Month: August 2025

My Top 30 Songs for August 31-September 6, 2025

On By EclecticMusicLoverIn Weekly Top 30's7 Comments
Photo of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney by Larry Niehues

“No Rain, No Flowers” by The Black Keys holds onto the top spot for a third week, while the equally infectious “Feels Right” by singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Talk in Waves moves into second place. “Back to Friends” by sombr racks up its 13th week in my top 10, three of them spent at #1.

Two songs make their debut this week, starting with the wonderful “Metal” by New Zealand indie pop-rock band The Beths. Formed in Auckland in 2014, the band’s lineup includes lead vocalist Elizabeth Stokes, guitarist Jonathan Pearce, bassist Benjamin Sinclair, and drummer Tristan Deck. The lead single from their fourth and latest album Straight Line Was A Lie – released this past Friday, August 29th – “Metal” is their first single to chart in the U.S., currently sitting at #10 on the Billboard AAA (Adult Alternative Airplay) chart. I love the lively melody and jangly guitars!

My second new entry is “Everyday Magic” by Louisville, Kentucky-based My Morning Jacket, whose music is a glorious blend of indie, alternative and psychedelic rock, country, Americana and Southern rock. Formed in 1998, the band presently consists of vocalist/guitarist Jim James, bassist Tom Blankenship, drummer Patrick Hallahan, guitarist Carl Broemel, and keyboardist Bo Koster. The delightful “Everyday Magic” is from their tenth and latest album is, which dropped this past March. Another track from that album, “Time Waited”, topped my chart in May. “Everyday Magic” is currently #1 on the Billboard AAA chart, which is a major influence on my own chart.

  1. NO RAIN, NO FLOWERS – The Black Keys (1)
  2. FEELS RIGHT – Talk in Waves (3)
  3. THE CONTRACT – Twenty One Pilots (2)
  4. MOODY – Royel Otis (4)
  5. LOVE IS A FIRE – Art Block (7)
  6. LONDON TOWN – Healer (8)
  7. SALLY, WHEN THE WINE RUNS OUT – ROLE MODEL (9)
  8. BETTER OFF EVENTUALLY – Bealby Point (6)
  9. RIPPLE – Good Neighbours (5)
  10. BACK TO FRIENDS – sombr (10)
  11. JUPITER – almost monday ft. Jordana (12)
  12. UNDRESSED – sombr (13)
  13. ASSHOLE – The Lumineers (14)
  14. BACKSEAT – Balu Brigada (15)
  15. POLYESTER (YES SIR) – Sorry Ghost (16)
  16. TODAY’S SONG – Foo Fighters (17)
  17. FIVE MORE SECONDS – Seafret & KT Tunstall (18)
  18. BETTER DAYS – Yellowcard (19)
  19. BLOOM BABY BLOOM – Wolf Alice (11)
  20. LIGHT YEARS APART – Unobliterated (23)
  21. UNRAVELLING – Muse (24)
  22. AFTERLIFE – Alex G (26)
  23. AS ALIVE AS YOU NEED ME TO BE – Nine Inch Nails (27)
  24. ENSENADA – Sublime (28)
  25. MY MIND IS A MOUNTAIN – Deftones (29)
  26. HORNETS – Western Jaguar (30)
  27. BASIC BEING BASIC – Djo (20) 20th week on chart
  28. NOTHING I NEED – Lord Huron (21)
  29. METAL – The Beths (N)
  30. EVERYDAY MAGIC – My Morning Jacket (N)

My Top 30 Songs for August 24-30, 2025

On By EclecticMusicLoverIn Weekly Top 30's8 Comments
Photo of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney by Larry Niehues

Last week’s top ten songs remain in place again this week, with a bit of shuffling here and there. The Black Keys top my chart for a second week with “No Rain, No Flowers”, while “The Contract” by Twenty One Pilots holds at #2 again after a two-week run at #1. “Feels Right” by northern Virginia singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Talk in Waves moves up a spot to secure the third place ranking.

