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Rodeo Star by Cowgirl Clue- One of the weirdest albums of the year. Electropop with country samples and lyrics that are a bunch of mantras together. Don’t take my lack of description as a lack of praise. My favorite songs are Rodeo Star, Picket Fence, and Gold Switchblade.

Ooh I Rap Ya by George Clanton- George Clanton was a name I sometimes saw but never gave a chance until last year. This album is a perfect homage to 90’s alternative dance. My favorite songs are the epic Justify Your Life, the Savage Garden-esque I Been Young, the nihilistic but anthemic FUML, and the dreamy For You I Will.

10,000 gecs by 100 gecs- Very loud, irreverent, and most importantly fun. People keep wondering how long hyperpop can last, but 100 gecs was able to shift seamlessly into an alternative rock sound. My favorite songs include Doritos and Fritos (which I was surprised to see on the Warner Bros rock channel on my Roku), The Most Wanted Person in the United States, Billy Knows Jamie, Frog on the Floor, and Dumbest Girl Alive.

Moments of Clarity by Narrowhead- I don’t know what it takes for me to give two looks to ‘regular’ alternative rock bands now that I have a more diverse taste, but Narrowhead stuck out to me immediately. Loud and cathartic, I’ve seen them compared a lot to Deftones. My favorite songs are Breakup Song and Sunday, as well as the alternative dance inspired Soft to Touch.

BB/Ang3l- After the very broad 333, Tinashe went for mega concise. I liked Talk to Me Nice, Treason, and Gravity. I am looking forward to the sequel project this year, which should be sooner rather than later given the delayed release this list has.

World Hassle by Alan Palomo- Alan Palomo’s music was no stranger to inspiring daydreams for me. After an 8 year hiatus, this still holds. Palomo’s solo album sounds more like sophistipop and jazz-funk than synthpop, but is still perfect for soundtracking dead mall videos, Sims Youtube speedbuilds, and city planning videos. My favorite songs are "Is There Nightlife After Death?”, Nobody’s Woman, as well as Stay at Home DJ.

guts by Olivia Rodrigo- I never know how to rate the pop girls of the next generation. Usually there are dozens of discussions about them for who is the most planty, who is the most naturally talented, who is the most wise beyond their years, and who is the most annoying (AKA a normal under 23 year old with a public social media platform), but I just opt out of them instead of having dozens of opinions (unfortunately, I can't always restrain my thoughts on pop stars this easily). This either means an album like Melodrama will have the highs affect me less than they do other people, or an album like Happier Than Ever I wrongly write off too early because I'm not that interested in the meta discussions of Billie’s sophomore slump. But guts had no problem reeling me in. Olivia shows how eclectic Pop rock can be with a rap rock song like Get Him Back, a One of the Boys esque song like Love is Embarrassing, as well as the bubblegrunge inspired Ballad of a Homeschooled Girl.

Gag Order by Kesha- Usually, when people want a dark and personal album by a pop star, we imagine it to be a little confessional and a little experimental, but this album took me by surprise, from the album art to the songs themselves. Maybe it was just watching the visualizers for the videos, but you definitely get the alienation and stress Kesha was facing over the last decade with Something to Believe In and Eat the Acid. For a little more balance, listen to The Drama and Only Love Can Save Us.

Bully by Bully- Bully’s most immediate album since their debut, in my opinion. I like the anthemic Days Move Slow, the surprisingly moody A Love Profound, and the political All This Noise.

Leaving The Light by Genesis Owusu- Genesis Owusu came with an album with a little bit of everything. Post punk, drum and bass, and funk. I like Leaving The Light, The Roach, The Old Man, and That’s Life (A Swamp).

heaven knows by PinkPantheress- More of PinkPantheress’s trademark easily digestible and recognizable UK Garage and helium vocals. My favorite songs are Capable of Love and Internet Baby, as well as The Boy’s a Liar.

