{"id":10991,"date":"2025-11-06T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/?p=10991"},"modified":"2025-11-05T20:52:40","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T01:52:40","slug":"music-update-october-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/2025\/11\/06\/music-update-october-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Music update, October 2025."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Three great albums and a whole host of other good releases in October, so this month\u2019s playlist is overstuffed, clocking in at just over two hours. You can access the playlist on <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/playlist\/29vDxne1tlMA0k6KgwpS6G?si=2d25935f1b5d4c9e\">Spotify<\/a> or, now, <a href=\"https:\/\/music.apple.com\/us\/playlist\/october-2025\/pl.u-kv9l0qatVllb2\">Apple Music<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe allow=\"autoplay *; encrypted-media *; fullscreen *; clipboard-write\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"450\" style=\"width:100%;max-width:660px;overflow:hidden;border-radius:10px;\" sandbox=\"allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation\" src=\"https:\/\/embed.music.apple.com\/us\/playlist\/october-2025\/pl.u-kv9l0qatVllb2\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Sudan Archives \u2013 A Bug\u2019s Life. <\/strong>Brittney Denise Parks\u2019s latest album <em>The BPM<\/em> is tremendous, easily one of the year\u2019s best, with just one skip for me (\u201cMs. Pac Man\u201d) and some absolute bangers like this track. The album is fundamentally a dance record, with influences from house music to techno to EDM to classic R&amp;B. There\u2019s even some string accompaniments on the album. It\u2019s going to end up near the top of my year-end list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Creeper \u2013 Mistress of Death.<\/strong> The sort-of title track from their latest album, <em>Sanguivore II: Mistress of Death<\/em>, is one of the best songs on it, although \u201cPrey for the Night\u201d is the easy leader. They\u2019re such an anachronism: in the 1980s, they would have been lumped in with American hair metal bands, but now they stand out because almost no one is making music like this at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Just Mustard \u2013 Endless Deathless.<\/strong> This Irish shoegaze band just put out their latest album <em>We Were Just Here <\/em>\u2013 they capitalize everything, I\u2019m too tired for all that yelling \u2013 and it\u2019s excellent, although I\u2019m undecided if it\u2019s better than 2022\u2019s <em>Heart Under<\/em>, which was one of the best shoegaze albums of this current revival period. They\u2019ve got a lot of Slowdive to them, especially with a female vocalist whose voice softens the harshness of the walls of distorted guitars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Courtney Barnett \u2013 Stay in Your Lane.<\/strong> Barnett hasn\u2019t released a proper album of her own since 2021, although in 2023 she did an instrumental soundtrack for a film called <em>Anonymous Club<\/em>, and she hadn\u2019t released any original music at all in the last two years. Then this lands, and it\u2019s \u2026 almost a pop song? It\u2019s really upbeat, catchy, more guitar-driven and a little less powered by Barnett\u2019s idiosyncratic vocals and brilliant lyrics. Perhaps this is a new phase, and I\u2019m into it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Momma \u2013 Cross Your Heart.<\/strong> Momma is the Veruca Salt of the 2020s, and I\u2019m fine with that. They\u2019re not breaking any ground here, but they have a good ear for melodies, and the sound is so similar to Veruca Salt \u2013 who had a couple of absolute bangers, even though they burned out quick \u2013 that they strike a familiar chord in my brain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Rocket \u2013 Crazy.<\/strong> Speaking of which, Rocket is named for the Smashing Pumpkins song, and they do sound quite a bit like their idols, although it\u2019s not as overt, more like a similar vibe, and their vocalist is miles better than Billy Corgan anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>World News \u2013 Everything\u2019s Coming Up Roses.<\/strong> The second great track this year from this British jangle-pop band, with a very U2-like guitar sound (including the use of a digital delay, more evident on their last single \u201cDon\u2019t Want to Know\u201d). They\u2019ve put out a few EPs, but there\u2019s no album yet. They did tease an album in progress <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youngsteryear.com\/interviews\/world-news\">in an interview<\/a> in July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Automatic \u2013 Black Box.<\/strong> This LA-based trio does a very post-modern sort of synthesizer-driven rock, unusual in that it doesn\u2019t call back much to the heyday of synthpop in the early 1980s. Their third album, <em>Is It Now?<\/em>, dropped in September, and it\u2019s a strong listen that doesn\u2019t truly have a standout single. It\u2019s dark and moody, more of a vibe than a collection of hits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Thrice \u2013 Gnash.