"He might be steeped in rock's past, but he never lets his record collection speak on his behalf. Instead, Slater deploys those touchstones to show how pop songs can speak broadly to very specific emotions, how a chiming guitar can convey intense loneliness, how a sparkling vocal melody can lend dignity to sadness. Slater's shamelessness is precisely what makes Radio DDR sound so gloriously relatable."
"The friction within Forever by Bassvictim is powerful enough to make the ensuing hope feel like it was always there. Atop producer Ike Clateman's scrappy electropop, vocalist/cellist Maria Manow counts the scabs and loose teeth of her childhood as a means of pushing forward. When Clateman yells "Fuck!" in the midst of a placid piano solo, when Manow's cheery vocal layers coalesce, when dissonant cello and synth crunch give way to a crystalline climax, Forever feels like the zenith of delusional optimism."
Albums in 2025 encompassed seismic rage rap, intricate guitar music, protest folk, spacey dream pop, and laptop twee, demonstrating wide stylistic range. A virtuoso of experimental electronic music re-emerged, a Brooklyn band became a poster child for an alleged rock revival, and a sibling duo prompted listeners to reconsider listening itself. The LP format remained sturdy and central to musical expression. Kai Slater's Radio DDR freely borrows Beatles, Big Star, the Kinks, and Guided by Voices touchstones, using chiming guitars and sparkling vocal melodies to translate loneliness and dignify sadness. Bassvictim's Forever pairs scrappy electropop, cello, and synth crunch to turn friction into a crystalline, optimistic climax.
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