Good Luck by Debby Friday- Debby Friday came out of nowhere with this brash homage to industrial music. If you want to get adjusted to the soundscape with a moody bop, start with So Hard to Tell. If you are ready for the loudness, go to Pluto Baby.

Gizmo by Tanukichan- Going on the shoegaze subreddit is good for finding out how to classify ‘The Greats’ of shoegaze music for people whose names I always see but never actually commit to (Or in the case of Curve, are not on streaming), but not my favorite for finding new people. Seeing everything described as ‘Bad impressions of Loveless or just reverbed guitar music’ makes me turned off from giving people more chances. Tanukichan, however, has the right amount of vocals and right amount of guitars. My favorite songs are Don’t Give Up, Take Care, Thin Air, and Mr. Rain.

Chaos for the Fly by Grian Chatten- I’ve kept up with alternative rock enough to know that solo acoustic projects are usually optional for me. But calling Chaos for the Fly an acoustic folk solo album is not doing it any justice. This album has enough atmosphere to keep people who normally don’t like folk music interested, without taking away focus from the lyrics. This is a perfect album for rainy Sunday mornings. My favorite songs are Last Time Every Time Forever, Bob’s Casino, and Fairlilies.

Rabbit Rabbit by Speedy Ortiz- Speedy Ortiz returned with a better focus than their 2018 project, in my opinion. The production gives a lot of different textures time to shine. I like the songs Kim Catrall and Who’s Afraid of the Bath?

wallsocket by underscores - An album that might cast itself out based on how weird it is until the hooks sneak up on you. Other people have talked about how it’s a concept album better than I have, so I won’t talk about that, but Locals (Girls Like Us) is very ahead of the times party-rap revival, Shoot to Kill, Kill Your Darlings, is probably one of the cleverest political songs of the year, and Cops and Robbers is a pure adrenaline rush. Special mention goes to You Don’t Even Know Who I Am, which is haunting with a very unique sample.

☆ Cosas de brujas ☆ by Maria Escarmiento- An exciting and fun hyperpop album where the language barrier doesn't matter. It reminds me of Number 1 Angel era Charli. Mejores que ayer and Demasiado Callado are euphoric, Creo que hoy no me apetece quererme morir is a crunchy futuristic song

Past/present/future by Meet Me @ the Altar- over the past few years, I've had revisionism for the 2000s pop rock girlies. Not just ‘Breakaway is good’ or ‘One of the Boys has Really solid album tracks that get overlooked for obvious reasons’, but more deep-cut esoteric ones that can definitely merit their own post. Meet Me @ the Altar captures the era with their power pop influenced pop punk. Say It (to My Face) is purposely well, immature and energetic like most pop punk, and is the most famous song, per the Roku rock video channel I use, but they have other sounds, too. A Few Tomorrows is a catchy singalong midtempo which could have been the last stray American Idol alumni breakout single (I mean it in the best way possible) and Need Me reminds me of the power pop on One of the Boys.

The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We by Mitski- After too much meta narrative about Mitski’s career clouded her last two albums, Mitski came with a folk album that might be more sparse, but not at all too simple. There is the dreamy My Love All Mine All Mine, the wanderlust of Buffalo Replaced, and I Don't Like my Mind.

Flower of Life Taleen Kali- An interesting shoegaze album that reminds me of the Dum Dum Girls. My favorite songs are Only Lovers Left Alive and Flower of Life. I am curious for where her sound will develop from here.

dilettantereviews

It's here! my 2025 best of. I think this is the earliest I've published one since I published my 2021 best of in 2022. Even with an even 25 albums, there were still a lot of people who I couldn't fit. There were great debuts from artists like Maiya Blaney and Julia Wolf, Cowgirl Clue made an even rav-ier sequel to Rodeo Star, Deftones students Fleshwater and Bleed Beetlejuice'd a Deftone reunion album, Blondshell put out another heartbreaker of an album, Tame Impala perfected coworker music into an art and Suzanne Vega put out one of the best albums of her 40+ year career. Also, I think there are at least 4 NSFW covers and usually I'm pickier about that but sorry in advance. Let's hope I don't get cut off by the character limit again.

dilettantereviews

11-25

Euro Country by CMAT- Come for the novelty of Irish country music, stay for the great vocals and amazing lyrics. Good Man Cry, Janis Joplining, Lord Let that Tesla Burn, and Running/Planning are my personal highlights.

