Dig Deeper ✰ 2025 Top Albums ✰ Indie Alternative
- Rachele Liba
- 4 days ago
- 8 min read
Lots of good stuff came out in 2025, so here are some select hits that stayed on repeat for me. As usual, this leans more alt and indie, with a heavier, more experimental edge. So take your time with them. These are albums meant to be heard from beginning to end. If you want a taster, there’s also a playlist linked below with key tracks from each release. Enjoy!
Featured genres: Dance Punk, Post Punk, Psych, Shoegaze, Noise, Garage, Experimental Electronic, House, Indie Folk, Art Pop, Dream Pop, and various other genre-blurring sounds.
Artists: Broncho, Wednesday, Sorry, Greet Death, Panda Bear, Yndling, Portugal. The Man, Saya Gray, Oklou, Water From Your Eyes, John Glacier, Hannah Cohen, Teethe, Great Grandpa, Prewn, Shame, Wet Leg, Viagra Boys, Snooper, Lambrini Girls, English Teacher, Melody's Echo Chamber, TTSFU, Fckers, Tame Impala, Mietze Conte
TABLE OF CONTENTS (screw sorting by ranking - they're all amazing)
Psych / Shoegaze / Noise / Garage
Loose and sun-warmed, Natural Pleasure leans into Broncho’s knack for hazy hooks and understated psych tones. The album feels relaxed without drifting into the background, pairing fuzzy guitars with melodies that linger longer than expected.
Genre: Garage Rock, Indie Rock, Psych Pop
Sounds Like: Jacuzzi Boys, Ty Segall’s softer side, Bummers
Select Track: “Funny”, "Imagination" & "Think I Pass"
Bleeds expands Wednesday’s sound without losing its bite. Shoegaze haze and noisy guitars sit alongside sharp, specific songwriting rooted in country storytelling. The emotional range is huge, but it never feels scattered. The heavy moments hit harder because of the restraint elsewhere.
Genre: Shoegaze, Noise, Americana, Folk
Sounds Like: MJ Lenderman, Hop Along, Drive By Truckers through distortion
Select Track: “Elderberry Wine” & "Townies"
Unclouded is lush, melodic, and gently expansive, leaning into Melody Prochet’s knack for dreamy psychedelia without feeling overly washed out. The album balances warm synths, soft-focus guitars, and clear vocal melodies, giving it a lighter, more grounded feel than some of her earlier work. It’s immersive without being heavy, and quietly rewarding front to back.
Genre: Psychedelic Pop, Dream Pop, Indie Pop
Sounds Like: Tame Impala’s softer moments, Broadcast, Beach House
Select Track: “Unclouded”
Cosplay blends dry humor with emotional detachment, pairing spoken-word moments and slacker melodies with warped pop structures. The album feels casual on the surface but reveals a sharp sense of control and atmosphere underneath.
Genre: Indie Rock, Art Pop, Alternative
Sounds Like: Dry Cleaning, Dean Blunt, early The XX
Select Track: “Jetplane”, "Waxwing" & "Echoes"
Die In Love balances slowcore patience with shoegaze weight. The songs build gradually, letting emotion creep in rather than explode. It’s heavy in a restrained way, tender and crushing at the same time, and it lingers long after the record ends.
Genre: Shoegaze, Noise
Sounds Like: Duster, Slowdive, Nothing
Select Track: “Country Girl” & "Same But Different Now"
Experimental
After a long gap between solo releases, Sinister Grift feels familiar in a comforting way. Every track carries echoes of Panda Bear’s past work, with warm melodies, looping structures, and a nostalgic glow that rewards patient, front-to-back listening.
Genre: Psychedelic Pop, Indie Electronic, Experimental
Sounds Like: Animal Collective’s softer moments, Beach Boys through synth haze
Select Track: “Praise”, "Ferry Lady", "Defense" & "Ends Meet"
This release reworks English Teacher’s sharp, talk-sung post-punk into something more fragmented and playful. The remixes stretch rhythms, textures, and pacing, pulling the songs toward electronic and club-adjacent territory while keeping the band’s dry wit intact. It feels exploratory rather than definitive, offering alternate angles instead of replacements.
