HCTF's best of 2025 (20-16)

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

» Best of playlist

» Listen here

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: countdown from number 20 to 16.

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.

Jetstream Pony: "Tendrils" video

Watch the new Jetstream Pony video for Tendrils, a track from their Bowerbirds and Blue Things album: "Their sound switches between rather polished power pop, late 60s psychedelica, and the jagged punk riffs that would give birth to New Wave. In order words: it is quite catchy, once again proving that the sum can be greater than its parts."

Jetstream Pony: Bowerbirds and Blue Things

19

It is quite alright to label English band Jetstream Pony as an indie supergroup. With members of the Wedding Present, the Dentists, Aberdeen, Trembling Blue Stars, Popguns, Luxembourg Signal, they created a buzz with a few singles, two EPs and a well-received full self-titled album.

On the new full-length Bowerbirds and Blue Things the band dives into the outer regions of twee pop, with a wealth of jangly guitars plus a reappraisal for the lowly percussion instrument the tambourine in the capable hands of lead singer Beth Arzy.

Jetstream Pony: "Bubblegum Nothingness" video; new album ""Bowerbirds and Blue Thing" in March

Members of English indie bands the Wedding Present, the Dentists, Aberdeen, Trembling Blue Stars, Popguns, Luxembourg Signal first teamed up to form Jetstream Pony in 2017 for a single that caught fire in cognoscenti circles. Over the years they got together a few more times for more singles, a mini-album and a full-length, which got snapped up fast, making them instant collector's items. Their jangling sound touched by fans of left-field power pop.

The band will release a new album, Bowerbirds and Blue Thing, on March 28th. Lead single Bubblegum Nothingness is rough-around-the-edges mid-tempo rocker, making boredom a cool thing to get through the day. The video was made by Dave Guerrero. It captures the band bathed in retro psychedelic visuals.