of a brisk post-punk shuffle. Her vocal lines are interesting on this one. "I Can't Imagine" finds a Blondie-flavored take on Disco, bringing more groove to things. 

"Something Ain't Righ" makes it clear that the style of post-punk their inspiration is drawn from is the early New York-bred version that emerged in the mid-seventies. You can hear traces of the Talking Heads in "Something Ain't Right" as she asks if you believe in compassion for enemies. "Southern Life" employs similar grooves to those that powered Bowie's "Young Americans" album. Her vocals on the verses are more of a droning chant. 

Her hushed vocals step closer to the mic for "Fading Beauty."  The accompaniment on this one is more minimalist. It does put the brakes on the momentum the album established, but I understand why she chooses to indulge this side of her emotional currency. "I Want You Here" took a couple of listens in order to describe what is happening. It is often best to not overthink things, so by definition, the song is a ballad, though a dynamic one that allows her to really flex her pipes and makes for a stunning listen. I'll round this one up to a 10, she makes all the right choices here. Drops Febuary 7th on Jagjaguwar

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