Superthread of all 20.
Top 20 Songs of 2025
Preoccupations
Top Five Songs of 2025
Last week, we started the countdown. You can see Songs 20-14 here.
Then, yesterday, we gave you 13 on down to 6.
Now, it’s time for the Top 5 Songs of 2025. Let’s dive in!
5. Daffo, “Dagger Song”
I first heard this song in August on my way back from dropping a kid off at college. BUT, I had to…I had to search to find it. Like I couldn’t quite catch who the artist was and then had to listen to back episodes of The Download 15 on Sirius XMU.
But, I found it. And it entered heavy rotation for Dave, at least.
Daffo is the stage name for Gabi Gamberg and this song just hit me.
(I have found, FWIW, that The Download 15 often delivers songs that disappear from the playlists rather quickly. Not sure why this one didn’t get the staying power.)
4. Wunderhorse, “Rain”
Wunderhorse has been well-documented — not just by me; I did that here on my Substack — and they’re definitely going places. A trip to Lollapalooza underscored there otherworldly status.
Note that I’ll share a couple versions of this song below because they appear to be incredible live.
BUT how bout a bonus track, first? Here’s “The Rope.”
Here’s “Rain,” first live on Jimmy Kimmel.
AND, here’s the band Live at The Dublin Castle; shout out to the audio team, this is impeccable.
And, finally, the official audio from the band.
The song stuck with me all year. If you rank it first, I ain’t arguing with you.
3. CMAT, “The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station”
This one is 100% on Canadian Steve. I can’t thank him enough for it, either.
I talked about CMAT on this page last week and she definitely has that certain something about her.
What’s beautiful about this song is not JUST that it doesn’t make a heck of a lot of sense at first, but that CMAT tells you that it’s not making too much sense.
But it makes total sense: Why do we hate certain people? Why are some things so triggering?
CMAT asks the question. And tries to answer it. Flipping glorious. I dig.
2. Bar Italia, “Rooster”
We thank the YouTube algorithm for this song. You’ll notice the Bar Italia song “Fundraiser” made the Top 20 list (yesterday, ranking 12th). YouTube decided to introduce another Bar Italia song a month ago — YES, THAT RECENTLY — and I absolutely cannot get enough of it.
The video is actually nuts: Get a load of the guitarist deciding to stop pretending he was singing into a live mic. (My buddy Ken said that moment was both “unsettling and very cool.”)
Kicking myself for missing this band when they were nearby. Will make it a point to see them live in 2026, God willing.
It’s the second-best song I heard this year.
1. Preoccupations, “Ill at Ease”
This shall be no surprise to anyone who has followed my work this year.
I telegraphed this decision in July, when I launched The Saturday List; in the very first edition of said list I made a declaration:
I was right. “Rooster,” above, Number 2, came close.
Impeccably crafted song. Lead singer Matt Flegel has a really amazing voice and the lyrics are top notch. For instance:
Let’s carve ourselves a tiny space to live in
And mutually assure our self destruction
Cause all the things I love are things that kill me
And all the things I dread aren’t really there
Funny enough, I heard this song AFTER my post of possible Song of the Decade candidates for the 2020s; It has since moved to the top of my list for the decade. It’s. That. Good.
Behold, Dave’s Song of the Year for 2025: Preoccupations, “Ill at Ease.”
Thanks for reading. Seriously, it means a ton to me.
We’ll have some Honorable Mentions to share later this month. And we’ll return to other programming tomorrow.
Cheers!
The Top Songs of 2025, Part One
We’re back! Every year at about this time, we rank the songs we’ve heard — who’s kidding anyone, we’re using the “Royal We” here, as this is Dave’s ranking of the songs, according to Dave — and 2025 provided some…certified bangers.
This year, we’ve expanded the list to include 20 songs. And today we’ll present 20 through 14; 13 on down arrives next week.
20. Bel Air Lip Bombs, “Hey You”
Folks, it’s a complete standout of a music year when a song like this one, from a band like this band, gets stuck with the 20th slot in my rankings.
But that was the year that this was. (Yes, the previous sentence is grammatically correct.)
Off the album “Again,” there’s a breezy rock-meets-pop sound to this band. Others in my orbit may rate this higher on their lists, but…it charts as 20 for us.
Sidebar — Band I Discovered in 2025: Aloha
Long-time pal on X (f/k/a Twitter) is a chap called “Sisyphus Goals” and he and I have bonded over music for…several years now.
Imagine my surprise when he shared this band and I said: “Who?” They’re a band that has been around long enough to have a MySpace page. Here’s their Wikipedia entry.
Aloha is the name of the band. Here’s “All the Wars.”
And here’s “It Won’t Be Long.”
Also, here’s “We Get Down.” What a fun find this band was.
And, Sisyphus suggested this song in his tweet…”Let Your Head Hang Low.”
19. Unknown Mortal Orchestra, “Boys with the Characteristics of Wolves”
Fair warning: this is a weird, AI-produced video that begins with an interlude thing that is different from the actual song.
Alas, Unknown Mortal Orchestra makes the Top 20 list with a pretty catchy tune.
18. Strange Neighbors, “Hate Me Less”
This song was fun enough that it entered my world very early in the year, and it stayed on the list, and it managed to keep on the list through many repeats.
They’re from NYC and big enough to have their own really interesting web page — but not yet big enough to have a Wikipedia entry.
17. Big Thief, “Words”
I’m a big fan of Adrianne Lenker, the front-woman of the band Big Thief (who also does some solo work from time to time). “Words” is off the album Double Infinity, which just arrived a couple months ago.
Lenker’s voice is haunting, soulful, and kinda fits the mood lately. Great song.
16. Witch Post, “The Wolf”
I’m a big fan of bands that can move seamlessly between a male and a female singer; Witch Post is such a collaboration, as Dylan Fraser and Alaska Reid teamed up from two separate continents, as detailed in this article from a magazine/website called Dork.
(Note to self: revisit Dork often.)
“The Wolf” is getting The Airplay on SiriusXMU AND on Alt Nation, so they must be doing something right.
15. Preoccupations, “Focus”
The first of two artists to hold multiple slots on my countdown, Canadian act Preoccupations has figured out two things: (1) song construction and (2) video production.
This video is a sad and jarring walk down memory lane for anyone who either remembers the People’s Temple Guyana Massacre has watched any of the myriad documentaries on cult behavior.
But a fun song nonetheless.
14. Rainbow Kitten Surprise, “Dang”
A fun rock band with a pretty sizeable following, Rainbow Kitten Surprise bandmates met when they were students at Appalachian State University. You can read more about the band on their Wikipedia page.
This is a catchy song that I first heard on Alt Nation a few months back, and I continue hearing it. SO….you can hear it, too.
Next round comes next week. Enjoy the tunes!
