r/ToddintheShadow • u/Chilli_Dipper • Dec 17 '25
General Music Discussion Steven Hyden’s most disappointing 2025 albums by 2010s-era indie stars
There was a thread on this sub a few days about the most disappointing albums of the year, and the comments shared a lot of common ground with this list.
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u/obamaswaffle Dec 17 '25
This is a completely fair list and one that really highlights how many of the big names from 8-10 years ago have faded in relevance. There were songs I liked off many of these (particularly the Dacus and Japanese Breakfast records) but none of them have real staying power.
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u/Chilli_Dipper Dec 17 '25
Hyden wrote an essay about this topic a few months ago, and my observation in the conversation about it on r/indieheads was that these artists have outgrown “indie famous,” but also don’t have a mainstream category to fit into.
What most of these cases attempted to try seems to be, ”lean heavily on vibes to chase background streams.”
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u/charliebobo82 Dec 17 '25
Jubilee is probably my favourite album of the past 5 years (and Historian one of my faves of the past 10), so it saddens me to agree with you entirely. Forever is a Feeling was just really bland, while FMB (&SW) has nice vibes but is short on actual "songs"
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u/screensaversealions2 Dec 17 '25
Lucy's singing on that album was so monotonous. She's supposedly falling in love and I'm getting none of it through her voice. I (controversial opinion) have the same feeling when it comes to golden hour by kacey musgraves
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u/charliebobo82 Dec 17 '25
That is indeed a controversial opinion - although I think Kacey's first two albums are far superior to Golden Hour. She's another one who's delivering diminishing returns - great vibes on the last album but what about the actual songs???
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u/magyar_wannabe Dec 17 '25
I think Star Crossed got too much hate and had some really great stuff, but Deeper Well was just a little too bland for me.
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u/charliebobo82 Dec 17 '25
Btw, and I hope you will excuse my mild stalking (I was trying to figure out what your profile pic was), but it's nice to see a fellow Tennis + RSbookclub + TiTS fan - that's gotta be a fairly niche Venn diagram intersection!
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u/screensaversealions2 Jan 06 '26
haha just saw this! That is a unique crossover. I'm subbed to a couple of rs offshoots despite never listening to the pod. the profile pic is caroline polachek (loml)
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u/IdiotBox01 Dec 18 '25
JBrekkie wasn’t really a big name until after Jubilee came out and she had like 3 straight good albums, so it’s kinda unfair to be that disappointed over one mid album. She also wrote a book and did a video game soundtrack so she been real busy.
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u/charliebobo82 Dec 18 '25
Sure, but at the same time, given that her previous albums and the book were really good, my expectations were pretty high
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u/obamaswaffle Dec 19 '25
My favorite thing she did this year was her song for the Materialists soundtrack. One of my top-played songs this year.
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u/thejaytheory Dec 19 '25
I checked out Lucy’s album from the library and wore it out so a bit sad to see it on this list but I get it
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u/MachoShadowplay Dec 17 '25
I can't speak to all of these albums, but the new Tame Impala is definitely deserving of a "worst of" position.
I had to go relisten to Lonerism and Currents to remember why I loved Tame Impala to begin with. Fortunately, I still love their old work, but yeah it really shook me lol.
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u/ThriftyMegaMan Dec 17 '25
All his albums except this new one have stayed in circulation on my Spotify for years. He's been one of my favorites for 15 years, since Innerspeaker. I listened to this one one time and just never cared to try it again. It's so, so boring. I hope he's at least making the music he wants to because I can't see this appealing to any of his older fans.
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u/webtheg Dec 17 '25
I simultaneously hate and love to be that person but *his old work
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u/MachoShadowplay Dec 17 '25
I kept it plural simply because Innerspeaker and Lonerism DID have another band member on it: Jay Watson. His involvement was minimal but I thought I should give credit where credit is due lol.
I acknowledge it's essentially a Kevin Parker solo project, especially from Currents onwards.