Don't Tap the Glass by Tyler The Creator- I think I’ve listened to some of his stuff since Flower Boy but maybe it’s gestures broadly at the world or that this is his poppiest album, but I can listen to him now without thinking about all of the earlier discourse. My favorites are Ring, Ring, Ring, and Sugar on my Tongue.

Silver Deliverer by Aly and AJ- If you’ve been on Popjustice long enough, you would know how beloved the sister duo is and I enjoyed their new albums but didn’t leave them with any connection. I was really surprised at how much I liked this soft rock inspired one. My favorites are Silver Deliverer, If You Get Lonely, and Sirens.

It's not that deep by Demi Lovato- 2 former disney albums in one year? What?! Demi came out when I started to be embarrassed of Disney and I had no attachment to her music until I respectfully peaced out during the yogurt/alien/Scotter Braun era, but seeing her own Brat era on Vevo made me curious again and helped put out Demi’s best pop album. Sure, it might be faceless, but it curbs her worst musical impulses (oversinging, inspirational ballads). My favorites are Frequency, Kiss, and Fast.

Ghostholding by Venturing- The darling of digicore debuted a shoegaze size project. While her projects are Jane Remover have varied from glitchy to recession pop, this album is straight forward rock (and between her other EP and album this year, perhaps my favorite and recommendation). My favorite songs are Recoil, Spider, and Halloween.

I Love my Computer by Ninajirachi- Straightforward, fun EDM. Without taking away from the album, this is what a nonreworked Brat remix album would sound like. London Song, All at Once, and CSIRAC are my favorite songs.

No Hard Feelings by The Beaches- I feel like people have been pushing every female band as the next Haim since Haim came out and the quality has varied (Muna, Hinds, Aces). While I wouldn’t say the Beaches are anything like Haim, I’m surprised they haven’t been mentioned, so here they are. They have a post punk/indie surf sound and the lead’s vocals remind me of Robert Smith in their own way. I’m surprised to learn that this is their 3rd album and they’ve been around since 2009. Hopefully it’s their breakthrough. Can I Call You in the Morning?, Fine, Let’s Get Married, and Last Girls are the Party are my favorites.

Flop Queen by Precious- The internet only artist that came out of nowhere, particularly not your SEOs. A mix of late 2000’s R&B and today’s pop. Don’t Hate the Girls, Choosie, Knockout, Whip It, and Candy Dreams are my favorite songs.

Mayhem by Lady Gaga- I was an OG stray monster, I stopped “getting” her by the meat dress. But this album was truly a return to form for The Fame Monster fans. There’s the dark stuff, the Europop, the 80’s songs, and more. My favorites are Abracadabra, Zombieboy, and How Bad Do U Want Me.

Girls by Princess Nokia- I never had a Princess Nokia comeback on my musical wishlist, but somehow she gave us her best full project since 2017 and best project since 2018. I was very late to the party so I don’t know how big or how much clout she had from her peak but being the soup girl was the best PR she had for a while. She had a soundcloud rap/pop punk EP right as it was falling out of style but before the pop punk revival and reclamation started. She released 2 albums in 2020, one that was like her 2015 project Destiny and the other like the aforementioned 2018 one, and she went from people taking her music seriously to having her biggest song be with pastiche rapper Ashnikko. Her 2023 EP had a pop punk song, a ballad, and an angsty midtempo but felt more like updating your profile picture for the first time in a decade to show people you still exist. This album goes back to her boom bap political sound like on 1992 deluxe. There are political and feminist songs like Medusa and Blue Velvet and there are fun electropop songs like Gossip Girl and Drop Dead Gorgeous too. I even like the radio interludes.

