Tags
Absolute Losers, Atticus Roness, Banda Al9, best albums list, best LPs 2025, Chris Lund, David Woodard, Dish Pit Violet, Djo, Dropkick, Eytan Mirsky, Finn Wolfhard, Greg Pope, Jake Bugg, Jesse Welles, Jody and the Germs, Jonathan Personne, Kathleen Edwards, Lone Striker, Mae Martin, No Jersey, OK Go, Rad Venture, Richard Turgeon, Ryan Allen, Strange Neighbors, Suzanne Vega, Tamar Berk, The Cords, The Half-Cubes, The Jeanines, The Loft, The Mayflies USA, The Rockyts, The Sonny Wilsons, The Spindles, The Wellingtons, Tom Henry, Tristan Armstrong, Tristen, Wilderado
Are singles just the equivalent of a musical snack for you? Need something a bit meatier, a bit more filling? Well, here’s the list for you. Twenty-five full length LPs gathered from throughout the year that was 2025. There’s rock, there’s pop, there’s jangle. There’s love, there’s despair, there’s political commentary. Dig in and pick out your own faves.
Without further delay, here is Poprock Record’s 25 must-have LPs for 2025:
1. Absolute Losers In the Crowd
2. The Sonny Wilsons Maybe
3. Strange Neighbors People Pleasing People
4. The Cords The Cords
5. The Rockyts Parkwood Manor
6. Tamar Berk ocd
7. Banda AL9 The Ninth King
8. Tom Henry Songs to Sing and Dance To
9. The Jeanines How Long Can It Last
10. Jean Caffeine Generation Jean
11. Lone Striker Lone Striker
12. Eytan Mirsky All Over the Map
13. Atticus Roness Power Pop World Domination
14. Greg Pope The Roar of Silence
15. Jody and the Germs Love Descends
16. Chris Lund Surveillance
17. The Mayflies USA Kickless Kids
18. The Wellingtons Baby Moon
19. Richard Turgeon Shungite
20. Dropkick Primary Colours
21. Ryan Allen Living on a Prayer on the Edge
22. The Spindles Wavelength
23. Jonathan Personne Nouveau Monde
24. The Loft Everything Changes Everything Stays the Same
25. Tristan Armstrong The Lonely Avenue
My top five albums got a lot airplay from me this past year. PEI’s Absolute Losers wowed me with their sonic revamp, pretty well reinventing their sound. And it was pretty good to start with. The Sonny Wilsons album was so fresh, so straight up poprock goodness. What can I say about Strange Neighbors that I haven’t written already? They write great songs, they play in a great style. I won’t call out every LP on the list but make no mistake, I really like all that appear there. Each one had some special thing that set it apart. And breaking it down, old faves and new discoveries both appear here in roughly equal measure. You can check them out as they were featured in the original posts by clicking the hotlinks.
Now I don’t think it’s just because it’s my day job (political scientist), but the world seemed pretty intensely political in 2025. You couldn’t avoid it, it was all over social media, conventional media, and the water cooler. And that showed up in the music as well, even a genre as generally apolitical as power pop. So I’m singling out 3 albums as my top political poprock albums of 2025:
1. Dish Pit Violet Dish Pit Violet
2. No Jersey Mondo Cool
3. David Woodard Everything Belongs
Mersey is never far from my mind, as in the distinct chimes of Merseybeat. Every year I single out some record that really revives the spirit of its golden era while still making it their own. This year’s best riff on the Beatles recognition goes to:
Rad Venture Merseyside
My policy on legacy artists is that I cover them when they put out something that grabs me but I’m not going put them in the lists above. What would be the point? They’re already getting plenty of media oxygen, they don’t life support from this little blog. But I did spent some considerable time with a few of them in 2025. Kathleen Edwards put out a stellar record, Tristen never lets me down, and what a surprise with those two albums by the boys from Stranger Things. Here’s my legacy artist shout out of notable albums for me from 2025:
1. Kathleen Edwards Billionaire
2. Tristen Unpopular Music
3. Mae Martin I’m a TV (Welcome Distraction Version)
4. Jake Bugg A Modern Day Distraction
5. Wilderado Talker
6. Jesse Welles Middle
7. Finn Wolfhard Happy Birthday
8. Djo The Crux
9. Suzanne Vega Flying With Angels
10. OK Go And the Adjacent Possible
Does it seem like overkill to single out the same band twice for the same award? I’m gonna risk it because this band killed with their second double-album collection of covers. This year’s special award of awesome poprock merit goes to:
The Half-Cubes Found Pearls: Pop Treasures Volume 2
Thanks for dropping by this past year and digging all these great finds with me. Check out your faves on the lists above and don’t be afraid to buy an album or two to support these artists well into their musical dotage.
Photo courtesy Francois Fibotte Flikr collection.
What were the biggest hits that weren’t in 2017? Who were the biggest should-be stars? In our alternate universe here at Poprock Record, these guys were all over the charts, the chat shows, the scandal sheets, as well as memed all over Facebook, Snapchatted by the kids, and Instragrammed into oblivion. Jesus, they were so popular you are well and truly sick of them by now. But sadly for our poprock heroes, the universe is not just ours to define. In the world beyond our little blog, they could all use another plug.
