Yesterday you got to see #100 – #51. Today, we conclude our Top Songs of 2025 (including some gems from Dec 2024).
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#50. The Drew Thomson Foundation – Dodged a Bullet
“A lot of shit hit the fans before I hit the breaks” Thomson sings in this positive and relatable spin on hindsight. Lyrically on point, and melodically infectious, a stand-out from his great EP from earlier this year.
#49. The Penske File – Lions
Canadian power pop group make nostalgia sound empowering on this look back on wilder, more ferocious days.
#48. bog berries – Overcommitted
A synthy, alt pop singalong for anyone who suffers from overpromising and under-delivering.
#47. IC1s – Armada
Rousing rock about running your mouth too much, with one of the best lyrics of the year; “And If its loose lips that sink ships, then I’m taking down the whole armada.”
#46. Mumford & Sons – Caroline
The kings of “stomp & holler” show why they still hold the crown with this rollicking kiss-off to an ex.
#45. Jay Som – Float (feat. Jim Adkins)
The indie singer-songwriter gets an assist from Jimmy Eat World‘s frontman on this multilayered, harmony-rich track off her new album. Pristine melodies and perfect production make for peak pop.
#44. Alison Brown & Steve Martin – Dear Time (feat. Jackson Browne)
The top-tier banjo players team with the legendary singer-songwriter for wistful tune about gratitude for life, no matter what setbacks and tragedies have marred it. The ending of the song hits like an emotional bullet to the heart. Simply great songwriting.
#43. Krooked Tongue – You Don’t Need a Sun Tan
Alt rock that gets stuck in your head and has no plans on going anywhere, much like the rising Bristol band responsible for the track. Perfectly okay with that.
#42. Jessie Wagner – That Ship Has Sailed
In-demand back-up singer proves she has the songwriting and vocal chops to stand center stage with this winsome retro-soul number.
#41. Skegss – So Excited
Aussie punks’ single sounds like their take on an early Beatles song, and it works wonders. Incessantly tuneful, it’s a melodic garage pop throwback that shows the impressive range this band has.
#40. Michael Franti & Spearhead – Break Up With Everything
Listen. Choke up. Feel emotionally devastated. Repeat because this heartbreak sounds so good.
#39. Travis – Avalon
The beloved 90’s Britpoppers can still write a shimmering jewel of a song, and this one comes with a sea shanty sway.
#38. The Beths – Mother, Pray For Me
Elizabeth Stokes is at her most delicate and vulnerable in this wistful song about not living up to a parent’s expectations and trying to close a God-sized rift.
#37. Sunny War – One Way Train
The acclaimed folk punk takes us on foot-stomping journey through her head with this witty and wise spitfire of a song.
#36. The Mendozaz – Late Stage 12 Gauge
Like The Mountain Goats‘ John Darniell fronting the Buzzcocks, the Canadian punk group blitzes through tongue-in-cheek platonic relation complications with punk energy and literary eloquence.
#35. Saiphon – Antidote
Rapturous rock n’ roll that puts the ideas of sacrifice and self-improvement to passionate extremes.
#34. Agent 51 – Eastern Street Kids
While nostalgia is no stranger to pop-punk, this veteran San Diego band takes things to a more meaningful place, remembering times before internet and “before people flew planes into buildings”. It puts the before/after of the world post-9/11 into the spotlight and how it’s affected us all.
#33. Josie Edwards – good girls
TikTok phenom’s wistful folk-pop elegy for a friend is one hook after another, and will leave you feeling bad for Mary-Beth (even if you have no idea who she is).
#32. Coheed and Cambria – Someone Who Can
Sometimes you have to leave your sci-fi loving, prog-tendencies at home and just write a big ol’ stadium punk sing-along. Few can do it with the same gusto as Coheed.
#31. Hamilton Leithauser – This Side of the Island
Elegant guitars and symphonic percussion give a scope to The Walkmen frontman’s New York-inspired tale of a crumbling city and relationships. The song’s elegant structure and pinpoint harmonies are just more reminders of Leithauser being a true craftsman of music.
#30. Mattstagraham – Caffeine
Hyper-punk bemoaning the fleeting benefits of drugs over three adrenalized minutes.
#29. Samantha Gongol – Planes Are Low
Melancholy piano pop that will haunt you. Gongol’s soft-spoken vocals carry a gravitas and natural beauty that powerfully resonate.
#28. Aerosmith & Yungblud – My Only Angel
One of the most surprising and welcome collaborations of the year. Classic and modern rock come together for a timeless song.
#27. Geese – Taxes
The indie rockers had a banner year, thanks to their heralded new album, which contained universal lyrical gems (“If you want me to pay my taxes, you better come over with a crucifix. You’re gonna have to nail me down”). Tribal drums, soulful backing harmonies and Cameron Winter’s warbly vocals shouting “Doctor, doctor! Heal yourself!” all come together for a musical feast.
