DECEMBER 21 — No matter the kind of people in your circle of friends, it’s pretty normal to hear people talking about how there’s not much good new music nowadays, and that the era they grew up in is always the best when it comes to music.
That sentiment partly explains the magic of music, because we associate what we listen to with the memories we’re making at the time, and more often than not we most often think of our "glory years" as the ones when were carefree teenagers, hence the music we loved listening to then is glorious as well.
As someone who still loves to write and play music, discovering new artists is part of why I love music in the first place; diving into the unknown and finding new delights to explore and get into.
While my teenage/childhood heroes like Fastbacks and Guided By Voices have all released great new albums this year, the ones that I kept on coming back to are almost all newer ones, as this list of favourite albums will show you.
And no, this is not a list of what I think the best albums of the year are, hence the use of the word favourite instead of best, because these are the ones I’ve loved the most this year.
Liquid Mike — Paul Bunyan’s Slingshot
Talking about those glorious teenage years, Liquid Mike has been making the kind of racket I loved (90s-inspired geek rock/power pop) when I was one for a few years now, even making this list last year with their self-titled debut album.
They’re a wee bit bigger in terms of profile in the USA this year, with even bigger music magazines/portals covering this second album, but still precious few people know of their existence here.
If you love bands like Weezer, Ridel High, Size 14 and Summercamp, this will make you jump around and play air guitar like a headbanging teenager as if it was 1994.
Thirteen songs in just 26 minutes, this is all killer no filler stuff!
Mo Troper — Svengali
An absolutely incredible power pop album that got lost in the rubble after a wave of accusations surfaced on the internet (which have apparently been cleared, but the damage has already been done with even the record label dropping the album when the allegations first appeared), if you have any love for jangly power pop, you need to give this album a listen.
In fact, just listen to anything that Mo Troper has released in the last six to seven years and marvel at the existence of a power pop genius in this day and age.
Claudia — Love Again
My favourite Malaysian pop princess, Claudia, has finally released her debut album after a raft of excellent singles in the past couple of years, and she has delivered a world class pop album as an independent artist, without any label help, which is quite an achievement.
The production here sounds as good and as big as any big international female pop artist you love, and the songs, from my personal favourite Your Gentleman to Toast to The Worst Part, are quite simply phenomenal.
Heart To Gold — Free Help
Back in 2022, I had Heart To Gold’s previous album Tom in my list of favourite albums, and they’re back with another banger this year with their latest album Free Help.
Imagine a 5th wave emo band chucking in elements of hooky 90s alternative rock into the mix, this album is filled with gloriously huge riffs and is chock full of anthems you can sing along to.
Add to that the huge sounding production, this one is made to be played loud in the car, with the windows rolled down and everyone in it singing along.
Sharp Pins — Radio DDR
Sounding like a bastard child of Mo Troper and Robert Pollard/Guided By Voices, this second album from young Chicago musician Kai Slater (it’s his solo project), is blindingly great.
Straight away with openers Every Time I Hear and Lorelei, the songs’ lovely melodies and irresistible chiming guitars will make anyone’s knees go weak, especially if chiming and jangly guitar pop is your thing.
Your jaw will drop even more once you’ve finished the whole album, as the consistency is astonishing.
Origami Angel — Feeling Not Found
As a big fan of Origami Angel from the very beginning, it took me a few listens to finally accept the fact that they’ve evolved their sound and are probably no longer that interested to put in those random blast beats into their pretty and catchy songs that made me first fall in love with them.
But once I’ve accepted that, it’s really hard to resist the fact that this is probably Origami Angel at their prettiest, with plenty of very pretty sounding chords and guitar lines intertwining with some really gorgeous vocal melodies, none prettier than in the album’s outrageously beautiful fifth song Underneath My Skin.
Drug Church — Prude
Eleven years after their debut album, hardcore lifers Drug Church have more or less perfected their signature blend of hardcore, speak/shout singing and big alternative/post-grunge riffs, and their fifth album Prude is a true headbanging delight from start to finish.
Singer Patrick Kindlon has even started to sing more melodically this time, which makes this album even poppier than their previous ones, which I’m sure will make them an even bigger band than they already are in 2025.
Is a mainstream breakthrough in the cards?
Carpet Golf — In Between, Out Of Phase
A debut album so good, I think this will make Carpet Golf the next Singaporean band to break into the international independent music scene.
World class songs backed by some pretty world class production as well, those who didn’t know better would probably think that this is a hot new American or UK band on first listen.
I know very little about these dudes, aside from the fact that one of them also plays in Subsonic Eye, but I hope to get to know more about them and hopefully see them "live" as well in the very near future, and jump around to this lovely bunch of songs that will make plenty of American 5th wave emo bands blush.
Squint — Big Hand
St. Louis hardcore band Squint was in my list last year with a compilation of their first two EPs, and now they’ve arrived with their debut album Big Hand, which is every bit as good, catchy and memorable as those EPs.
Like I said last year, vocalist Brennan Wilkinson’s ferocious vocals are still their secret weapon, but the riffs have gotten brighter, catchier while still remaining heavy, which means there are plenty of little delights to discover and enjoy in these songs.
My personal favourites have to be Sunshine and Well Wisher.
Riley! — Keep Your Cool
Being a big fan of Prince Daddy & The Hyena and Origami Angel, when a band arrives and sounds like those two combined, how can I even resist?
The throaty vocals will remind fans of Prince Daddy, but it’s the band’s ability to write songs every bit as catchy and affecting as the two aforementioned bands, and fill the album with 10 of them and not have even one weak link is what makes this one special.
Yes, they won’t be able to score too many points when it comes to originality, but who cares when the songs are as awesome as Bad Boys Boxing Club, 777 and Kill Yr Boss?
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