Louder, Please by Rose Gray- Carefree sleek dance pop. Although her vocals are not 90’s Diva house territory, her detached singing style does not get lost in the music. Recommended if you were whelmed by Radical Optimism. Damn goes into Ninajirachi territory, Just Two is very 90’s Euro pop, Party People, Switch and Everything Changes elevate fast fashion pop into an art.

Tell Dem It's Sunny by Greentea Peng- UK Hip hop verging on trip hop at times. Interesting mix of sounds. My favorite songs are One Foot and Create or Destroy 432.

The Penthouse by Michael Medrano- Romanian popcorn styled recession pop. Come for the scandal of the cover and leave for the music industry critique of Sylvia and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Anyone who has the audacity to cover Hollywood by Madonna has guts in my book. Listen if you wanted to get Babymorocco.

13 Months of Sunshine by Amine- I don’t know how rappers are perceived but I feel like Amine is what the internet calls “mindie”. He’s successful but not huge and saying he’s your favorite rapper might not get you clout but he puts out consistent, accessible albums. He follows the hip house sound from the Kaytramine project while including collaborations with people from Leon Thomas to Waxahatchee. New Flower, Sage Time, Cool About It, and Arc de Triomphe are my favorite songs on the album.

Love & Hyperbole by Alessia Cara- The way I listen to music is so fragmented where there are so many blockbuster albums I write down but never check out in addition to hanging out on RateYourMusic and Allmusic way too long so I have skipped so many albums like 29 by Adele yet somehow checked out Alessia’s album. This was a worthwhile listen. She went for a more mature and loungy sound and better vocals. Brooke Dubek would approve. Dead Man, Nighttime Thing, and Go Outside! Are my favorite songs.

#best of #best of 2025 #jae stephens #neggy gemmy #frost children #rochelle jordan #alt blk era #turnstile #rico nasty #michael medrano #cmat #ninajirachi #greentea peng #rose gray

dilettantereviews

Rodeo Star by Cowgirl Clue- Normally, my end of year process is “do as little research as possible to not be influenced by other people’s lists” (leading me to take forever to finish anything) but a comment on Cowgirl Clue’s RYM comment box for this album summarized the album perfectly: it’s funny how the integration of country pop guitar riffs into icy club music winds up creating curiously lil peep-esque emo trap beats” Although her first album was drum n bass, not unlike a Diddy Kong racing instrumental, on this album she lives up to her Cowgirl moniker by introducing alt pop and country sounds to the album. She has a more varied, bratty tone on this album, singing about how she is fine being one of a kind. My favorites include Rodeo Star, switchblade, wildfire, and Hometown Hero.

This is Why by Paramore- this was their first album where it has hit me that they are truly a veteran group and not just for teens anymore. On this album, they ditch the 80’s flavored synth pop from their last 2 eras and go for a dance/post punk sound. The vocals are quieter, not unlike Hayley’s first 2 solo albums. Big Man, Llittle Dignity is atmospheric but packs a punch. Running out of time is my favorite with the background ad libs and the truly most “i feel seen” lyrics. You First, and Figure 8 have a more pop punk sound that reminds me of their first 2 albums but in a more mature way. Liar, Crave are also good.

Ooh Rap I Ya by George Clanton- Very nostalgia indebted album, to the point where the cover looks like a movie theater carpet (and not the new fancy dine in ones either!). Vaporwave but make it pop. Boy band vocals over electronic instrumentals. With the proper promo, it could’ve been the Currents for today. Justify Your Life, I Been Young, and Punching Down are my highlights.