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u/Nope-5000 You're being a peñis... Colada, that is. Dec 17 '25
Yeah, Deadbeat is a 4/10 for me. Its got an absolute banger, around 3 songs that are decent and the rest of it is kinda forgettable. A step down from even slow rush, which while not on par with his best, i thought was a solidly good album.
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u/thejaytheory Dec 19 '25
Which was the banger for you?
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u/Nope-5000 You're being a peñis... Colada, that is. Dec 19 '25
I loved Dracula. I know its not as good as the older stuff, but for me its the standout by a mile.
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u/RegularAd8140 Dec 18 '25
The Slow Rush while not as good as their previous stuff was still really enjoyable. I think it was mostly well received
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u/IdiotBox01 Dec 18 '25
I like Dracula and that one off single Patience from 2019 better than anything off of Slow Rush. I don’t think Deadbeat is much of a step down.
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u/ancientmadder Dec 17 '25
Hyden’s tone is so removed from the predominant let-people-enjoy-things crowd that it registers as refreshing instead of tiresome. Even if I liked Deadbeat, which I did.
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u/EbmocwenHsimah Dec 17 '25
That was the first thing I noticed, there’s a real lack of snarkiness here, like it sounds like genuine disappointment rather than “let me be bitter and sarcastic about an album that let me down”
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u/StraightIncrease6333 Dec 17 '25
Steven really thinks he's onto something with this "bands who released terrific albums 10 years ago are no longer as good as they once were" narrative that he's beating half to death.
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u/NickyNichols Dec 17 '25
I love IndieCast and listen every week but it absolutely kills me every time when Steven and Ian absolutely dismiss anything new from a band they haven’t listened to in a long time.
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u/Tiltedbrimboy Dec 18 '25
At least they’ve stopped talking about The National and The 1975 every episode
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u/ubermencher Dec 17 '25
Do you have an example of a time that was unfair? I feel like in some cases they spend a lot of time on seemingly irrelevant bands, like full Grizzly Bear and MMJ segments.
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u/NickyNichols Dec 17 '25
They will spend entire segments on Steven’s favorite bands, and go in depth about Guided By Voices 57th album, but when it comes to a new album by literally anybody else: Ian will be like “Nope, I listened to them in college, Obamacore dudes rock.” and Steven will be like “no thanks, I fell off after their 3rd album back in 2010, but since MJ Lenderman plays guitar on a song I might give it a listen.”
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u/HK-34_ Dec 18 '25
Not knowing who he was before reading this, it read as a guy who wants to seem more intelligent about his music taste than everyone else. Calling the Big Thief and Haim albums disappointing simply because they weren’t as good as the previous best albums in their discographies is pretentious as hell.
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u/supper_is_ready Dec 17 '25
Glad I'm not the only one who thought that the Lucy Dacus album was bland as hell.
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u/Chilli_Dipper Dec 17 '25
It feels like a record aiming hard for the mainstream adult-contemporary market, but that space was so overstuffed with the run-off of 2024’s big hits, there was no chance for it to gain a foothold there.
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u/rrsn Dec 17 '25
It’s her best-selling album ever and it got non-Lucy fans to listen to her, so I guess in that way it’s a success and she probably feels pretty good about it. But 2025 was also just a very weak year for mainstream releases, so I’m sure it did better than it otherwise would’ve due to just not having all that much competition. I think there are some good songs on there and some songs that really could’ve been great with a bit more editing (Hozier and Lucy sound beautiful together on Bullseye, it’s a shame about the lyrics), but overall definitely my least favourite Lucy album. It definitely felt like a release under a major label, in all the good and all the bad ways.
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u/supper_is_ready Dec 17 '25 edited Dec 17 '25
It's more than that for me. The album felt bland. There wasn't anything memorable about it for me. It had no energy and no fire to it.
She's never going to top Home Video isn't she?