#26. The Young Hearts – Steady Hands
If you like your punk with Springsteenian scope and underdog grit, then this blaring riot-starter is for you.
#25. Ken Pomeroy – Days Getting Darker
Young folk singer Pomeroy shows a depth way beyond her years, tackling loss of youth and uncovering the dark truths of your home in this sorrowful lament.
#24. King Hüsky – Lately I’ve Been Thinking of Your Mother
The Norwegian guitarist explores the connections and memories we hold onto, even with those we drift apart from. Funny and touching.
#23. Adam Melchor – Suburban Siddhartha
Melchor brings literary elegance to a story of addiction, suffering and grief that reveals layers upon repeat listens.
#22. Ruston Kelly – Wayside
Kelly’s newfound happiness shines through on this upbeat (by his standards) ode to leaving your baggage behind and embracing a relationships you know feels right.
#21. Jack Van Cleaf – Green
The upstart Americana artist wrote an alt rock, fast-talking ode to the environment that is catchy as all hell.
#20. Bright Eyes – 1st World Blues
Oberst replaced his moping shoes with his dancing ones for this surprising, politically-loquacious ska, and he sounds like he’s having the most fun he’s ever had.
#19. Yellowcard – honestly i
That searing emotional honesty packed into a polished pop-punk package could only come from a veteran group like Yellowcard. A highlight from their epic comeback album.
#18. Alex G – Afterlife
Jangly indie rock that feels like a comforting revelation about growing up and moving on.
#17. Adult Leisure – Dancing Don’t Feel Right
Moody and melodic synth rock that belies its lyrics with a sumptuous, pulsating rhythm that will make you want to move.
#16. Petey USA – Model Train Town
The songwriter’s descriptive narrative about running into “self-involved” ass holes and the conflicting emotions our actions create (“I felt relaxed and I felt guilty”) hit at the truths we don’t talk about as we all come of age.
#15. Femi Kuti – After 24 Years
The Afrobeat legend is still speaking truth to power in polyrhythmic classics like this latest single.
#14. Yungblud – Hello Heaven, Hello
The British pop-punk artist enters his classic rock era, with this 9-minute, multi-part epic. When he sings at the end “There’s a chance I won’t see you tomorrow”, you’ll feel your skin tingle as goosebumps rise.
#13. Fontaines D.C. – It’s Amazing To Be Young
While earning their post-punk bonafides with bangers like “Starburster”, the upstart band proved they are just as capable of writing a youthful pop anthem with this amazing single.
#12. Inspection 12 – Almost There
Maybe considered 90’s pop-punk also-rans, Inspection 12 came back with the best album of their career, featuring this undeniably hopeful banger. This one can stand-up against the best of the blinks and Green Days.
#11. Laura Jane Grace – Your God (God’s Dick)
The iconic, former-teenage anarchist is still able to rouse the rabble and ruffle feathers better than all of her peers. In this riotous, gleefully sacrilegious song, Grace questions the deity’s manhood with one of the catchiest songs she’s ever written.
#10. The Vapors – Miss You Girl
Mostly written off as 80’s One Hit Wonders thanks to “Turning Japanese”, The Vapors returned this year with an album of songs just as memorable as that hit, but this time with an extra dose of emotion infused into their formula. And nowhere was it more present than on the infectious “Miss You Girl”. The band still relies on repetition as their most dangerous weapon, and these use it very effectively. Yet here, there’s an ever-so-slight build up of urgency in each chorus. You feel every “miss you” as the protagonist finds themselves moving further and further away from their girl. It’s simple, sweet, and had it been released forty years earlier it could have been the second big hit this band deserved.
#9. Shinedown – Three Six Five
To some, it might seem wild how hard rock band Shinedown has continued to not just survive, but thrive over the last two decades. If you listen to “Three Six Five”, there’s no mystery as to why. The song touches on universal feelings of holding onto those most important to you, valuing the time we have in our lives, and do so utilizing a melodic groove that doesn’t let you go. From Brent Smith’s powerful vocals to Eric Bass and Barry Kerch’s pulsing rhythm section, every note of the song plays a role, helping the song transcend the trappings of rock and be just a smash piece of songwriting.
#8. Sam Fender – Wild Long Lie
Fender has already proven he can write a fat, stadium rock song that makes your heart soar with ease. With “Wild Long Lie”, he brought to the surface his balladry abilities. Now let’s be clear – this isn’t some soppy, woe-is-me ‘ballad’. This is six minutes of mid-tempo storytelling, eloquently and poetically diving into the psychological struggles of addiction, and the lies addicts tell (and tell themselves). The song avoids cliched chords and ventures into more atmospheric production and intricate instrumentation. It’s a stand-out from my favorite album of 2025.