We have three new debuts, two of which are by legendary alt-rock favorites, and another by one of my favorite Canadian indie artists. Entering at #28 is “Ensenada” by American ska punk band Sublime, who originally formed way back in 1988 in Long Beach, California and consisted of Bradley Nowell (vocals and guitar), Bud Gaugh (drums) and Eric Wilson (bass). Over their eight-year run, Sublime released three studio albums, a live album, five compilation albums, three EPs, one box set and six singles, three of which – “What I Got”, “Santeria” and “Wrong Way” – have remained longtime alt-rock radio staples. The band disbanded after singer Bradley Nowell’s death from a heroin overdose in 1996 but subsequently reformed in 2023 with Bradley’s son Jakob Nowell singing lead vocals alongside original band members Wilson and Gaugh. Their latest single “Ensenada”, released July 18th, carries on with the band’s original signature sound, almost as if no time has passed.

Coming in at #29 is “my mind is a mountain” by American alternative metal band Deftones. Also formed in 1988, in Sacramento, California (where I lived from 1989-1994), they originally consisted of frontman Chino Moreno (lead vocals), Stephen Carpenter (lead guitar), Abe Cunningham (drums) and Chi Cheng (bass). Frank Delgado later joined the band as keyboardist and turntablist in 1999. Cheng, who was seriously injured in an auto accident in 2008 and subsequently died in 2013, was replaced on bass by Sergio Vega, who remained with the band until early 2021. Deftones have released 10 studio albums, four EPs, three compilation albums, five demo albums, 32 music videos and 25 singles. Though none of their songs have ever made the Billboard Hot 100, several have appeared on the Alternative and Rock charts. On July 10th, they released “my mind is a mountain”, the lead single from their 10th and latest album private music (which dropped this past Friday, August 22nd), their first new music since their 2020 album Ohms. With the intensely heavy and melodic “my mind is a mountain”, it’s clear Deftones haven’t lost a step and I’m really liking the new album as well.

Last but certainly not least is “Hornets” by British Columbia-based Western Jaguar, the music project of the personable and talented singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jeffrey Trainor. I’ve been a fan of his for over seven years, and two of his songs – “Disappear” (2019) and “Darling” (2023) have reached #1 on my chart. His latest single “Hornets” represents a somewhat edgier, more rock-oriented sound from him and I like it!

  1. NO RAIN, NO FLOWERS – The Black Keys (1)
  2. THE CONTRACT – Twenty One Pilots (2)
  3. FEELS RIGHT – Talk in Waves (4)
  4. MOODY – Royel Otis (3)
  5. RIPPLE – Good Neighbours (6)
  6. BETTER OFF EVENTUALLY – Bealby Point (7)
  7. LOVE IS A FIRE – Art Block (8)
  8. LONDON TOWN – Healer (9)
  9. SALLY, WHEN THE WINE RUNS OUT – ROLE MODEL (10)
  10. BACK TO FRIENDS – sombr (5)
  11. BLOOM BABY BLOOM – Wolf Alice (12)
  12. JUPITER – almost monday ft. Jordana (13)
  13. UNDRESSED – sombr (14)
  14. ASSHOLE – The Lumineers (15)
  15. BACKSEAT – Balu Brigada (19)
  16. POLYESTER (YES SIR) – Sorry Ghost (20)
  17. TODAY’S SONG – Foo Fighters (21)
  18. FIVE MORE SECONDS – Seafret & KT Tunstall (22)
  19. BETTER DAYS – Yellowcard (24)
  20. BASIC BEING BASIC – Djo (11)
  21. NOTHING I NEED – Lord Huron (17)
  22. INCOMPREHENSIBLE – Big Thief (25)
  23. LIGHT YEARS APART – Unobliterated (26)
  24. UNRAVELLING – Muse (27)
  25. PORCELAIN (LOSING ALL MY PATIENCE) – Somebody’s Child (16)
  26. AFTERLIFE – Alex G (29)
  27. AS ALIVE AS YOU NEED ME TO BE – Nine Inch Nails (30)
  28. ENSENADA – Sublime (N)
  29. MY MIND IS A MOUNTAIN – Deftones (N)
  30. HORNETS – Western Jaguar (N)

My Top 30 Songs for August 17-23, 2025

On By EclecticMusicLoverIn Weekly Top 30's11 Comments
Photo of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney by Larry Niehues

