Takin' A Ride

#1 The Prize: “In The Red” Last year, I was cheap and just made every album #1. I can’t do that this year. Why? Every once in awhile, an album comes out that just defines perfection. Like AC/DC “Back In Black”, Sex Pistols “Nevermind The Bollocks”, or Nirvana “Nevermind”. And just to show that I haven’t been trapped in the past like a lot of people, there’s newer albums like Death By Unga Bunga “Heavy Male Insecurity”, The Darkness “Permission To Land”, and The Donnas “Spend The Night” that I also consider perfect. And you can now add The Prize “In The Red” to that prestigious list. Every song could be a “hit”. Three guitars. Two singers. Buzzcocks meets Cheap Trick.

#2 Fly!: “… Or Die!” The big surprise of the year at River Rocks 2024 and I was keeping my eye on them ever since. Their debut album came out on a German label earlier this year. This is more on the metal side of things, but don’t let that deter you from checking it out. Yeah, I would’ve produced this a little differently with not so much reverb on the vocals and more guitars in the mix (and I actually fixed this with some software I’ve been playing around with for my own personal listening pleasure), but this is a great album. Full on stompin’ rock ‘n metal with the intensity of action rock. Motorhead meets Thin Lizzy doing AC/DC.

#3 The Cheats: “Old Rats On A New Ship” On their, what I believe is, their 6th album, they step it up a few notches and up their game. Full on catchy anthemic punk rock. I get a lot of the same feelings listening to this as I do The Prize’s “In The Red” album, so there you have it.

#4 Cosmic Psychos: “I Really Like Beer” What’s not to like? Heavy loud guitars, wailing solos and an irreverent attitude. While I’m prone to not like concept albums that much, this one is loosely based on a concept I can get behind: BEER!

#5 Bob Mould: “Here We Go Crazy” Bob Mould knows how to write some incredibly catchy loud alternative punk rock songs (heck, he practically invented the genre!) First with Husker Du, then solo, then with Sugar, and now back to his solo band. (Let’s ignore his electronica period. The world should be thanking Dave Grohl for rescuing him from that!) So here’s yet another Bob Mould solo album and yet another great one. As usual, there’s at least 2 or 3 songs on here that are among the best he’s ever written, and that quite a compliment considering his extensive history.

#6 The Unknowns: “Looking From The Outside” Not to be confused with the San Diego band with the same name. This is a side project from a couple guys from the Chats, but don’t let the “side project” label fool you into thinking these are just some throwaway songs. This is their third album. And their best yet.

#7 Muck And The Mires: “Beat Revolution” These long time Bostonians are still cranking out quality albums, having garnered some high praise from Kim Fowley, Little Steven, and myself throughout the years. High quality punky garage rock ‘n roll. Ramones meets the early Beatles.

#8 Thee Allyrgic Reaction: s/t Top notch garage rock with some great production. Not too many of these retro garagey bands know how to record their songs correctly, but these guys nailed it. Sounds even better than they do live.

#9 Dark Thoughts: “Highway To The End” At basically 16 minutes, this is more of an EP than a full length album. But you can just play it twice. Catchy punk rock along the lines of The Marked Men and Dillinger Four. If you need more popular comparisons, Ramones doing Screeching Weasel songs.

#10 Lùlù: s/t This one is going to make a lot of Top 10 lists of the year. And rightly so. They’re basically a supergroup from France that plays straight ahead indie type of rock, but there’s just so much quirky-ness and layers of interesting sounds going on that make this pretty special. I reviewed this earlier this year and I don’t review too many albums, because I only strike when I’m inspired. And now you can find out why.

Hellacopters: “Overdriver” Albums that come out in January usually get lost in the shuffle of new releases for the year, but not here at TakinARide. I’ve been keeping track. For you. This is a great album by a great band. So why didn’t it make the Top 10? I simply just didn’t listen to it as much as the other albums.

Wyld Gooms: s/t Great album. Great songs. This was recorded live to tape and while it stays true to the “retro garage sound”, I just wish it had better production and sounded like Thee Allyrgic Reaction LP.

