2025 Tab Closure Time

posted 6 hours ago #

I'm sure I'm not alone in this but my browser has about a hundred tabs open at all times. Generally these are items that I want to read later or, most likely, albums I want to spend more time with and ideally write something about. Well, the time has come! Let's close out those tabs. This isn't my ideal format to do this but better to do something than to do nothing.

This is a smattering of music that's come my way in 2025 that I feel is worthy of a nod. I hope you'll hit play on some of this and let them find their way into your ears.

Hyloxolos - Hyloxolos
I am a big fan of the label Dead Currencies. Everything they release is varied & interesting. They also manage to put together a short run of vinyl for all of the releases that feel hand crafted. I can't pinpoint exactly what it is but each always feel special.

Hyloxolos is a bit of a supergroup that is comprised of Dave Harrington (Darkside), Peter Matthew Bauer (The Walkmen), Dylan Carlson (Earth), Dylan Fujioka (Meatbodies) and Otis Bauer (Trench). If nothing else, having a member of The Walkmen involved in a new project should be enough to hit play. Hyloxolos is a big, sweeping, immersive experience. It's part soundscape, part giant guitar riff and 100% best listened to at maximum volumes. Tracks average 6-7 minutes in length, taking their time to unfold and draw you in to a cosmic wall of sound.

Brandy McMaxwell - You Gotta Start Somewhere, Am I Right Ladies?
I know zilch about Brandy McMaxwell. I stumbled on this release while looking for new music to add to my Halloween mixtape. The opening track, "Evil (The Song)," is a great inclusion for such a mix but the rest of the record is an incredibly enjoyable peek into a musical brain with a lot of different ideas being worked out at once. "Hands Are for Holding" has a haunting and funky style to it. "I Think You're Weird" is like listening in on the Addams Family playing around on a four track. "Lonely in Nashville" is a bass riff heavy pop lament. It's eclectic but not erratic. McMaxwell has a load of great ideas and every one of them cuts through.

There's not been anything released from this particular Bandcamp account since 2024. This album in particular is from 2022. There's no streaming presence, website or Instagram I can find. It's a gem and I'm delighted I was lucky enough to find it. I hope there's more in the future.

Vexagon - Love is Surrender
This red drenched cover art caught my eye when exploring Ampwall and the one line description fully hooked me - "Based on the world of Twin Peaks." Such a conceit could go a number of different ways but Vexagon does not simply ape the styles of Angelo Badalamenti, they channel melancholy and eerieness of Lynch's world excellently. Love is Surrender stands on its own as an immersive collection of heavy synths, drum machines and gothic styles but listening to it with the knowledge that Twin Peaks was a kernel of its creation adds another layer of appreciation. It's not music you'd hear at the Bang Bang Bar nor is it music that is directly referencing characters or plot, it is a spiritual companion. The way it should be.

The Mommyheads - The Mommyheads (1997)
I randomly stumbled upon the recent releases of New York power pop band The Mommyheads and was surprised to discover that they'd been at it since the late 80s. Their self-titled major label debut occurred in 1997 with production from Don Was and some light Jon Brion involvement; not too shabby if you ask me! Not quite as sugar-y as Jellyfish but certainly in the same realm.