“No Rain, No Flowers”, the title track from Nashville-based blues rock duo The Black Keys‘ 13th and latest album No Rain, No Flowers, is my new #1 song this week. Though the song, along with many of the other tracks on the album, has a decidedly more polished, poppy sound than their usual musical fare, I really like it. I love its smooth head-bopping dance groove, twangy guitars and Dan Auerbach’s always-cool vocals, plus it’s catchy as hell. The song and album have received mostly positive reviews, though some have criticized it for being too pop-oriented, overly produced or simply veering too far away from their blues rock roots. That said, the album’s lead single “The Night Before” spent two weeks at #1 on the Billboard Alternative Airplay chart this past May, whereas “No Rain, No Flowers” peaked at only #28 and is now falling. The song did recently peak at #2 on the Adult Alternative Airplay chart, however.

In other chart news of note, “Sally, When the Wine Runs Out” by Los Angeles-based ROLE MODEL (the music project of singer-songwriter Tucker Harrington Pillsbury), advances six spots to enter the top 10 at #10. And curiously, the songs at numbers 11 and 12 both have three-word titles in all B’s – “Basic Being Basic” and Bloom Baby Bloom”.

There are two new debuts again this week, the first of which is the delightful “Afterlife” by American musician, producer, and singer-songwriter Alex G (born Alexander Giannascoli in Havertown, Pennsylvania). Since 2011, the prolific musician has released ten studio albums, four EPs, three live albums, two soundtrack albums and 30 singles. The lead single from his 10th and latest album Headlights, “Afterlife” has become Alex G’s highest charting single in the U.S., currently sitting at #8 on the Billboard Adult Alternative Airplay chart. That ukelele is utterly charming.

The second new entry is “As Alive As You Need Me To Be” by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, their first new music release in four years since “ISN’T EVERYONE”, a collaborative single with Los Angeles-based industrial/noise rock band Health. Formed in 1988 as a solo act by singer-songwriter, musician, and composer Trent Reznor (who was inspired by Prince to play all instruments himself except drums, which he programmed electronically), Nine Inch Nails for many years consisted of Reznor as the only official member, aided by an ever-changing group of backing musicians for live performances. He finally added English musician and long-time collaborator Atticus Ross as the act’s second permanent member in 2016. Released on July 17th, “As Alive As You Need Me To Be” is from the forthcoming soundtrack album Tron: Ares (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), to be released September 19th. Nine Inch Nails composed the score for the film Tron: Ares, the third installment in the Tron series scheduled for release October 10th. At the age of 60, Reznor sounds as good as ever.

  1. NO RAIN, NO FLOWERS – The Black Keys (3)
  2. THE CONTRACT – Twenty One Pilots (1)
  3. MOODY – Royel Otis (2)
  4. FEELS RIGHT – Talk in Waves (5)
  5. BACK TO FRIENDS – sombr (4)
  6. RIPPLE – Good Neighbours (7)
  7. BETTER OFF EVENTUALLY – Bealby Point (8)
  8. LOVE IS A FIRE – Art Block (9)
  9. LONDON TOWN – Healer (10)
  10. SALLY, WHEN THE WINE RUNS OUT – ROLE MODEL (16)
  11. BASIC BEING BASIC – Djo (6)
  12. BLOOM BABY BLOOM – Wolf Alice (15)
  13. JUPITER – almost monday ft. Jordana (17)
  14. UNDRESSED – sombr (18)
  15. ASSHOLE – The Lumineers (20)
  16. PORCELAIN (LOSING ALL MY PATIENCE) – Somebody’s Child (11)
  17. NOTHING I NEED – Lord Huron (12)
  18. SCARS – Secret Postal Society (13)
  19. BACKSEAT – Balu Brigada (21)
  20. POLYESTER (YES SIR) – Sorry Ghost (22)
  21. TODAY’S SONG – Foo Fighters (23)
  22. FIVE MORE SECONDS – Seafret & KT Tunstall (24)
  23. WHAT WAS THAT – Lorde (14)
  24. BETTER DAYS – Yellowcard (29)
  25. INCOMPREHENSIBLE – Big Thief (26)
  26. LIGHT YEARS APART – Unobliterated (28)
  27. UNRAVELLING – Muse (30)
  28. BONNET OF PINS – Matt Berninger (19)
  29. AFTERLIFE – Alex G (N)
  30. AS ALIVE AS YOU NEED ME TO BE – Nine Inch Nails (N)

