The Punk Site 2025 Top 40: The Top Ten

Here’s the final countdown, no not the 80s hair metal anthem, it’s The Punk Site‘s top 10 from 2025. Whilst the majority of the previous instalments have represented personal favourites of our contributors, the pinnacle of this selection represents the releases where there was some degree of mutual agreement on what were the best releases from the past year. 2026 will be the 50th anniversary of the Punk explosion of the 70s, reassuringly there are already tours and releases to look forward to in the New Year, and as long as that continues to be the case then we’ll be here for it.

10. Gypsy Pistoleros– Church of The Pistoleros (The New Church Records)

“The themes in this album vary a little, but what seems to underpin it, is the bands, and especially lead singer Lee’s, need to grab the audience take them by the hand and welcome them into their world of the weird and disaffected. Was/is this an album that surpasses what has gone before then?, I’d like to say yes, but truth is, this is just another beast of an album that stands on its own just like any Gypsy Pistoleros album, they are all better than the other in their own ways. So in a round about way YES! Was still the answer.” (Mark Cartwright)

9. Bee Bee Sea – Stanzini Can Be Allright (Wild Honey Records)

“Yes, a full five stars right out of the blocks for this mind-melting maelstrom of Italian garage punk. Don’t be fooled by the determinedly lo-fi approach: this is a band underplaying just how magnificent they are and wrapping up their idiosyncrasy in musical trickery and sleight of hand. It all sounds very dreamy and simple. It’s not. There’s a lot going on here, and most of it is gorgeous. What isn’t gorgeous is unsettling and dreamy, reflecting, perhaps, their provenance, a band from nowhere you have heard of channelling a universal mood of dissatisfaction.” (Peter Hough)

8. Spanish Love Songs – A Brief Intermission In The Flattening Of Time (Pure Noise Records)

A Brief Intermission in the Flattening of Time serves as the follow-up to the band’s 2025 No Joy Sessions and marks their first new music since 2023. The EP can be described best as a reflective pause, as Spanish Love Songs both pull from their past and look ahead to the uncertain future. From spontaneous studio sessions with producer Arun Bali and shaped by collaborations with friends, each track is a raw, emotionally charged sonic snapshot that grapples with our own messy existences.

7. Smoking Popes –Lovely Stuff (Anxious & Angry)

The Smoking Popes released the uncharacteristically positively, and appropriately, titled Lovely Stuff with little to no fanfare, which is a shame, as this is an album that stands up against any of their seven previous full lengths. something that’s reflected in the words of frontman Josh Caterer; “I know it’s a cliche for musicians to say their newest album is their favorite one, but in this case it’s really true. If someone had never heard our music before and wanted to know which album to start with, I’d point them to this one. I’m as proud of Lovely Stuff as I am of anything we’ve ever recorded.”

6. Teenage Bottlerocket – Ready To Roll (Pirates Press Records)

“The core of Ready To Roll is pure Teenage Bottlerocket, but they have shown that they still have a few surprises up their sleeves. That’s not to say that this doesn’t feel like a Teenage Bottlerocketalbum, because it does, but maybe just a bit older, wiser and ever so slightly mushier. Teenage Bottlerocket are still very much doing what they do and old school fans in their battered converse will still get their fix, but there’s a slight twist that compliments the tried and tested perfectly.” (Phinky)

5. Ash –Ad Astra (Fierce Panda Records)

“Ad Astra. A nod to a lyric in Girl From Mars and, of course, part of the recurring space/science fiction motif that permeates the Ash canon. But what is this album? It really is an album, full of snapshots and signals from the past and the future... Ad Astra is a brilliant album from a band who have never tried to be anything other than what they want to be. Thematically secure while musically diverse, unsettlingly familiar and distractingly comforting. We recommend you go there.” (Peter Hough)

4. Violets – Violets EP (Self Released)

“Forget the bands they used to be in because this isn’t anything like them. This is something else, full of a binding chemistry, rock sensibility, a dash of pop glitter and some industrial punk nihilism. All in all, this is an exciting and promising introduction from a band overburdened with talent and bound with a chemistry that seeps out of every molecule of this EP. Big things surely beckon.” (Peter Hough)

3. Bite Me Bambi – Eat This (Self Released)

“The ska punk staples are present but they are incorporated into something that sounds fresh and energetic, with the whole package anchored by Tahlena Chikami’s stunning vocals that are equal parts seductive and venomous. If I’m going to criticise, well 8 tracks just isn’t enough, it’s all over far too quickly, and if you follow the band you will already be familiar with much of the album due to the steady drip feed of online singles, but aside from those minor gripes this is a solid ska fuelled album and an early contender for my favourite album of ’25.” (Phinky)

2. Dropkick Murphys – For The People (Dummy Luck Records)

Dropkick Murphys channelled their punk rock origins on their 13th studio full length, For The People. The album is a bold and uncompromising statement that takes a stand against injustice, fear-mongering, and division in the United States. More than just a title, For The People is a mission statement, an affirmation of the band’s working class ethos and unwavering sense of solidarity. For The People rises to its moment: an expression of humanity at a time of relentless dehumanization, a promise of hope in an era fueled by fear-mongering, a declaration of solidarity in an age of disunion, a defiant rebuttal to the charlatans and demagogues who seek to divide us for their own power. Dropkick Murphys proudly remain Boston’s rock ‘n’ roll underdogs turned champions. 

1. The Lovely Eggs – Bin Juice (Egg Records)

“Now how do we go at this album, it’s not new material, but then it is, it’s not polished, but then it is, it’s fucking amazing, oh it fucking is! This has got to be the Lovely Eggs album I’ve always been waiting for, its kinda flawed and perfect all at the same time, music that’s still everything you know about this band, cutting edge, outside the box, not like anything else, of itself, shall I go on? Because it’s made up of songs that made albums, songs that didn’t, and songs that may not have made the light of day if it weren’t for this release, it feels less cohesive, if you can use a word like cohesive for this band’s music. Actually delete that last line from your mind, this is a totally damn glued together set of songs, they all fit in a way that matter to you, the listener. So we go at it by listening and throwing the odd excited expletives around, throwing pinch of fairy dust into the air at random moments, and most of all dancing like a loon when the mood takes you.” (Mark Cartwright)