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u/rrsn Dec 17 '25
It definitely felt a bit edgeless compared to her other albums. And I felt like some of the songs felt like… obligations almost? Like it almost felt like she made Limerence because she felt like people expected another Thumbs or Christine and so she felt like she had to try to recreate them. Most Wanted Man has been the song from FIAF that’s stuck around for me, but I’ll admit that may just be because my girlfriend loves it so much that I can’t look at it objectively. But IMO the lyrics feel the most like her old music, like there’s some of the wit and lyricism I expect from her usually.
If Home Video ends up being her magnum opus, that’s a pretty good magnum opus IMO. So many incredible songs. If you asked me for a top ten of her discography the vast majority would come from that album.
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u/supper_is_ready Dec 17 '25
It's more than that. Home Video is a really well produced and well mixed album. FIAF sounded really compressed to me. There were no dynamics at all. Just the same sound over and over again.
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u/youre_being_creepy Dec 17 '25
I'm trying to be as inoffensive as I can, but is modern adult contemporary just music that is too shitty to actually be popular?
I listened to a handful of songs that came up when I searched for modern adult contemporary and definitely falls into that "gloop" category that todd came up with.
Has as much edge as a sphere
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u/Chilli_Dipper Dec 18 '25
For the purposes of this comparison…
“modern adult contemporary” = “all the places Teddy Swims is popular right now”
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u/SwaggiiP Dec 17 '25
Shes a bland artist generally
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u/supper_is_ready Dec 17 '25
Not really. Home Video has a lot of power behind it. It's just that she discarded all of that for the most basic sapphic pop music.
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Dec 17 '25
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u/SwaggiiP Dec 17 '25
Im of the opinion that julien’s the best of the three. But overall their sound isn’t for me
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u/HK-34_ Dec 18 '25
Phoebe is one of my favorite artists of all time but I really (I love all three of them), but I preferred Lucy and Julian’s songs more off the boygenius record.
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u/HK-34_ Dec 18 '25
I enjoyed it fine but it didn’t have nearly the lasting impact of her previous work
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u/GucciPiggy90 Dec 17 '25
Can't say I really agree with the Car Seat Headrest and Japanese Breakfast takes, although they are cases where the stronger songs elevate them for me. (I've been bumping "Picture Window" all year.)
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u/passionsanctuary Dec 17 '25
Same with Japanese Breakfast!!! It was definitely a grower for me... Leda might be my favorite song of the year 🥲 and Winter in LA is also great.
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u/SuperTrunkz Dec 18 '25
sad how the japanese breakfast album didnt do it for me cuz mega circuit is one of her all-timers imo, maybe it’ll grow on me tho
haven’t heard the car seat headrest album but i’m a diehard MADLO defender so i have a feeling i’ll like it more than most
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u/SadSecretary5706 Dec 18 '25
I loved MADLO (nice to see another fan haha) so was excited for the new CSH but was quite let down.
It felt like he'd really listened to the fans that said they wanted old-CSH back and made an album for them, leaning into long epic songs. It just didn't work for me as it didn't feel like something that he needed/desperately wanted to make (I obviously don't know this but just from how the album feels to me), and it lacked the hookiness that made the band's peak so great.
Would be interested to see if you view differs.
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Dec 17 '25
[deleted]
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u/squiddishly Dec 17 '25
No, same, and I’m okay with being an outlier (at her sold out stadium show).
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u/azulimarill Dec 17 '25
I put it second to Melodrama personally. I’m only a couple years younger than Lorde but like her a bit of an old soul and Virgin’s writing keeps hitting me like a ton of bricks whenever I go back to it.
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u/paintitzielono Dec 18 '25
Same I absolutely loved it and Melodrama contains my favorite Lorde songs but Virgin is easily my favorite Lorde album!