One of the best garage rock bands to ever exist. This didn’t get released until a few weeks ago, so I really didn’t have time to give it a good listen. Of course all my Top 10 entries are subjective and if I was to do another one for 2025 a year from now, it would be different. And this album would probably be on the list.

This album is so recent, and being recorded directly to tape, I don’t even think the label as converted it to digital yet, so there’s no samples for this. Just go to YouTube and check them out! Or better yet, go see them live!

Turbocoopers: “Rock ‘n Roll Dealers” First class hard action rock and roll. It even says so on the cover. And it’s true. Chuck Berry meets Turbonegro. They even do a Supersuckers cover on here.

The Wildhearts: “Satanic Rites Of…” It’s just Ginger Wildheart now, but being the main songwriter (and one of the greatest of all time!), I’m ok with that. Named after an underrated Hammer Dracula film, this is near classic Wildhearts with catchy, heavy guitar driven rock. There’s some great songs on here, that sometimes gets a little preachy. But who is Ginger preaching to? You? Or is it himself?

https://youtu.be/553rhy36CwM?list=PLM2Pky3j-E0yJ9QGyPqIptOesa8vPP0uj

Asteroid B-612: “roads, stars” These monsters of heavy hard driving MC5 inspired groove rock ‘n roll are back for the first time in about 25 years! While a lot of this album is a little introspective with some slower songs, there’s plenty of hard and fast rock action to get your heart pumping and your blood flowin’. A few songs on this are among the best they’ve ever done.

Swami John Reis: “Time To Let You Down” Another year, another release that’s John Reis related. John Reis is one of those guys who I just wonder how he does it. So many songs. So many bands. So many records. This is along the lines of Rocket From The Crypt meets The Dickies. Highly energetic punk rock with John Reis’ signature vocals and guitar delivery.

https://youtu.be/UXyE8MmBpck?list=OLAK5uy_mOY0A4odBuIiDDluqSJ72qkOxgr007q-I

Sick Fizz: “Takin’ Care Of Fizzness” Hmm… this should be in the Top 10. Good fun Australian band that melds loud punk rock and power pop with some ’70s glam. They even do a cover of KISS’ “It’s My Life”, which is one of my favorite KISS songs. Not to mention that “Lovely Home” just may be the Song Of The Year for me.

Slamdinistas: “Wild & Restless” The Los Angeles scene is making a pretty cool comeback with some quality rock these past few years. And the Slamdinistas are certainly a part of that. Stooges meets Bowie meets the Dictators. Of course no one can be as good as any of those bands, but the Slamdinistas are trying pretty hard. And that’s a good thing.

The Oxys: “Casting Pearls Before Swine” These people are a lot of fun and a kick ass live band. Five different personalities with one thing in common: they all want to ROCK. Wailing solos, high energy. What more could you want?!

Thee Toe Tags: “Terminally Teenage” Part of the screamin’ hot new rash of bands from the Los Angeles area. While I’ve never seen them, I’ve been following them with their single releases and been awaiting a full length album. Well it’s finally out! Kick ass punk rock!

Keith Roth: “The Law Of Diminished Returns” Like myself, Keith is a huge music fan and loudly proclaims the beauty of all things rock. Unlike myself, Keith is a musician and songwriter who plays and has played in a number of bands. I discovered him via Frankenstein 3000 (which is just an incredible band) and he’s now playing (and singing) for the Dictators. Now he has a solo album out, which I’m guessing is filled with songs that weren’t fit for either of his main bands. But they still have that Keith Roth stamp of quality.

/https://youtu.be/Kb7CNDAXWQg

Punter: “Australienation” Australienation. Try saying that five times fast! Yet another album that maybe I should just bump into the Top 10. This album was released in 2025, but was actually recorded in 2022 and written between 2016 and 2022. Although the title is referring to Australia, this is actually an international album, which not only has ties to Australia, but to the United Kingdom, and the US. Loud fast angry punk rock.

Creulster: “Make Them Wonder Why” Solid punk rock from Cleveland.

The Freeks: “Studio/Live II” MC5/Stooges style groove rock with a hint of psychedelia. Don’t know too much about this album, but I’m guessing one side was recorded in the studio, and the other live in a studio (as I can’t hear any audience).

