Top Five Noisy Albums of 2025 To Burn a Hole Into Your Brain

It takes a tremendous effort to stand out as an artist among the heaps of digital slop plaguing our every waking moment. Musicians are taking themselves less seriously and genres are collapsing into themselves, from synth-punk to digicore to countrygaze. It is no surprise, then, that in 2025 I found myself seeking out music that was loud and absurd. Before we dive in, I have to give honorable mentions to the new releases from caroline and Black Country, New Road, whose organic, orchestral sounds still reverberate through my skull. Whether you want to expand your consciousness or just drown out the world, these albums turn up the bass to get raw, experimental and just plain weird. 

Jane Remover
Revengeseekerz
deadAir
Street: 04.04.2025
Jane Remover = Danny Brown + Bassvictim

Of all the albums on this list, Revengeseekerz is easily the harshest on the ears. Releasing music under multiple pseudonyms and pioneering the chaotic “dariacore” microgenre, the shapeshifter known as Jane Remover has now evolved from niche electronic music producer to proper noise pop icon. The album is maximalism at its most extreme, each song loaded with layers upon layers of instruments and effects which showcase the best of their talents as both a rapper and DJ (at just 22 years old, no less). Still, even with a megadose of aggression and distortion, the songs are meticulously composed and remarkably catchy. “Psychoboost” is pounding, “Experimental Skin” is frenetic and “JRJRJR” is explosive. “Think God became a part of you / Who cares? I’m just a robot to you,” they cry. It’s unclear exactly what Jane Remover is seeking revenge against — maybe everything — but it’s impossible not to go berserk when you hear them. 

MSPAINT
No Separation
Convulse Records
Street: 05.23.2025
MSPAINT = Soul Glo + Militarie Gun

One of my greatest regrets of 2025 is that I didn’t see MSPAINT live at The DLC this August with another rising experimental punk group, Lip Critic. This 15-minute EP from the Mississippi quartet is rabid and urgent but not angry, refusing to be bogged down by post-apocalyptic catastrophizing and instead turning to community for sustenance and hope. On “Wildfire,” vocalist DeeDee shouts on top of cascading glitches: “Are you not tired of waiting for nothing to save you?” Meanwhile, “Surveillance” distills The Communist Manifesto into a synth-heavy rallying cry to break the cycle. Guitar is notably absent in all of their work, an explicit choice made by the band members to challenge themselves and discover new sounds, pushing the limits of what punk can be with only vocals, synth, fuzzy bass and anarchic drums. The final track, “Angel,” ends on a series of affirmations to address the anxieties plaguing our contemporary dystopia: “There’s no control, just controlling yourself,” and “I’m staying present, this is just today.”

Muskies
Muskies
NESTOFUS RECORDS
Street: 01.03.2025
Muskies = The Jesus Lizard + Viagra Boys

Six boys from Ogden make up the weird and wonderful Muskies, who are single-handedly keeping absurdist rock alive in Utah. With rapid changes in tempo and volume, injections of psych, jazz and thrash plus a plethora of skits and Sgt. Pepper-type sound effects, it’s impossible to be bored while listening. Vocals are shouted through a megaphone, like a band teacher yelling unintelligible instructions to a disobedient marching band (led by Gabe Priest on saxophone). The band is gleefully self-referential and silly: There’s “BIG BOY,” a nearly seven-minute metal track that invites you to like and subscribe at the end, and “Nancy Reagan,” a doo-wop love song about the former first lady that slowly grows operatic, like the last 15 minutes of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. If that wasn’t enough, the album ends with a deep breathing exercise and an earnest rendition of Kermit the Frog’s “Rainbow Connection.” Aside from being first-rate storytellers and entertainers, Muskies are also excellent musicians, and this electrifying spectacle is not to be missed. 

Sextile
yes, please.
Sacred Bones Records
Street: 05.02.2025
Sextile = Boy Harsher + Kumo 99

Sextile is a freaky little electronic duo that I admittedly only discovered this year, despite their birth at the tail end of the indie sleaze era in 2015. yes, please. arrived 10 years later at another cultural moment when people are craving escapism and danceability. But unlike the performative antics of The Dare (sorry!), Sextile doesn’t have to try hard to seduce you. The beats are vibrating, pulsating and dizzying, grounding the body in the physical sensation of the rhythm. The relentless industrial noise makes it impossible to think — only to feel. My personal favorite track, “Rearrange,” is hot and sticky, with every line ending in the same hypnotic rhyme: “Nothing seems to change / Everything’s the same / It’s driving us insane.” Some songs lean more into modern hyperpop while others are tinged with ‘80s EBM influences. But synth and bass are the body and blood of post-punk, and Sextile transforms these bare elements into a heavenly sacrament. 

Wednesday
Bleeds
Dead Oceans
Street: 09.19.2025
Wednesday = Waxahatchee + julie

Stereogum named Wednesday’s “Elderberry Wine” the song of the summer, a title that is certainly well-deserved. But if you bought tickets for a Wednesday concert thinking that all of their songs were similarly beautiful, lilting folk melodies, you were in for a hell of a shock to the system. “Sweet song is a long con,” as lead vocalist Karly Hartzman sings. Bleeds is a Southern gothic, post-hardcore heartbreak album chronicling her relationship with bandmate MJ Lenderman, which they recorded together a month after breaking up. It’s hard to believe the same album contains “Wasp,” a tight 90 seconds of scream vocals about being unable to feel anything, and “Phish Pepsi,” a hilarious, jangly romp that mentions Four Loko, funerals and The Human Centipede. At the show, I felt like the mischievous little girl-creature on the album cover for tricking my dear partner into coming with me, scream-singing along with Hartzman as she repeated “They’ll meet you outside” 12 times, growing from a gentle promise to a pained shriek.

Read more of SLUG‘s Top 5 Album lists from 2024:
Top Five Albums of 2024 To Speed Run the Stages of Grief
Top Five Albums of 2024 for Ethereal Weird Girls Feeling Nostalgic