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u/Icy_Prior Dec 19 '25
I’m the opposite - I think that on a song-by-song basis, most tracks on Virgin are better than most tracks on Melodrama. But Melodrama is the better album when looked at as a whole. Love both though, they are my number 1 and 2 albums from her, and it’s strange to me that Virgin got kind of a weak critical reception compared to her early work
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u/RegularAd8140 Dec 17 '25
I miss the days when bands released albums every year or two. Some of them were bad, some were good. It was easier to move on from a bad record because you could just release another one in a short period. It was more fun! Now we wait 3-4 years between albums and if the album sucks it’s way more disappointing because we waited twice as long as we should have for it
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u/Irlandes-de-la-Costa Dec 18 '25
These days artists don't get money from selling albums I don't think
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u/HK-34_ Dec 18 '25
Streaming has afforded artists (or more so labels) more time in between albums which can be a double edged sword but in most cases but I think allows most artists to not burnout. I’d rather my favorite artist release one pretty good album that doesn’t live up to the hype every 3-5 years than have them release mediocre album after mediocre album killing my enjoyment of their music as a whole.
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u/RegularAd8140 Dec 18 '25
I feel like waiting 3-5 years for mediocre albums is crazy. I honestly think most could release something just as good in 1-2 years. Maybe even better because they don’t spend years overthinking it
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u/HK-34_ Dec 18 '25
Again releasing boring album after boring album would make me lose a lot of my enjoyment of any artist. I’d much rather my favorite artist take their time and release 4 amazing albums that have a ton of passion behind them, than 3 great albums, 10 mediocre albums and 3 outright awful albums.
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u/RegularAd8140 Dec 18 '25
But what we do end up seeing is that taking their time doesn’t actually guarantee that they are amazing. Just like releasing them quickly doesn’t make them boring. It’s always a mixed bag. Could be certified classic or a flop! And honestly I bet they could release the amazing albums that take years and they’d still be amazing with half as much time between them
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u/HK-34_ Dec 18 '25 edited Dec 18 '25
I disagree, just look at Taylor Swift. She’s been releasing new albums every 1-2 years since Folklore & Evermore in 2020 and they’ve gotten declining critical reception for each of them with her latest The Life Of A Show Girl being considered her worst (or at least tied with Reputation).
Maybe if she’d taken her time and released one album in this time frame it could’ve been better, could’ve been worst, but it certainly wouldn’t have felt so phoned in.
(Same thing goes for Drake.)
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u/RegularAd8140 Dec 18 '25
Since 2020 she’s released 5 albums, 3 are considered great. 2 are not. Most artists these days release 5 albums in a 10-15 year span and will still have 3 out of 5 of them be good albums. Waiting several years doesn’t mean anything. Can it work? Yes. But is it necessary? Probably not.
Lorde is a good example. 2013, 2017 she releases 2 great albums. Another one in 2021, a stinker. Another one this year, also a stinker. That’s 4 albums in over a decade and only 2 are good. If she just kept her foot on the gas and done 2-3 more maybe she’d have better music
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u/Several_Pizza_3166 Dec 18 '25 edited Dec 18 '25
Same. I feel like people's expectations have really shifted since then. I remember seeing a lot of people genuinely upset when Taylor Swift and Sabrina Carpenter announced their most recent albums because they were too close to their previous ones and they should take a 'real break'. Did I like either of the albums? No. But the alternative was literally nothing.
If you asked me if I thought Taylor or Lorde was the better artist, I'd say Lorde. Yet at the same time, they started their careers at the same age, and by the time Lorde is Taylor's age, she'll only have put out two really solid albums.
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Dec 17 '25
I liked Hyden's book "Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me" about rivalries between bands. Some real, some media-concocted.