Genre: Experimental, Art Pop, Post Punk
Sounds Like: Dry Cleaning refracted through electronic remix culture
Select Track: “The World's Biggest Paving Slab”
Soft and immersive, this album leans on repetition and atmosphere to create emotional suspension. Gentle vocals float through shimmering synths, giving the record a calming, almost meditative quality that encourages full, uninterrupted listens.
Genre: Dream Pop, Ambient Pop, Experimental Electronic
Sounds Like: Cocteau Twins, Maria Somerville, AURORA
Select Track: “Time Time Time (I’m in the Palm of Your Hand)” & "It's Almost Like You're Here"
SHISH continues Portugal. The Man’s shift away from guitar-forward indie rock and into a more electronic, groove-led space. The album favors rhythm, texture, and atmosphere, pulling from house and electronic pop while maintaining a subtle psychedelic undercurrent. It feels streamlined and modern, built around movement rather than nostalgia.
Genre: Experimental Pop, Electronic, Psych Pop
Sounds Like: Tame Impala’s club-leaning era, electronic pop with psych influence
Select Track: “Denali", "Knick" & "Tanana"
SAYA is restless and shape shifting, bouncing between pop, R&B, folk, and experimental structures. The emotional core stays consistent even as the sound shifts, making the album feel unpredictable without feeling unfocused.
Genre: Experimental Pop, Alternative R&B, Art Pop
Sounds Like: FKA twigs, Caroline Polachek, early Kelela
Select Track: “SHELL (OF A MAN)”, "... THUS IS WHY (I DON'T SPRING 4 LOVE)" & "LIE DOWN"
Delicate but intentional, Choke Enough sits in a club adjacent experimental space. Texture and repetition take priority over traditional hooks, and the emotional weight reveals itself gradually rather than immediately.
Genre: Experimental Electronic, Art Pop, Ambient Pop
Sounds Like: A G Cook, Caroline Polachek, Enya filtered through club electronics
Select Track: “Take Me By the Hand”, "Harvest the Sky" & "Blade Bird
It’s a Beautiful Place blurs the line between pop songwriting and experimental electronic music, moving fluidly between intimacy and abstraction. The record pairs understated melodies with glitchy textures and off-kilter rhythms, creating songs that feel emotionally direct while still slightly disorienting. It’s quietly beautiful, curious, and deceptively complex, revealing more with each listen.
Genre: Experimental Pop, Indie Electronic, Art Pop
Sounds Like: Tirzah, Animal Collective’s softer moments, art-pop with electronic restraint
Select Track: “Playing Classics”, "Nights in Armor" & "Life Signs"
Minimal, hypnotic, and coolly detached. Like A Ribbon blurs rap, electronic music, and art pop, letting mood and space lead. It’s understated but commanding, tightening its grip the longer you sit with it.
Genre: Experimental Hip Hop, Electronic, Art Pop
Sounds Like: Dean Blunt, Tirzah, King Krule
Select Track: “Emotions”
Folk
Warm, lush, and grounded. Earthstar Mountain draws from classic songwriting traditions while keeping the arrangements rich and intimate. It feels timeless without drifting into nostalgia, offering comfort without fading into the background.
Genre: Folk Rock, Indie Folk, Soft Rock
Sounds Like: Weyes Blood, Clairo, Fleetwood Mac
Select Track: “Mountain” & "Earthstar" & "Summer Sweat"
Soft, slow, and deeply comforting, Magic of the Dale leans into restraint and texture. The album moves at an unhurried pace, letting gentle melodies and warm distortion create an intimate, lived-in feel.
Genre: Slowcore, Indie Rock, Dream Folk
Sounds Like: Duster, Red House Painters, early Alex G
Select Track: “Magic of the Dale” & "Hate Goodbyes"
A warm but dynamic return. Patience, Moonbeam moves fluidly between quiet introspection and full band catharsis, with arrangements that reward front to back listening. It feels mature without feeling overly careful.