#7. The Ataris – Car Song
There was a lot of talk about the resurgence of pop-punk in 2025, and IMO, one of the best comebacks was the new single from The Ataris. The song’s title may mislead you into thinking it’s a silly, superficial song about a vehicle. It’s not. What it is is one of the band’s best songs to date. Kris Roe’s poetic lyrics pay homage to not just a vehicle that got him across the country, but to the hopes and dreams of anyone looking for something grander than what their hometowns can offer. It’s a track of resilience and hope through struggles, with a melody that will plow right through any walls of hesitancy, and a chorus that will revive your inner-2000’s scene kid heart.
#6. The Waterboys – I Don’t Know How I Made It (feat. Taylor Goldsmith)
An album about the life and death of actor Dennis Hopper isn’t the most relatable subject matter in 2025 (honestly, it probably wouldn’t be in any decade), but credit to Mike Scott for finding a way of turning such idiosyncratic subject matter into music that can still touch the soul. With the help of Dawes‘ frontman Taylor Goldsmith, Scott stands basking in the light at the end of the tunnel in wonderment that he made it through the darkness. After everything this year has thrown at us, it’s a hymn we can all hope to be singing to ourselves, like a comforting pat on the back for still being here, and still standing.
#5. Field Medic – Dandelion Dream
While originally leaked onto YouTube all the way back in 2012, the songs on Field Medic‘s boundless & true finally got a proper release last December (reminder I count Dec releases towards the following year), and this harmonica-laden acoustic track was the kind of simple, lo-fi romantic track that continues playing in your thoughts and dreams. There’s a bit of surreality to the lyrics (“I’m your blind boy, and you’re my dandelion dream”) which lilt and linger like the sunshine on a cool west coast winter day.
#4. Hotel Mira – Making Progress
The Los Angeles-via-Canada indie rockers made the best album of their career this year with Pity Party, and its lead single just kept powering its way into my playlists. The WuTang-referencing chorus (“forget your heart, protect your neck”) is a perfect call-and-response moment for live shows, and “We’re so alive, we can’t play dead” is the kind of lyrical hook you’ll be shouting along to in your car. It’s all-in-all an immaculate rock n’ roll banger that deserves to be blasting from radios and stereos across these hallowed lands.
#3. The Wildhearts – Failure is the Mother of Success
British band The Wildhearts have never fit into any box. Their style of stadium hard rock has enough power pop to please the ears, yet their heavy riffage and Ginger Wildheart’s gruff vocal style can be a bit much for alternative radio. For me, all these elements come together masterfully on this epic seven and a half minute single. The song opens with a breakdown worthy of Motörhead, with Wildheart shouting the track’s title with heavy punctuation. And then, there’s the bouncy, head-bobbing pre-chorus that wouldn’t be out of place on a Fall Out Boy track. A psychedelic instrumental section then acts as a spacey interlude before swinging into a pomp, rockabilly section. This all leads into an inspiring, classic rock finish, with Wildheart reminiscing “You took a lot of knocks to get where you are today”, backed by harmonized backing choir and strings that are positively seismic. It’s the kind of ambitious suite that separates the best rock n’ roll from the pack.
#2. chlothegod – I Know What Everyone Says About Me
“I really shouldn’t have called. Forgive me I was drunk” chlothegod sings in a delicate tenor, setting the tone for the listener for the journey of self-reflection she’s about to take them on. Sparse acoustic guitars and heartbreaking vocals (“I gave up so much, but not the regret”) build and build until two minutes in. Vibe change. Drum beats come in. Chlothegod‘s folk-soul vocals take a backseat to fiery hip-hop delivery. And then she delivers a mic-drop moment, letting her vocals soar with the triumphant line “I’ve been moving mountains trying to change my ways”.
#1. Thursday – White Bikes
The big reason I include songs from December of the previous year in our EOY lists is that tracks released during this time of year can often get lost in the shuffle. They don’t have the time to grow with you and resonate with you long enough to often make an impact on the specific year they’re released, and often we’re all too immersed in holiday music and EOY wraps to take notice of new tracks. But incredible gems can be released in the final month of the year, and this is exactly what post-hardcore titans Thursday did last December with the release of “White Bikes”. The band have only dropped a handful of singles in the last decade, but when the songs are as powerful as this one, it’s enough. Inspired by the disappearance of one of Geoff Rickley’s friends on his bicycle, the song is a haunting treatise on grief. The echos as Rickley sings “Waiting for you to come along again” place you in the loneliness of disbelief and denial that is spawned by loss. Guitarists Tom Keeley and Steve Pedulla build atmosphere over cascading chords. When Tucker Rule’s drumming power-ups after the first minute, the song transforms from mournful emo into a cathartic punk power ballad that reaches for the heavens. As Rickley chants “How do you turn it down” again and again in the soaring denouement, you can almost feel the weight of grief and sadness lift from your chest, if even for a brief moment. Even after first hearing it twelve months ago, the song hasn’t lost any of its impact. Congrats and thanks to these veterans for dropping this amazing song.
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There you go – my top 100 songs of 2025. Listen to all of them in the playlist right here, and here’s to what amazing new music awaits us all the rest of this month, and 2026!
The Indy Review 