My Top 30 Songs for August 10-16, 2025

On By EclecticMusicLoverIn Weekly Top 30's6 Comments

It’s a second week on top for “The Contract” by Twenty One Pilots, with “moody” by Royel Otis holding onto second place for a second week after two weeks at #1. The Black Keys move up two to #3 with “No Rain, No Flowers”, the title track to their 13th and latest album No Rain, No Flowers, which dropped this past Friday, while Talk in Waves moves up a spot to #5 with his jubilant ear worm “Feels Right”. Entering the top 10 are “Ripple” by English indie rock duo Good Neighbours, “Better Off Eventually” by Canadian alt-rock band Bealby Point, “Love Is A Fire” by English singer-songwriter Art Block and “London Town” by English rock band Healer.

Making their debut this week are songs by two legendary bands, the first of which is “Better Days” by pop punk band Yellowcard, who formed in 1997, broke up in 2017, then reunited in 2022. Their lineup has changed over the years, and now consists of Ryan Key (lead vocals), Ryan Mendez (lead guitar), Josh Portman (bass) and Sean Mackin (violin). Their music is notable for its distinct and unique sound due to their prominent use of Mackin’s violin. The song is the lead single and title track from their forthcoming eleventh studio album Better Days, due for release on October 10. The album was produced by blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, who played drums on every song.

The second debut, coming in at #30, is “Unravelling” by English alternative space rock band Muse, who since forming in 1994 have consisted of Matt Bellamy (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Chris Wolstenholme (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Dominic Howard (drums, percussion). Though I’m a pretty big fan of Muse, I find it always takes several listens for many of their songs to grab me, which was the case with “Unravelling”. But grab me it did, and I now like it a lot.

  1. THE CONTRACT – Twenty One Pilots (1)
  2. MOODY – Royel Otis (2)
  3. NO RAIN, NO FLOWERS – The Black Keys (5)
  4. BACK TO FRIENDS – sombr (3)
  5. FEELS RIGHT – Talk in Waves (6)
  6. BASIC BEING BASIC – Djo (4)
  7. RIPPLE – Good Neighbours (11)
  8. BETTER OFF EVENTUALLY – Bealby Point (13)
  9. LOVE IS A FIRE – Art Block (14)
  10. LONDON TOWN – Healer (15)
  11. PORCELAIN (LOSING ALL MY PATIENCE) – Somebody’s Child (7)
  12. NOTHING I NEED – Lord Huron (8)
  13. SCARS – Secret Postal Society (9)
  14. WHAT WAS THAT – Lorde (10)
  15. BLOOM BABY BLOOM – Wolf Alice (16)
  16. SALLY, WHEN THE WINE RUNS OUT – ROLE MODEL (18)
  17. JUPITER – almost monday ft. Jordana (19)
  18. UNDRESSED – sombr (20)
  19. BONNET OF PINS – Matt Berninger (12)
  20. ASSHOLE – The Lumineers (22)
  21. BACKSEAT – Balu Brigada (23)
  22. POLYESTER (YES SIR) – Sorry Ghost (24)
  23. TODAY’S SONG – Foo Fighters (27)
  24. FIVE MORE SECONDS – Seafret & KT Tunstall (29)
  25. CATCH THESE FISTS – Wet Leg (17)
  26. INCOMPREHENSIBLE – Big Thief (28)
  27. EMERGENCE – Sleep Token (21)
  28. LIGHT YEARS APART – Unobliterated (30)
  29. BETTER DAYS – Yellowcard (N)
  30. UNRAVELLING – Muse (N)

My Top 30 Songs for August 3-9, 2025

On By EclecticMusicLoverIn Weekly Top 30's8 Comments
Photo of Twenty One Pilots from their Facebook account

One of my favorite music acts for the past ten years is Twenty One Pilots, comprised of the dynamic duo of singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Tyler Joseph and power drummer Josh Dun. Their latest single “The Contract” is my new #1 song this week, marking their 13th song to reach the top of my chart, and their third in just the past year, following “The Craving” last September and “The Line” this past March. The lead single from their forthcoming eighth studio album Breach, to be released September 12th, “The Contract” starts the final act of the narrative begun on their 2015 album Blurryface and continued through Trench, Scaled And Icy, and last year’s Clancy.

