The Dumbest Songs of 2025
A break from our regularly scheduled program to discuss the absolute worst of the year.
Review
Albums, songs, and so on
146 articles
Shostakovich’s 5th Played Backwards in a Concrete Silo
A BPM-crushing jungle experiment by a canny Instagram curator, a rap album bridging the revolutionary and the corner boy, and more.
Pop Songs With Plot Twists
Plus: agitprop merengue, dreamlover alt-R&B, an actually-good Christmas song, and more.
The Bronx Duo Bringing Perreo to the Mosh Pit
Plus: A Spider-Man-inspired rapper building his own superhero persona, an exploration in the freaky tunings of nature, and more.
Put on Your Big Guy Pants
Plus Skrillex remixing Caroline Polachek, an actually good viral TikTok indie-folk hit, and more.
Raps About Tony Blair, Synths About Vikings
Plus two more intimate hip-hop albums and a high-energy new DJ-Kicks mix.
Brat Summer to Wraith Winter
Plus psych-pop homage, delirious club music, slo-mo folk, and mystical Atlanta rap that would have the 'Game of Thrones' crew throwing bows.
Rosalía's Orchestral Benediction
Plus: a must-hear album from a virtuosic avant-rock quartet, the fiery return of an essential Chicago rap collective, and more.
Noname and De La Soul Glide Over the Abyss
Plus a welcome return to form from Oneohtrix Point Never, spaced-out sophsitipop from rural New England, and surrealist funk from the UK.
Four Must Hears From Our Ears to Yours
A Swedish singer and pipe organist, a Portuguese experimentalist, a Canadian rapper, and more.
No One Is Doing It Like Rosalía Right Now
Plus the resurrection of a rap one-hit wonder, revolutionary rave, and ecstatic Thin Lizzy riffage.