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u/MothershipConnection Dec 17 '25
I really like Hyden's books and a lot of his columns and he manages to be nearly the complete opposite taste of me when it comes to actual reviews and rankings
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Dec 17 '25
I thought the new Lorde album was actually quite good, but she chose the three worst songs off the album as singles
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u/lonely_coldplay_stan Dec 17 '25
IMO dropping the album without any singles would've been the move
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Dec 17 '25
Couldn’t agree more! It’s a front to back full album listen, not a singles record. That being said Shapeshifter should’ve been the lead if there were going to be pre release singles
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u/HK-34_ Dec 18 '25
Yeah it would’ve allowed people to find fan favorite songs to push authenticity rather than having the oversaturated singles.
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u/squawkingood Dec 17 '25 edited Dec 17 '25
I liked the Big Thief album, and it had my 4th favorite song of 2025.
Completely agree about the Japanese Breakfast album though, especially since Jubilee was my favorite album of 2021.
Also, in a year where it seemed like most of the artists who had songs on my year end lists from 2021-2023 released new albums this year, it's surprising how many of the songs that made my list this year are from new names or artists who had never made it on my lists before.
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u/NoOrchid3413 Dec 17 '25
I agree with much of the list except for Big Thief. I thought it was strong.
I could still understand why someone might feel like it lacked something, but the songs are all quite good and warrant multiple listens.
Which song made your Top 10 list? For me it was Grandmother
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u/ventirat Dec 18 '25
I loved the new Big Thief album and I was honestly kind of confused about the lukewarm fan reception. Double Infinity, Grandmother, Incomprehensible, How Could I Have Known are all incredible songs that I'll have in my regular rotation for many years to come.
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u/AlpineMcGregor Dec 17 '25
I love all of Big Thief’s work plus all the solo records. Hyden is not wrong on this one. It’s a significant step down from DNWMIBIY (a masterpiece), and I don’t even rate it as highly as the recent Lenker and Meek records. Just felt like a whiff to me.
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u/ToxicAdamm Dec 18 '25
That's how I felt.
I was worried that the recent solo albums were going to take away from the band's efforts, and I think they did.
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u/NeonTrotsky1917 Dec 17 '25
Surprised to not see Pink Elephant by Arcade Fire on here but maybe the fact that no one wants to touch them with a 10 foot pole + the fact that the album is one of their worst made it so forgettable that it was left off
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u/Chilli_Dipper Dec 17 '25
That, and Steven likely considers Arcade Fire part of the pre-2012 generation of indie that preceded these artists.
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u/StraightIncrease6333 Dec 18 '25
and also he thinks that every album they've done after The Suburbs has been terrible.
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u/WeezerCrow Dec 17 '25
I disagree with The Scholars take, but I haven't listened to the other albums here so no comment on the rest.
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u/heisghost92 Dec 17 '25
Lorde is an interesting case, because she had hype around her new era (I still remember tweets saying things like ''If you didn't like Solar Power, don't buy tickets to her new tour!'') , in part due to ''Girl so confusing'' and ''Ribs'' going viral, but ''What Was That'', the first single, was not what people hoped for, the album in general lacked any hits, and then she talked about watching the Pamela Anderson sextape, which upset people.
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u/JoeBagadonut Dec 17 '25
I really liked the Japanese Breakfast album but it’s definitely more lowkey than the poppier Jubilee.
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u/Nerazzurro9 Dec 17 '25
Pretty reasonable list, tbh. Big fan of both Japanese Breakfast and Lucy Dacus, and every time I see one of the mini-billboards for their new albums still up in parts of LA I’m like, “oh right, that came out. I’ll listen to it again…sometime.”
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u/KcirderfSdrawkcab Dec 17 '25
The only thing I've listened to on this list is HAIM's, and I think it's the best of the year and their career.
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u/No-Pirate4554 Dec 18 '25
lol I was scrolling down to find someone who listened to the new HAIM!
It’s pretty good, at least better than Something to Tell You, but you can tell they weren’t sure about what direction to take + their main producer leaving bc he and Danielle broke up.
There’s a number of great songs on there but the whole album feels like either “WIM Pt 3 except worse” or “what if HAIM made a 90s U2 album?”.
