Year In Review 2025 - Favorite Albums Part 2 (#10-6)

Another year is finishing up and @RockBodElec wouldn't be a proper music site if we didn't end the year with a "Best Of" list, so RtBE presents 2025's Favorite Albums Part 2 (Numbers 10-6):

In the instance that RtBE has reviewed the album, either on this site or elsewhere, we will link to that review and just give a quick summation, click on the name/title and you can read our full opinion. RtBE worked with the Glide Team to give input on their Top 20, so you can expect some overlap if you already have seen that list.

Again the focus here is on full albums, not singles, but long playing releases you can slap on and listen all the way through. We know these are a dying breed, but it still is the way we consume music, no shuffle, AI programming, Spotify mixes or singles for us.

This begins our top ten and we will wrap it up tomorrow. You can also find our list of Honorable Mentions that were just out of our top ten. Consider those 10-24, in no particular order.

Like all of our lists or 'best of' roundups, these are meant to start conversations, not end them...

Top Ten Favorite Albums of 2025:

#10 Trombone Shorty & New Breed Brass Band - Second Line Sunday (full review in January)

Released on the 20th Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Second Line Sunday is an excellent album that captures the New Orleans tradition of Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs Second Line Sunday's. Crisp, flowing brass, great percussion, head bopping grooves and some hip-hop rhymes with a few Mardi Gras Indian chants for good measure. A great album to experience brass band sounds and styles from the musical heart of America. 

#9 Snocaps - Self-Titled

The twin sisters, Katie Crutchfield (Waxahatchee) and Allison Crutchfield (Swearin') partnered up with MJ Lenderman and Brad Cook to form Snocaps. Perhaps it is the zero hyped surprise release, or the lower stakes of all artists already being well established but when the debut wraps up there is a fresh sense of joy. The palpable feeling of four friends getting together to just make music is the best part of Snocaps debut. 

#8 Jeffery Broussard & The Nighttime Syndicate - Bayou Moonlight

On the opening song, titled "Whatever", off the debut full length Bayou Moonlight from Jeffery Broussard & The Nighttime Syndicate, Broussard sings the phrase "Sit back relax and pour yourself a cup of coffee or whatever, and listen to the great great sounds of zydeco...or whatever". That final 'whatever' is doing a lot of heavy lifting as the outfit have combined to craft an intoxicating mix of blues, soul, Jamaican ska, jazz, swing, gospel, and zydeco, that simply cooks. 

#7 Deafheaven - Lonely People With Power

RtBE's favorite heavy album of the year, as the band ditched the more alt-rock sound of their last album (which was on our Let Down list) coming back to their metal roots. Who knows where Deafheaven goes next in their sonic travels, but a return to what they do stunningly well grounds them for the moment with the supremely successful Lonely People With Power.

#6 Hotline TNT - Raspberry Moon

The newest offering from the Brooklyn-based rock outfit Hotline TNT is a throwback to the buzzy grunge era of 90s indie/alt heyday; however, things never stagnate as they sprinkle in exciting accents and pop-like appeal to keep the ear engaged. Raspberry Moon on Third Man Records finds Hotline TNT unlocking buzzingly beautiful guitar rock that washes shimmering tones in all directions as the band seems to be truly coming into their own.   

Top 5 coming tomorrow.....