<\/strong> One of the best songs off Thrice\u2019s <em>Horizons\/West<\/em>. I saw their live show at TLA in Philly on Sunday, and they sounded incredible, even though there are a lot of mixed feelings about that venue. I think the last time I saw them was at the Franklin Music Hall and I remember it being louder but less clear. Anyway, I\u2019m a fan, not just because their drummer is half of Productive Outs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Doves \u2013 Spirit of Your Friend.<\/strong> This track will appear on the upcoming best-of compilation <em>So, Here We Are<\/em>, but the song apparently is about twenty years old, and the band \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/doves-share-emotive-lost-song-spirit-of-your-friend-3897576\">unearthed<\/a>\u2019 it and pared it from seven minutes to 3:39. It\u2019s quite good but I have a hard time placing it somewhere in their sound chronology; it\u2019s definitely post-<em>The Last Broadcast<\/em>, but I guess before <em>Kingdom of Rust<\/em>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Weird Nightmare \u2013 Forever Elsewhere.<\/strong> This is METZ guitarist Alex Edkins indulging his poppier inclinations \u2013 I actually like his solo work here more than I like METZ\u2019s harder sound. If you like Cloud Nothings, you\u2019ll love Weird Nightmare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>dust \u2013 Drawbacks.<\/strong> Wikipedia tells me there was a band called <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Dust_(band)\">Dust<\/a> in the 1970s that released two albums; this is not that band. The new dust is an Australian post-punk band that sounds a lot like early Fontaines D.C. with a little darker edge. This is the lead track from their latest album <em>Sky is Falling<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Dear Boy \u2013 After All.<\/strong> It\u2019s the chorus. I was lukewarm on the song, but that line, \u201care you close enough to change me,\u201d absolutely stuck in my head for days. I\u2019ve read some reviews that try to place them with Britpop or new wave, but none of that fits for me; it\u2019s California indie-pop, with strong harmonies and a great hook in that chorus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Massage \u2013 Daffy Duck.<\/strong> I can\u2019t help but say this band\u2019s name like that scene from one of <em>The Pink Panther<\/em> movies, where Clouseau asks if they have a message for him but says it like \u201cmassage.\u201d Anyway, Massage is a five-piece indie-pop band from LA who just released their first LP, <em>Coaster<\/em>, and I found this on some playlist somewhere, after which I couldn\u2019t get it out of my head. They have a clear pop inclination, with a guitar sound that\u2019s much more college radio than OMGHITZ!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Portugal. the Man \u2013 Angoon.<\/strong> So far I\u2019ve liked the singles from their upcoming album <em>Shish<\/em>, due out on Friday, more than most of their last album <em>Chris Black Changed My Life<\/em>, which felt very much like a reaction to the huge commercial success of <em>Woodstock<\/em>. This sounds much more like their true sound, based on their pre-<em>Woodstock<\/em> output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Orchestra Gold \u2013 Baye Ass N\u2019Diaye.<\/strong> Orchestra Gold is based in Oakland, while their sound draws heavily on Malian music \u2013 not too dissimilar to the Touareg music of Mdou Moctar \u2013 while combining it with psychedelic rock and a dash of early funk. I bet they give a hell of a live show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Danger Mouse &amp; Black Thought feat. Rag\u2019n\u2019Bone Man \u2013 UP. <\/strong>For now, it\u2019s a one-off single, but after the outstanding collaboration <em>Cheat Codes<\/em> in 2022 I\u2019ll take anything Danger Mouse and Black Thought do together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Noname feat. Devin Morrison \u2013 Hundred Acres.<\/strong> This is the first single from an upcoming album from Noname, whose last album <em>Sundial<\/em> was one of my favorites of 2023, called <em>Cartoon Radio<\/em>; it\u2019s spare, mostly just Noname spitting rhymes over a synthetic piano loop. She\u2019s one of the best MCs going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>keiyaA \u2013 k.i.s.s.<\/strong> Did I put this jazzy, gritty R&amp;B song on my list because the album is called <em>Hooke\u2019s Law<\/em>? You\u2019re damn right I did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>C\u0153ur de Pirate \u2013 Les enfants des temps derniers.<\/strong> One of the most upbeat tracks from C\u0153ur de Pirate\u2019s latest album <em>Cavale<\/em>, \u201cLes enfants\u201d sounds like a celebration throughout, even though it\u2019s about being \u201ca child of these last times,\u201d facing the possible end of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Weakened Friends \u2013 Weightless.<\/strong> I loved their track \u201cAwkward\u201d from 2023, which this Portland, Maine-based trio chose not to include on their new album <em>Feels Like Hell<\/em>, which does however include a cover of Ednaswap\u2019s \u201cTorn\u201d (the same one Natalie Imbruglia covered). Sonia Sturino\u2019s wobbly vocals work in small doses, but the more she invokes that trait the worse it gets; it\u2019s only there in spurts on this track, so it gets the seal of approval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Mourn \u2013 Dormir Tarde.