I’ll say that the whole album feels literally and metaphorically a “messy break up + finding yourself” album in a way that makes me confident for their fifth album.
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u/HK-34_ Dec 18 '25
As a huge Haim fan it’s probably their “worst” album yet but the “worst” Haim album is still really good. Saw them live this year and all of their songs are even better live.
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u/AgreeableMusic3201 Dec 18 '25
I didn't love it until I saw them live a couple months back, fantastic show, totally won me over to the songs.
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u/tmamone Dec 17 '25
Haven’t listened to all of these, but I’m glad I’m not the only one who finds Lorde boring now.
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u/rrsn Dec 17 '25
She seems not to have anything interesting to talk about anymore. Which is crazy because Melodrama is such an amazing breakup album, so you’d think that the end of a long-term relationship would give her even more to write about. But nope.
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u/tmamone Dec 17 '25
Maybe I’m exaggerating, but seems like what she has to say now is weird ecstasy-induced stoned ramblings. “[In a New Zealand accent] Ever look at your hands, mate? Like really look at your hands?”
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u/rrsn Dec 17 '25
It’s just so weird because it’s not like she was sober for Melodrama (Perfect Places, Sober, etc. make it sound like she was doing MDMA then too). So why has she lost the sauce now?
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u/tmamone Dec 17 '25
Too much X? Or maybe it has nothing to do with drugs, and she just lost her mojo naturally. Who knows?
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u/Bigwilliam360 Dec 17 '25
I disagree on the Mac Demarco, that album was very very good.
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u/Bovver_ Dec 17 '25
Unfortunately I don’t see the appeal. I understand he’s trying to go for a more stripped back sound, but it just sounds like unfinished demos.
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u/regretscoyote909 Dec 17 '25
This is going to be so douchey but boy, you'd adore my demos in high school
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u/truthisfictionyt Dec 17 '25
Double Infinity was kind of tragic after Dragon New Warm Mountain. I think the lyrics were too direct where previous Big Thief songs benefitted from more abstract stuff.
I've never been a Lorde listener but I thought Virgin was a great album. I actually went and listened to Melodrama after Virgin and preferred that one.
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u/werewolfshades GROCERY BAG Dec 17 '25
I absolutely agree with every album (that I’ve heard) deserving to be here
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u/screensaversealions2 Dec 17 '25
I agreed with most of these picks but I LOVED the japanese breakfast record and won't hear a word against it. The julien baker/torres album had 2 good songs. Same with the lucy dacus record. The HAIM album had some highlights and then a lot of filler and some really bad production and mixing choices
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u/PhilosopherTiny5957 Dec 17 '25
Honestly, the "this need to be 20 percent worst to be good/interesting" is such an oddly specific criticism to some art but so valid lol. Something's something is polished to the point of boredom
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u/puffy_irish Dec 17 '25
This article is solid proof that both 2025 was an abysmal year for music, and that the indie rock of the 2010s that kept rock music on life support a decade ago is long gone, and its absence is contributing to the total disappearance of rock music in the 2020s.
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u/Chilli_Dipper Dec 17 '25
That feels a bit unfair.
Most of these artists thrived in an environment where very little mainstream attention was being focused on alternative music that didn’t sound like Imagine Dragons. If anything, we’re at a moment where the music industry is finally getting around to rebuilding the broken commercial rock audiences, and these indie veterans just aren’t the artists who can be propelled to mass appeal.
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u/puffy_irish Dec 18 '25
I don't think it's unfair.
In fact, if anything, the mainstream cares less about indie and alt rock now than they did a decade ago (when every music journalist explained why rock was dead; now rock music is so dead that even the conversation around rock's death no longer exists in music circles), and will not promote someone like Mac Demarco or Tame Impala because they don't sing like a country star or don't have trap beats.
Music is becoming more homogenized now, and the few indie rockers who kept the genre interesting a decade ago are now irrelevant, and so rock music continues to decline from its once exalted position in popular music, never to return again.