10,000 Gecs by 100 gecs- When I first listened to 100 gecs, none of it outside the Ringtone remix stood out to me. I remember a lot of stan twitter promo felt very performative in a cringe way to me. It was like seeing “rawr I’m so random xD” multiplied by pretending to type like you’re drunk after 1 drink bad. All this for a band where I could only hum a remix carried by 3 collabs? But then this year I saw Doritos and Fritos on a WMX rock block and was genuinely surprised. No longer random in a forced way, 100 gecs truly took their hyperpop sound to the next level and worked with zolo on Doritos and Fritos, ska on Frog on the Floor and I got my Tooth Removed, and numetal on the Limp Bizkit sampling Billy knows Jamie. They still keep some of their original sound, like on Most Wanted Person in the United States. Listen if you want to feel like you and your friends are going to your town carnival and you pretend it’s ironic but you got on the rides and eat the fried oreos unironically

.Wallsocket by Underscores- Idiosyncratic unique concept album that blends everything from glitch pop to indie folk. Although the story of 3 teens dealing with class and gender in a dying Midwest town seems too convoluted to work, Underscores has a unique sound and vision that was successfully pulled off. My favorite songs include folk song You Don’t Even Know Who I Am, a song about parasocial relationships, Shoot to Kill, Kill Your Darlings, a glitch pop song about the military industrial complex, and Duh.

Rat Saw God by Wednesday- Alt country band with great lyrics and a shoegaze bent. I don’t know if they’re patient zero for the emo farm aesthetic from recent years (I don’t even know what I mean by that but it’s best personified by the goth tractor girl meme) but certainly they’ve benefitted the most from it. The first 3 tracks have a very strong wall of sound shoegaze sound. Chosen to Deserve and Quarry have the idiosyncratic small town lyrics. I really like this album because it’s not like Hillbilly Floppegy or a generic “we didn’t have much growing up, but we were happy” kind of storytelling but painting portraits about locals and small town life in an uncanny way like Gummo or an Appalachian Twin Peaks. Although Karly’s vocals are not traditionally strong, I find her voice endearing. Recommend if you like Dinosaur Jr or Jessica Lea Mayfield.

Gag Order by Kesha- Kesha had a daunting task with this album, to prove that Rainbow wasn’t a one time fluke and that the High Road was truly an experiment. On top of that, her fanbase is too all over the place with people who miss her 2009-2012 era (guiltily or unabashedly), people who were pleased with her authentic and vulnerable country songwriting on Rainbow, and want more of that authenticness, and dark alt pop fans convinced she was Iamwhoamiam. Surprisingly, she was able to do it all on this album and have a great, unique album. My favorites were Radiohead sounding Eat the Acid and singalong worthy Only Love can Save Us Now.

Softscars by Yeule- I thought Yeule’s last album was too inaccessible and experimental and weird for the sake of weird when I listened to it, with the song “Don’t be hard on your inner beauty” a misleading preview. Thankfully, I gave another listen to Yeule and was surprised although the album was still experimental, mixing electronic rock, shoegaze, and noise pop, it somehow all worked together. My favorites are 4U12 and Daziez.

This Land is Inhospitable and So Are We by Mitski- I’ve listened to Mitski for like 8 years and whether she’s been more rock or pop I’ve just taken the songs. I liked and left the album alone, bewildered by her Tiktok fandom. But lo and behold, a country album with her most viral hit yet is all she needed for an album to resonate with me. Besides countrypolitian My Love Mine All Mine, I don’t like My Mind and Buffalo Replaced are also highlights. Listen if you liked Weyes’ Blood album from last year 2022.

Good Luck by Debby Friday- Might have started it as a thesis but she is ready for her valedictorian moment. She covers a lot of ground with dreamy indie pop with Hard to tell, post industrial I Got It, Let U Down, and What a Man.

dilettantereviews

Because not everything could fit under part 1

Here's my best of! Not 2025.. or 2024, but 2023!

2023 was a very blah year for me. I had a hard time going back to my normal routine after the pandemic and it was a time of a lot of reflection. At least the music was good. I think this is the year I started to accept hyperpop/indie sleeze revival in my life. I will say Chappell definitely benefited from reflection but it's my list so I make the rules, right? 13-25 below.