Private Function: “¯\_(ツ)_/¯” Their fourth album, all of which have funny names. Their first album was called “St Anger” which is actually the only album with a “normal” name. This one has a variety of styles on it from fast punk rock to singalong punk rock to folk to new wave. All with their signature brand of humor. They even do a cover of ABBA’s “S.O.S.”

TA80: “Open Late” A solid album from a bunch of pop punks from Arizona. Seems like they’d be a lot of fun to see live. They cover Toto’s “Africa”, punk rock style.

Negracalavera: “Impredecible” If I were ranking releases for this year based on how many listens I gave them, this would be at the top of the list. It’s not even a contest. This EP blew me away. Fast, hard driving rock ‘n roll from Spain. What really stands out to me are the incredible guitar solos, which are literally all over the place on this release. As far as I know, this band has 2 EPs out and one full length album. This is the latest release. And their best. Mindblowing.

Black Sabbitch: “Unrest In The West” I guess this also counts as a live album, but I’m putting it under “tribute album”. My blog, I’ll do what I want. Black Sabbitch are the greatest Black Sabbath tribute band in existence. They know all the songs and aren’t afraid to give you a ton of deep cuts, putting their little unique stamp on it while still remaining faithful to the original.

Diamond Dogs & Chris Spedding: “Macon Georgia Giant” A full on rock ‘n roll party album of Little Richard songs.

https://youtu.be/Xh4cJUvhBUo

Husker Du: “1985 The Miracle Year” Husker Du were always hard to capture live. Mostly because they played so loudly, not to mention all the jumping around they did. But some recently found live tapes did a decent job of capturing them in their prime. You get a full set from January 30th, 1985 recorded at the First Ave in Minneapolis. But wait! There’s more! Another 21 different songs recorded at over 10 different cities! I would’ve liked to had the full sets of ALL the shows, but I’ll take what I can get!

Les Lullies: “Une Nuit A Leipzig” Remember when Les Thugs were hailed as “the greatest French band ever”? Well there’s a few that have made their presence known since then, and guess what? They’re just as good! And Les Lullies are one of them! I saw these guys a couple times when they came to the States awhile back and loved their songs and their energy. And that energy has been captured on this album! Check it out:

KISS: “Alive! 50th Anniversary” and KISS “Dressed To Kill 50th Anniversary” There was a lot of competition for “Best Box Set” in 2025, but ultimately KISS came ahead of everyone. Why? Because they (musically), gave you want we wanted! Metallica released “Load” and based on content alone, that should have won. But “Load” isn’t that great of an album. Jack White put out a best of his 2024 tour as part of the Third Man Records vault box set, but that’s only 3 albums. The Sex Pistols released a live 1978 box set, but most of it has been released before and not much of it was any good sound quality. The Replacements “Let It Be” box set? The live album is an audience recording.

But KISS! What did KISS do? They gave us almost ALL of the concerts recorded for the Alive! album! Five of them. Not complete, unfortunately, but completely remixed from newly discovered live tapes. Perfect sound quality. A year ago, we never knew these tapes still existed. Depending on which side of the fence you’re on and who you want to believe, you can use these as proof that there wasn’t much manipulation at all on the classic Alive! album, or you can say they’re evidence that they were so “bad” that they had to redo it all in the studio. Like anything these days, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Let’s just be thankful they let us hear all of this! And that’s not all! You get some rehearsals! The “Dressed To Kill” set also has some outtakes and alternate mixes. And rough mixes where the songs don’t fade out! I tell you, we live in great times!

Thin Lizzy: 74-75 Night Life / Fighting These Thin Lizzy box sets that have been coming out are second only to Metallica when it comes to content. And this is no exception. They give you remixes of the albums, demos (where in many cases, are just as good as what was on the albums), alternate takes, BBC sessions, and live shows. A must have if you’re a Thin Lizzy fan.

Stiff Little Fingers: “Inflammable Material” One of the top albums of all time deserves a top box set. 4 CDs and 1 DVD, you get the album (of course), demos, BBC sessions, and a live show!