Genre: Indie Folk, Indie Rock, Alternative
Sounds Like: Big Thief, Hop Along, early Death Cab
Select Track: “Emma” & "Junior"
System thrives on contrast. Fragile melodies and intimate vocals sit beside warped instrumentation and moments of discomfort. The album leans into unease as a strength, creating emotional weight without relying on big climactic moments.
Genre: Indie Folk, Art Folk, Lo-fi Alternative
Sounds Like: Lomelda, early Mitski, Adrienne Lenker
Select Track: “Dirty Dog” & "System"
Dance Punk / Post-Punk
Cutthroat is aggressive, loud, and genuinely fun. Shame lean hard into dance punk momentum here, pairing sharp guitars with driving rhythms that make you want to thrash in a pit with all your pals. It’s heavy without being self serious, chaotic without feeling sloppy, and clearly written with live energy in mind. These songs are about release, the kind that only really makes sense when bodies are moving and everything feels a little out of control.
Genre: Dance Punk, Post Punk
Sounds Like: Gang of Four played too loud, early Bloc Party with teeth, peak era IDLES
Select Track: “Cutthroat” & "Spartak"
This album continues Wet Leg’s dry, sarcastic take on post-punk, leaning into sharp rhythms, deadpan vocals, and tightly wound grooves. While still playful, moisturizer feels more locked-in rhythmically, with songs built around bounce and repetition rather than big indie-rock crescendos. It’s minimal, sneering, and designed to move without trying too hard.
Genre: Dance Punk, Post Punk, Indie Rock
Sounds Like: early Talking Heads with Gen Z detachment, Dry Cleaning with hooks
Select Track: “mangetout”
viagr boys finds Viagra Boys fully leaning into the part of their sound that makes people move. The basslines are thick and elastic, the rhythms feel deliberately groovy, and the songs land somewhere between punk chaos and grimy club energy. The band’s trademark satire is still front and center, but what really carries the album is how physical it feels. Even at its most grotesque or absurd, it never loses momentum. This is music built for sweaty rooms, where humor, discomfort, and release all coexist.
Genre: Dance Punk, Post Punk
Sounds Like: IDLES at their loosest, Sleaford Mods with funk
Select Track: “Man Made of Meat”, "Uno II
Worldwide is jittery, hyperactive, and intentionally absurd. Snooper channel egg punk energy through sharp synths and clipped guitars, creating songs that feel more like bursts of static than traditional compositions. It’s playful on the surface, but there’s a precision underneath the chaos that keeps it from feeling disposable. The album moves fast, hits hard, and knows exactly when to get out.
Genre: Dance Punk, Post Punk
Sounds Like: Prison Affair, Autobahns
Select Track: “Worldwide” & "Star 6 9"
Raw, feral, and confrontational. This album thrives on urgency and attitude, channeling garage punk chaos into something loud and political. There’s no interest in polish here, only impact. Every track feels designed to provoke a reaction.
Genre: Garage, Punk, Noise
Sounds Like: Amyl and the Sniffers, early Sleater Kinney, IDLES
Select Track: “Cuntology” & "Big Dick Energy"
SINGLES
Abrasive, distorted, and electronic first. Built around urgency and texture rather than melody, sitting firmly in a club adjacent experimental space that feels physical and confrontational.
Genre: Experimental Electronic
Sounds Like: Leftfield club electronics with punk energy
Straight house music. Propulsive, repetitive, and designed for movement, translating indie sleaze attitude directly onto the dance floor.
Genre: House, Dance
Sounds Like: Modern house with sleazy indie aesthetics
A clear move deeper into house territory. Built for extended mixes and late night sets, prioritizing groove and repetition over psych rock songwriting.
Genre: House, Electronic
Sounds Like: Psychedelic textures filtered through modern house
Darker and more nocturnal, but still firmly electronic. A moodier, club leaning companion to “End of Summer.”
Genre: Electronic, Dance
Sounds Like: Late night club electronics with psych polish
Heavy, industrial leaning electronic music with real weight. Dense production and hard hitting beats give it a warehouse scale presence.
Genre: Experimental Electronic
Sounds Like: Dark, heavy club electronics
MUSIC VIDEOS