#cowgirl clue #george clanton #underscores #yeule #debby friday #allison goldgrapp #frost children #tinashe #narrowhead #grian chatten #taleen kali #donna missal #bar italia #jane remover #best of #best of 2023

adultalternative

This has been my latest posted Best of list. I don’t know if it’s because I’m getting older and enjoying new music less (probably not), because I’m writing less posts in between best of posts so I have less ideas for how to write reviews, because I put too much weight into it (Seriously, I try to remind myself that I don’t even use scores and that I can’t name best ofs from previous years), or because I cast too wide of a net. Looking at past years, I saw some funny things that made me realize I shouldn’t take my best of seriously. Last year, I not only didn’t have Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess on my list, I removed it earlier on in my discovery period (Too Tumblr pop, or regular pop while trying to pass off as something more special, was my verdict. Then Chappell began to slowly dominate the charts, and I saw the errors of my ways. Two years ago, I wrote an extra review for SZA’s album SOS, and I was going to just decide if it would make it to my final list on the spot before publication. However, I never picked an album for it to take out (Also, now I see that I didn’t reorder my reviews to match the picture). Without further ado, here is the list.

adultalternative

(Editor's note: I wrote this on paper in January 2024 but did not get around to typing this until now. Whoops) 2023 was (sort of) a revival year for Nelly Furtado with Tiktok and collabs (And it did lead to a 2024 with music festival performances and a new album), as well as the 20th anniversary of Folklore. For me, 2023 was the year of getting into Whoa, Nelly! Although I tried listening to it before, it didn't really stick out to me. I saw it described as trip hop, although it wasn't like the Bristol big three. It wasn't similar enough to the dance pop or R&B at the time, so my only impression of the album was that it was .... alternative.

A new interest in borrowing rare CDs from my library before they are thrown out, however, helped me get into it. I came for the singles, but stayed for the album cuts. Legend reminds me of the Perfect Pair by beabadoobee. I Will Make U Cry has a very Sex and the City opening-esque Latin/Jazz beat. Hey Man has a very melancholic string sample courtesy of the Kronos Quartet, who also collaborated with Furtado on the Folklore standout opening One Trick Pony. Baby Girl is the single that never was.

One thing that bothers me about the album, though, is a lack of information. On the Radio is about Nelly getting shut out of Canada's trip hop scene for being too much of a poptimist (really), but there is little information about the other songs. Hey, Man! has Alanis Morissette or Fiona Apple level 'Only the writer and subject would know the meaning' lyrics, but I can't find any quotes from Nelly about the song ('And there's a shadow in the sky , and it looks like rain, and shit is gonna fly once again' is both perfectly mysterious and crystal clear about impending doom coming for the narrator). I Will Make U Cry has witty lyrics but no confirmation, either. Trynna Finda Way can be autobiographical... but whose autobiography it is remains to be revealed.

While you can't describe Whoa, Nelly! in terms of other pop albums, if you like the eclecticism of people like Imani Coppola or Beck, you can't go wrong with Whoa, Nelly!

adultalternative

Why are people into AI covers on Youtube when there is still so much interesting covers and concepts already out there? Here is a version of Dreams by Fleetwood Mac that is more yacht rock/smooth jazz than soft rock.

adultalternative

This Women's History Month, support Women's Rights. But also, Women's Wrongs. The Electric Barbarellas were a girl group with an MTV reality show a la Danity Kane that I somehow did not hear about until now. What was their claim to fame? Sumner Redstone was apparently in a relationship with one of the women and begged for MTV to make a show about a girl group she was in. MTV did not care for the show and tried to burn it off. The group also had a performance on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson that Les Moonves really did not want to give them, but he arranged as a favor to Sumner Redstone. Queens of Wasting His Time™ (Either one). Here is a link to their Wikipedia stub because it's short enough but explains it a little clearer.

The music is good 'trashy' (We need to retire that word) Electropop in the Blackout/Bionic vicinity.