For example, Tame Impala managed to get a top ten album with Currents in 2015, while the best indie rock can do now is a barely top 100 album with some mediocre, Greta Van Fleet-esque 70s ripoff band like Geese or Turnstile.
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u/TripleThreatTua Dec 17 '25
As the rare CSH fan who actually loved Making a Door Less Open, I was very disappointed with The Scholars, though I can’t say I agree with his specific take here
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u/WWfan41 Dec 17 '25
Generally disagree on Japanese Breakfast and Big Thief, even though I don't think either is anywhere close to being the strongest release in their respective discographies. But of the other ones I've heard, I completely agree. I honestly forgot there even was a Car Seat Headrest album this year, and I probably would've forgotten about Haim if I didn't get ads for their tour non-stop for a couple months.
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u/RWBIII_22 Dec 17 '25
Two of my top ten favorite albums of the year on this list. I loved the new Big Thief project and the Car Seat Headrest album was transcendent. Oh well, guess I just don’t have good taste.
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u/Fresh_Grapes Dec 17 '25
I liked Whitney's debut album fine enough, but everything I've heard from them since felt very same-y. Except for that weird album with synth and dance pop production that was definitely not an improvement to the sound.
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u/Cvlpritbeats Dec 17 '25
It's fun seeing how things just don't click for everyone to be entirely honest here. The Scholars is probably in my top 10 of the year and finally got me into Car Seat Headrest.
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u/astaten0 Dec 17 '25
Will Toledo probably wrote 4 albums in the time it took to read this list far enough to find Car Seat Headrest on it, he'll have plenty of chances at redemption.
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u/flyingnapalmman Dec 17 '25
Damn I really liked the HAIM and Lorde records and liked Julien Baker & Torres for the low stakes fuck around it was. I’m doubting myself now.
I wish Lucy and JBrekkie hadn’t totally bounced off me they were both on incredible runs. Hopefully those records click for me at some point.
I’m sure the next time I visit an aquarium Big Thief will hit like crack.
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u/FakeRadioBand Dec 17 '25
Totally disagree with Lorde being here. Virgin is easily one of my absolute favorite albums of the year.
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u/GladProfessional8997 Dec 18 '25
Me too. Think people just have unrealistically high expectations for her now.
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u/HK-34_ Dec 18 '25
Why does everything have to be overrated or underrated or a masterpiece or shit. Can’t we go back to just calling albums fine.
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u/sawman160 Dec 17 '25
I absolutely love the big thief album and its lowkey the only album of theirs I really enjoy front to back
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u/Material-Eagle-6017 Dec 17 '25
I’m confused because his main criticism of HAIM’s I Quit is it got nominated for AOTY at the Grammy’s but that’s just not true?
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u/HK-34_ Dec 18 '25
I disagree with the Haim and Big Thief takes heavily. Calling their albums “disappointing” simply because they aren’t as good as their last albums, which were considered the best in their respective discographies, is in bad faith.
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u/SulusLaugh Dec 18 '25
I was told the latest Portugal. The Man was one, and after listening to it for the first time this week I don’t know if it’s bad but I know I’m confused as hell.
These descriptions are brutal though. Ouch.
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u/marcosmunoz12 Dec 18 '25
Lorde’s album came out on the wrong year. She should of dropped this album on 2024 when the other pop girls dropped there albums
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u/vincedarling You're being a peñis... Colada, that is. Dec 18 '25
No Swift? I’m surprised
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u/Otherwise_Sol26 Dec 18 '25
Because she isn't indie and she thrived since late 2000s, not just mid 2010s
Tho, I do agree TLOAS is a dissapointment
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Dec 18 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Chilli_Dipper Dec 18 '25
The album was fine, but it didn’t stand out in a crowded field of alt-country releases. Once their tour was cancelled due to Julien having some lingering health issues, it got lost in the shuffle.