<\/strong> I\u2019ve been a fan of Mourn\u2019s for probably a decade now, boosting them when fellow Spaniards Hinds were getting all the love from the indie music press. This indie-rock trio put out an album last year, but this is their second new single of 2025, so perhaps there\u2019s another album or EP in the offing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Twilight Sad \u2013 Waiting for the Phone Call. <\/strong>The Twilight Sad were a five-piece but are now just a duo, featuring singer James Graham and guitarist Andy MacFarlane; The Cure\u2019s Robert Smith joins them here on guitar. They haven\u2019t released an album since 2019, so I\u2019m assuming this is the lead track from something due out next year. It\u2019s a little more energetic than what I typically expect from this band (whose name is, as it turns out, accurate).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Miles Kane \u2013 Sunlight in the Shadows.<\/strong> Kane, who is also half of The Last Shadow Puppets with Alex Turner, comes up with some serious guitar earworms, although he doesn\u2019t have Turner\u2019s voice or charisma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Sports Team \u2013 Medium Machine. <\/strong>This is one of the seven bonus tracks from the deluxe edition of Sports Team\u2019s latest album <em>Boys These Days<\/em>, which is out now. I didn\u2019t love the album, at least not as much as their previous record, the more raucous <em>Gulp!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Yowie \u2013 Skrimshander.<\/strong> I don\u2019t even know what to call this beyond \u201cexperimental,\u201d but it grabbed me anyway, probably because of the inventive guitarwork at the forefront. They\u2019re a trio from St. Louis whose drummer is the only original member still in the band. It\u2019s weird, don\u2019t be fooled, but I dig it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Glass Tides \u2013 Failure.<\/strong> Glass Tides are a post-hardcore band from Adelaide, Australia, who\u2019ve toured with Thrice, which gives you some idea of their sound, although their vocalist doesn\u2019t have the power of Thrice\u2019s Dustin Kensrue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Litania \u2013 Ghunghru.<\/strong> Psychedelic doom from Italy and Serbia. I found this track buried on the Spotify All New Metal list and it stood out immediately, not least because the vocals aren\u2019t screamed or growled. There\u2019s a real groove to this track that I dig.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Friendship Commanders \u2013 FOUND.<\/strong> Sludge metal with vocal harmonies? Sign me up. They\u2019re duo, with incredible vocals from Buick Audra, and just released their fourth album, <em>BEAR<\/em>. This is the first track I\u2019ve heard from them; I like that combination of heavy, perhaps drop-tuned guitars and beautiful vocals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Coroner \u2013 Consequence.<\/strong> <em>Dissonance Theory<\/em>, this Swiss thrash trio\u2019s first album in 32 years, did not disappoint; it is as good as their final two records, 1991\u2019s <em>Mental Vortex<\/em> and 1993\u2019s more experimental <em>Grin<\/em>. The lyrics are a little trite, as on this song\u2019s refrain \u201cat least you\u2019re having fun,\u201d but man can these guys churn out some powerful riffs. I\u2019ve always preferred them to Celtic Frost, who are generally regarded as the pioneers of the Swiss thrash sound and progenitors of European death metal (and for whom Coroner started out as roadies), and this album is a good example of why \u2013 it\u2019s more accessible without sacrificing the power of the thrash riffs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Testament \u2013 Shadow People.<\/strong> <em>Para Bellum<\/em>, the fourteenth album from these Bay Area thrash stalwarts, dropped last month, and it includes straight-on thrash tracks like this one as well as more death metal-inclined songs like \u201cFor the Love of Pain,\u201d which has an outstanding riff but wears out its welcome between the vocals and the blast beats. Alex Skolnick can still shred, even at age 57. I guess there\u2019s hope for me yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Three great albums and a whole host of other good releases in October, so this month\u2019s playlist is overstuffed, clocking in at just over two hours. You can access the playlist on Spotify or, now, Apple Music. Sudan Archives \u2013 A Bug\u2019s Life. Brittney Denise Parks\u2019s latest album The BPM is tremendous, easily one of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1433,359,609,167,757,852,1114],"class_list":["post-10991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-2025-in-music","tag-alternative","tag-hip-hop","tag-indie","tag-metal","tag-music","tag-thrash","entry"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10991"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10991\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10992,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10991\/revisions\/10992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}