HCTF's best of 2025 (20-16)

• 20-16
• |
• 15-11
• |
• 10-6
• |
• 5-1

» Best of playlist

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HCTF's annual list of the 20 albums that will be in regular rotation for many years to come. As per usual many genres are represented. Here Comes The Flood covers a lot of ground and it shows in this eclectic, final tally. Caveat: only albums that got a review are in these listings. I listen to a lot more music than I have time to write about.

Today: final countdown from number 20 to 6.

Please shop at your local record store. Most of the stores have a pretty good website where you can order your stuff. It might even be cheaper than the big ones on the 'net. The folks who work there know their stuff and can recommend artists you might like.

Buy directly from the artist, attend live shows and stop by the merch table. And be sure to tell your friends about that great new act you discovered. Word-of-mouth can't be beat as the prime source to discover new music. Algorithms always play it safe, which is fucking boring.

He's Dead Jim: These Men, These Monsters

Scottish art punkers He's Dead Jim named themselves after a line that got uttered by Star Trek character Dr. Leonard H. McCoy quite a few times. While that TV show was set in the future, their music is a throwback to 60s garage rock, seasoned with power pop musings and synths from the heyday of New Wave. The band's new album These Men, These Monsters is a blend of fuzzy lo-fi and Technicolor flourishes.

They dare to dream big on a shoestring budget, painting a picture of a world that is moving forward, but also being aware that there is plenty of shit going on that is likely to get in the way - Anything Can Happen Day and Human Zoo sum up their outlook on life nicely. Heroes and villains are forever locked in a tug of war, but with this album playing at top volume things are half bad. O, and they throw in a smashing cover of 10CC's Art For Art's Sake, which may serve a stepping stone for a long overdue reappraisal of that band's adventurous output.

Kicking Bird & Tercel: double bill in Wilmington, NC

Indie rock bands Kicking Bird and Tercel will be sharing the bill @ Wilson Center in Wilmington, NC on January 16. Singer Tracy Shedd, who is also on their label Fort Lowell Records will spin some records, making it a fine night of guitar driven music.

Mike Keneally and Marcelo Radulovich: "Meeting the Kid for Lunch" video

Marcelo Radulovich used quite a bit of AI to create a video for Meeting the Kid for Lunch. It is a track from Friday, an album he recorded with fellow multi-instrumentalist Mike Keneally: "[It] is quite gentle, with a skewed rhythm as the equivalent of the kid fidgeting and playing with his food."

» keneally.com
» titicacaman.com

HCTF review of Friday

Ten Cent Club: Postcards From The Sun EP

Californian one-man band Ten Cent Club switches between Tom Waits-alike songs about casual violence, a pastoral instrumental and jazzy late night songs on his debut EP Postcards From The Sun. Despite being all over the place it somehow all fits, with only a low budget holding him back to fully realise his vision - a proper drummer should be on the top of the list once he gets his hands on a amount of cash.

As a songwriter he is obviously influenced by the underground and film soundtracks in equal measures. Being on the fence opens up opportunities from both sides, so by not making a choice he can turn his songs it into something that sounds familiar, but also a bit off in a good way.