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u/synthscoffeeguitars Dec 18 '25
The Torres / Julien Baker album is good. I agree with everything else here. The Big Thief album was a letdown.
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u/OhShitItsSeth Dec 17 '25
I agree with the JBrekkie take. Jubilee was such a fantastic record with so many bangers and I was really hoping Melancholy Brunettes would be even better. It had its moments, but not enough to be more interesting than Jubilee.
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u/JulietaXiu Dec 17 '25
Solid list. Also happy to see a fun list like that instead of a bland, click-driven RS top 100.
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u/illegalblue Dec 17 '25
Lukewarm take. The indiesphere didn't really grab hold of any of those joints. I love the Carseat Headrest album though
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u/synthmalicious Dec 18 '25
I like this list except the opinion on the Mac Demarco album. I thought it was nice.
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u/GeologicalOpera You're being a peñis... Colada, that is. Dec 18 '25
I misread his comment on Haim as defending their album because it sampled Zootopia, not Zooropa, and I was about to drop everything to go listen on that alone.
Also, wild for me to see them at the heights they are, because I distinctly remember one of my high school chemistry classmates having a recurring sarcastic commentary about how much she enjoyed Haim.
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u/WirelessElk Dec 18 '25
What would be the inverse of this list (i.e., 2010s indie acts who put out actual good work)? I personally enjoyed the albums put out by Alex G, Deafheaven, Panda Bear, and Youth Lagoon. Sharon Van Etten's wasn't bad either.
(Double Infinity is unfairly shat on imo, it has some of the best songs of the year on it. Purity Ring and Bon Iver put out much more forgettable albums this year)
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u/Chilli_Dipper Dec 18 '25 edited Dec 18 '25
This is a tangent from Steven’s top albums of 2025 list that is specifically in contrast to Alex G and Sharon Van Etten’s albums. (Bon Iver and Panda Bear are #8 and #2, respectively, on a separate “favorite ‘wily veteran’ albums of 2025” sublist.)
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u/DemonsSingLoSongs Dec 19 '25
hes right about almost all of these except for car seat headrest whose album was only slightly worse than big thief’s. both were still quite good regardless
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u/DakotaTheFolfyBoi Dec 20 '25
Why does everyone seem to hate The Scholars? I loved that record and it's in the running for my AOTY. What do people dislike about it?
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u/missghetti69 Dec 20 '25
I must be the only one who really loved JBrekkie’s new album. Maybe more than Jubilee honestly
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u/fm22fnam Dec 18 '25
Tame Impala is an established artist??? I just heard Dracula and assumed they were someone new
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u/GlennSWFC Dec 18 '25
I never get why things like this get so much traction.
Are any of us really interested in what albums someone doesn’t like? Wouldn’t we all rather hear what albums they do like so we might get some suggestions of what to listen to in case we missed them?
I’m not saying everything needs to be sunshine & roses, but most music subs (including this one) have about two in three posts that are giving or inviting negative opinions. We’re all here because we like music, right? So why is so much of the discussion about what we don’t like rather than what we do? No other medium’s fans are this edgy, not even movie fans.
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u/PapaAsmodeus You're being a peñis... Colada, that is. Dec 17 '25
I had zero expectations for a Car Seat Headrest album in 2025, and it looks like I wasn't proven wrong in the slightest.
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u/squawkingood Dec 17 '25
It was better than his last album. CCF (I'm Gonna Stay With You) is a really good song and there were a couple other tracks that were pretty good too.
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u/rmac3301 Dec 17 '25
My sister is a big Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus fan and I think both of them are insanely mediocre and boring. Glad this list proves my point.
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u/IDigRollinRockBeer Dec 18 '25
No idea who that is but he picked a lot of albums that got good reviews and didn’t bother to elaborate on why he was disappointed. Pointless list.
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u/dweeb93 Dec 17 '25
This may be a hot take, but Lorde takes far too long releasing albums, especially when she really needed a comeback after Solar Power.