The song is a frenetic and electrifying mash-up of music styles, something Twenty One Pilots have incorporated into many of their songs over the years. As Kory Grow observed in his article about the single for Rolling Stone, the song “ping-pongs between pop, rap, emo, and drumline practice.” While I love that about the song and their music in general, some do not. Paulo Ragusa, a writer who’s obviously not a Twenty One Pilots fan, trashed the song in his article for Consequence Sound, calling it “a complete mess, a sloppy hodge-podge of genres and styles that directly compete with one another from moment to moment.” Well, to each their own I say, as “The Contract” takes its place among a long line of songs I love by this talented duo.

In other chart news, Lorde enters the top 10 with “What Was That”, and we have two new debuts. The first is “Five More Seconds”, a wonderfully exuberant collaboration by English duo Seafret and Scottish singer-songwriter KT Tunstall, which enters at #29. Seafret, based in Yorkshire and comprised of singer Jack Sedman and guitarist Harry Draper, released three albums and a number of singles from 2015-2023 and saw their debut 2015 single “Atlantis” go viral on TikTok over the past three years, eventually racking up over 1.1 billion streams on Spotify alone. KT Tunstall burst onto the British music scene in 2004 with her debut album Eye to the Telescope, which spawned the hit singles “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” and “Suddenly I See”, which won the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song in 2006. “Five More Seconds” marks both Seafret and KT Tunstall’s first new music in two years.

The second debut is “light years apart” by Unobliterated, the music project of England-born and now Portugal-based singer-songwriter and musician Gary Taylor. In my review of the song upon its July 11 release, I described it as “majestic”, with a haunting melody driven forward by a strong pulsating groove and layered with swirling atmospheric synths and warm guitar notes to create a mesmerizing backdrop for Taylor’s arresting vocals that masterfully convey a sense of both despair and hopeful optimism.

  1. THE CONTRACT – Twenty One Pilots (3)
  2. MOODY – Royel Otis (1)
  3. BACK TO FRIENDS – sombr (2)
  4. BASIC BEING BASIC – Djo (4)
  5. NO RAIN, NO FLOWERS – The Black Keys (7)
  6. FEELS RIGHT – Talk in Waves (9)
  7. PORCELAIN (LOSING ALL MY PATIENCE) – Somebody’s Child (5)
  8. NOTHING I NEED – Lord Huron (6)
  9. SCARS – Secret Postal Society (10)
  10. WHAT WAS THAT – Lorde (11)
  11. RIPPLE – Good Neighbours (13)
  12. BONNET OF PINS – Matt Berninger (8)
  13. BETTER OFF EVENTUALLY – Bealby Point (15)
  14. LOVE IS A FIRE – Art Block (17)
  15. LONDON TOWN – HEALER (18)
  16. BLOOM BABY BLOOM – Wolf Alice (19)
  17. CATCH THESE FISTS – Wet Leg (12)
  18. SALLY, WHEN THE WINE RUNS OUT – ROLE MODEL (21)
  19. JUPITER – almost monday ft. Jordana (22)
  20. UNDRESSED – sombr (23)
  21. EMERGENCE – Sleep Token (16)
  22. ASSHOLE – The Lumineers (25)
  23. BACKSEAT – Balu Brigada (26)
  24. POLYESTER (YES SIR) – Sorry Ghost (27)
  25. RITALIN – Dexter and The Moonrocks (14)
  26. RELATIONSHIPS – HAIM (20)
  27. TODAY’S SONG – Foo Fighters (29)
  28. INCOMPREHENSIBLE – Big Thief (30)
  29. FIVE MORE SECONDS – Seafret & KT Tunstall (N)
  30. LIGHT YEARS APART – Unobliterated (N)