Daisy House dominated my playlist this year, both their current record and their back catalogue. They channel the 1960s but never let it wholly define them. They have two amazing singers and one fabulously talented songwriter. They deserve all the accolades the internet can hand out. If this were 1970 they’d probably be headlining The Flip Wilson Show tonight. The Rallies were an accidental discovery that turned into an obsession. Their whole album is great but “Don’t Give Up” makes my heart twinge every time. Aimee Mann and Fastball ably demonstrated this year that veterans can still turn out fantastic, career-defining albums. And I got to see both of them live! Los Straightjackets did Nick Lowe proud, producing a phenomenal tribute to his body of work. “Rollers Show” was my go-to summertime happy tune.
I won’t review every selection from the two-four, but I will say that I think the mix of poprock I feature on the blog is evident here. There’s fast and slow, country and rock, guitars and keyboards, etc. And then there’s always the hooks. Case in point: check out the 42 second mark on Greg Kihn’s “The Life I Got.” If you don’t feel the excitement he creates with some classic poprock guitar arpeggiation and the subtle vocal hook you’re kinda missing what we’re doing here. Here’s hoping 2018 is as hit single worthy as this past year has been!
I am going to sneak in an honourable mention for what I consider the compilation of year: 
Talent is breaking out all over and it is relentlessly resynthesizing decades of poprock influences in these contributions, from slacker pop to repurposed 1960s-influenced singles to rehabilitated punk-infused melodies and rock and roll.
Variously described as ‘lesbian garage rock’ or ‘Sackville stoner chicks,’ East Coast-cum-Windsor, Ontario duo Partner actually defy easy categorization. Early songs like “Personal Weekend” and “Hot Knives” were rough, often hilarious, and definitely garage-y. So knock me down when I got wind of their just-released, super slick new record, In Search of Lost Time. This thing is a monster of exquisite playing, deft hooks, and whip-smart wordplay. I don’t even want to select a couple of songs to feature, it’s just too painful trying to choose! “Everybody Knows” is the first single, an obvious choice, and it’s a winner, chock full of great imagery of clueless stoners shopping their brains out in an oh-so straight world. But that would be obvious, wouldn’t it? I prefer to go with the songs that really highlight the duo’s musical subtlety and hooks. Like “Gross Secret,” a mellow number with a nice slow-burn guitar solo. “Angels from Ontario” sounds a bit like a certain kind of off Broadway musical number, before it takes off mid-tune. “Play the Field” and “Creature in the Sun” both have swell melodies while “Remember This” features a knock out guitar solo. There is something decidedly nineties about the overall sound, very Weezer in places, but the vocal blend of the two singers is totally unique. This whole record really is something special.
After featuring the Lund Bros. amazing back catalogue in August, imagine my delight to discover a new solo recording from chief songwriter and vocalist Chris Lund. Great Event Syndrome is self-produced and home-recorded, though you’d never know it from the Abbey Road-like production values. Content-wise the record is maximum ear candy with Lund slipping in all sorts of nods and winks to that classic mid-1960s British Invasion rock and roll sound. It’s all on display on the single-worthy “Tell Me,” from the chunky guitar hooks, to vocals that shift from sounding very Cheap Trick-Robin Zander early on, to something like Rush’s Geddy Lee in a mellow mood, to ever-so-Beatles on the stretched out ‘tonight-t-t-t’ in the chorus. Love the wobbly synth that crops up all over the tune. “What’s Her Name” is another highlight for me, showcasing Lund’s careful attention to vocal arrangements. Though the knee-jerk critics’ reaction is to connect Lund’s style with the Beatles (and on songwriting that is definitely true), vocally he reminds me a lot of Alan Clarke of the Hollies and the harmonies associated with that band. Also check out “The Juice,” where nice acoustic guitar picking combines with some 1960s American west coast vocal stylings to belie the song’s serious subject matter. And this just scratches the surface of this great album.Tell MeWhat’s Her Name?The Juice
The Safes follow a familiar trajectory in band development, from raucus rock and roll origins to a more refined sound as we get closer to the present. “Deception” from 2006’s Well Well Well showcases the fun, almost live feel of their early work. But fast forward to the 2013-16 period and the sound has shifted to more melody and harmony on tracks like “Live Life Like You Want to Live” with its almost plaintive single note piano solo. The basic elements are actually all still there, they’ve just been rejigged in importance, as can be seen from the great rock and roll guitar intro to “I Would Love You,” which also features a distinctive keyboard solo, this time on organ. Which brings us to the present and The Safes’ fabulous new record Tasty Waves. Sounding like a more punky version of Apples in Stereo, the band aces the first single and opening track “Hometown” with its chiming guitar and swinging hookiness. Here comes a serious ear worm infection! The whole album is pretty strong, though I’d single out “Streets and Sanitation” for special mention with its insistent strummy-ness, rumbly lead line and nice horn motifs.
Take some of the 1960s more melodic rock and roll and combine that with a 1990s punk esthetic and you might have Together PANGEA. 2014’s Badilac reinterpreted the Yardbirds’ pop sensibilities as if they were a garage rock act and the results were amazing on the title track and songs like “Offer” and “No Way Out.” Now they’re back with Bulls and Roosters and the creative reinvention of the 1960s continues, this time brilliantly mining Memphis soul on their swinging “Money On It,” though the ragged vocals stamps the tune as suitably garaged-up. Or things seem familiar with the in-your-face punky style on “Better Find Out” until the chorus explodes melodically like a Young Rascals’ single on speed. Run don’t walk to get tickets to these guys. Your dancing shoes will thank you.
Poprock Record 