End of year wrap ups are both my favourite and least favourite things – favourite because you can always find me yapping about music I love, and least favourite because by the end of the year you know my “favourites” list is two miles long and it is going to take me weeks to narrow it down. And that task is made even harder in a year when SO MUCH insane music dropped. But here we are, I have done it – and what a joy it has been re-diving through the year’s worth of music releases to get here!
TOP 10 RELEASES OF 2025
10. Thornhill – Bodies
9. Shame – Cutthroat
8. Militarie Gun – God Save The Gun
7. Underoath – The Place After This One
6. Architects – The Sky, The Earth & All Between
5. The Haunt – New Addiction
4. Slowly Slowly – Forgiving Spree
3. Bloom – The Light We Chase
2. Hot Mulligan –The Sound A Body Makes…
1. Turnstile – NEVER ENOUGH
TOP 10 SONGS OF 2025
10. Bukowski – ‘Til I’m Dead’
9. Poppy X Amy Lee X Courtney LaPlante – ‘End of You’
8. Benjamin Stewart – ‘Junkdrawers’
7. Lambrini Girls – ‘Big Dick Energy’
6. MUDRAT – ‘I HATE RICH C*NTS’
5. SPEED – ‘ALL MY ANGELS’
4. Grayscale – ‘Dance With Your Ghost’
3. Bad Omens – ‘Specter’
2. Movements – ‘Where I Lay’
1. Don Broco – ‘Cellophane’
TOP 3 GIGS OF THE YEAR
3 - Slowly Slowly at Margaret Court Arena
Seeing a band continue to step things up with every album cycle, until eventually making it to headlining an arena stage is incredible – and so well deserved when you see how much hard work the guys put into it all. Add to that supports from Grayscale and Honey Revenge and this was such a huge night of celebrations!
2 - Green Day at Marvel Stadium
I will proudly say that American Idiot is the album that made 12 year old Gloria fall in love with music and set me on the path to building a career in the music industry, so 33 year old Gloria has A LOT to thank Green Day for. Getting to experience that album played in full was truly unforgettable. Plus, my deep dive (see: teenage obsession) with Green Day also meant Dookie was the first punk album I ever properly listened to – I wish I could see this show all over again.
1 - Bad Omens at Festival Hall
Finally getting to see a band you have been rinsing for years is wonderful – and when their live show is as locked in and incredible as Bad Omens, it’s next level. Another brilliant lineup – with Poppy and House of Protection on supports. What a way to start 2025!
Special mentions: You Me At Six at Forum and Sam Fender at Sidney Myer – the first because not many bands end their careers on such good terms that they can say farewell around the world, and it has been a very long, wonderful run as a YM@6 fan & the second because even though it doesn’t quite fit the heavy music theme, Sam Fender was most definitely my favourite show of the year so it deserves a shout out anyway.
FAV NEW BAND DISCOVERED IN 2025?
Brisbane’s Headwreck are in no way a new band, but in 2025 they are new to me! It’s absolutely wild that I haven’t come across them before but I’m kind of glad it took my this long to discover them because their 2025 rebrand (as Wall of Sound described it “a nu-metal journey entrenched in cheekiness, groove and y2k aesthetics”) feels so perfectly them. Catchy as heck choruses while still remaining absolutely chaotic – give me more in 2026 please!
They didn’t release a lot of music this year, but as soon as I heard Clearing’s single 'Hate With A Smile' I knew we were on to something. It feels exactly like the music I was obsessed with in the early 2010s and I will do ANYTHING for a nostalgia-filled revival. Then they followed it up with 'All I Leave Behind' and somehow they tapped into a different part of my nostalgic music taste? Basically I am locked in and ready to see where this goes.
NEXT BIG AUSSIE ACT TO WATCH IN 2026?
Last year, Sydney act Bloom blew me away with their debut album Maybe In Another Life – landing in my top releases of the year. Well, this October they decided to take things to a whole new level with their new album The Light We Chase. If their debut marked them as a band to watch in the Australian scene, a years worth of touring and collaborating has done them absolute wonders, and now they might just be on the path to become one of our next big global exports. This album is world class, watch Bloom take over!
FAV ACHIEVEMENT AT WOS HQ?
I’m still not over, and will probably never get over, sitting down with Underoath’s Spencer Chamberlain and Aaron Gillespie earlier this year to chat about their stunning tenth album The Place After This One. The record is one of my favourites of the year and the interview is right up there with the most memorable I’ve done in almost twenty years!
WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO IN 2026?
Australia’s alternative scenes are absolutely BUBBLING at the moment, so I know there is going to be a tonne of incredible albums dropping in the new year. That being said though, the thing I’m MOST looking forward to is Hellions returning because what the heck? That came out of absolutely nowhere for me. Now I need a Melbourne show please.
Also on the tour front, I cannot wait to singalong to Turnstile, Hot Mulligan, and Movements – all bands that dropped some of my favourite albums and songs this year!
Words by Gloria Brancatisano @gloriabrancat
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