It’s been tough year in a seemingly unforgiving world right now and music is one of a few ways we can satisfy some of the intrusive thoughts as well as some of the existential dread lingering around like a stray dog you just gave your last bite to. I have certainly ventured all over the place with what I enjoy listening too. I really didn’t listen to much that falls in line with usual genres found here, but what’s here is the part of my soundtrack to 2025. The music that pushes me forward and finds ways to connect with me personally. For those of you that are sick of paying $30 for postage on a 12” record, and $500/month or more on utilities it’s time to get mad and lose yourself the music that feeds your emotional status and allows you sublimate your emotions and impulses in a way that doesn’t land you in a prison somewhere.
Hallows : Catalyst and Despite Those Times
I had the pleasure of seeing Hallows for a second time this year as they get ready for their new album. Hallows with their can of black spray-paint, they cover the glossier sound of synthpop in a carapace of black leaving a wake danceable desires and perhaps a glimmer of hope in a way only Hallows could deliver. They connect with their audience through their trademark ability to deliver a message of hope, change, self-destruction and a variety of other topics that can be spun to resonate with the listener. Although they have only released a few singles so far this year, you can bet that the next offering will be just as tantalizing.
Alienator : Meat Locker
Hardcore terrorians, Alienator become aggression the moment the needle hits the wax. They become the catalyst to unleash all of the anger, and the rage we need to let out. I saw them play at a club called The Meat Locker in Montclair, NJ to support their LP also called ‘Meat Locker’. Bodies were slamming and flying like some sort of convenience store brawl, but every strike and every jumping smash was another nail in the coffin of dread even if only for a hour or so.
Tobias Bernstrup : Shadow Dancer
Tobias Bernstrup and We The North connect on many levels. I have followed Tobias’ music for 25 plus years. You would be hard-pressed to find an artist that blurs the lines of synthpop, Italo and EBM better than Tobias Bernstrup. I was fortunate to catch a live performance in NYC many years back, and if you know anything about Tobias Bernstrup as a performance artist, you know it was wild.
We The North : Love + Death
We The North is a newer discovery for me. I found an instant bond to the music that delivered a strong sense of wonder and intrigue. The music is flawless; the execution is equally flawless.
Coffin Break : Revival
Coffin Break released ‘Revival’ LP which was comprised of many of the band’s greatest songs all redone. Coffin Break is a band I have always loved. When I found out an album was in the works, even some live shows, I was psyched. Coffin Break was a bridge between Grunge and punk rock and find themselves loved by so many even all of these years later.
Know : Knights of Pleasure
Since Hallows was just a couple of singles, I wanted break Steve’s rule of five entries. Let’s add a lost gem resurrected by Anna Logue Records to the list. Know ‘Knights Of Pleasure’ it’s a reissue from the 1982 classic 7” that hits that minimal synth genre very nicely and the reissue also includes some brilliant takes on the classic tracks of the original release. There is a parallel here where things can be simple and complex at the same time, just like 2025!
Honorable Mentions
A few honorable mentions include Fright ‘Unscripted In Chaos’ LP, Teen Mortgage ‘Devil Ultrasonic Dream’ LP, Subversive Rite ‘Apocalypse Zone’ LP and Beton Arme ‘Renaissance’ LP. The Fright LP just came out and just like the previous releases, this one is like getting your face caved in by a lunging punch from an angry Mandril. When the time comes and you need a bump of pure hardcore with thrash metal/crust tendencies, this will feed that need. Teen Mortgage’s popularity seems to never stop growing. This duo belts of some addicting garage rock punk with fun everyday lyrical themes done in a unique style. Subversive Rite returned with a great LP which takes a hardcore chassis mainlines in some D-Beat/metal influences pushing the genre boundaries that would make a hell of a Venn diagram. I could mention many more but I’ll end with Beton Arme. They dwell in Canada and play some very addicting Oii / hardcore mostly in the French language. Loaded with sing alongs and chants, it doesn’t get better than this. Enjoy the flying bodies if you are lucky enough to catch them live!
