Monster Children’s Favourite Australian Albums Of 2025
A few weeks ago, I unexpectedly stumbled upon a secret Eddy Current Suppression Ring show at the launch of Australian skateboarding filmer and good friend of the band Chris Middlebrook’s book, Pause.
While standing up front with a beaming smile, in a carpark with around a hundred other unsuspecting people, all I could think was: music is awesome. 2025 has been an incredible year for Australian music, and in no particular order, here are our picks for our favourite releases from this huge year.
Ninajirachi: I Love My Computer
Five minutes before I got to my computer to write this, I saw a meme that read, ‘We are the first generation to be raised by hyperpop’, it commented on what other hyperpop acts taught us, coming to Ninajirachi saying, ‘Ninajirachi taught me to be myself’. Literally so true, thank you so much, Nina! Her debut album also taught me to giggle, dance and be more romantically entangled with my 2017 13-inch MacBook Pro than I could have ever imagined. As hyperpop continues on its journey from only blaring out of the headphones of the chronically online and into the mainstream, Ninajirachi’s fun-loving EDM-infused hyperpop is a perfect introduction to the genre for many.
Twine: Deer in the Headlights
Deer in the Headlights is the final release from Twine’s Adelaide outfit – Matt Schultz (Guitar), Thea Martin (Violin), Luka Kilgarif (Bass), Harry Starick (Drums) – now that frontman Tom Katsaras has moved to Melbourne. The three-song EP carries the weight of a much longer release, full of raw emotion and a cathartic quality that comes through the pairing of Tom’s vulnerable country-esque lyrics with chaotic noise rock instrumentals. There is also a Comic Sans reference, which is a highlight worth noting.
Wet Kiss: Thus Spoke the Broken Chanteuse
There are a few bands from Melbourne that I try my hardest to see every time they play. Wet Kiss is one of them. With frontwoman Brenna O at the band's helm, draped in her latest finds from Chapel Street Bazaar, a Wet Kiss show is a theatrical event carrying an excitable energy that radiates through the entire room. Thus Spoke the Broken Chanteuse doesn’t disappoint, bringing all the incredible parts of their live performance into an album that lyrically chronicles Brenna’s time living in Berlin. It’s contemporary glam rock at its absolute finest. Isn't music wonderful?
Dedede: Dedede
Learn how to pronounce the ‘D’ consonant in American English with Sydney duo Dedede. Their debut album is, in a way, a lo-fi masterpiece, not conforming to genre or any direct style; it is an exciting journey where what's coming next is unpredictable. There’s spoken word, singing, rapping, and snippets from children's educational videos. As a whole, it’s so much fun and has an incredible album cover.
Bel Air Lipbombs: Again
Their second album and first to be released through Jack White’s Third Man Records, was immediately set to be the album of the Australian summer upon its late October release. It’s uplifting power pop at its finest, and ought to instantly put you in a good mood.
Acopia: Blush Response
While all eyes and ears are on the bands of the Copenhagen alt-pop scene and beyond, Acopia shows that they are deserving of being in that same conversation. Released by London’s Scenic Route, the label that The Face crowned as underground music's most exciting, Blush Response is the pinnacle of cool; not flashy or trying to be something it’s not, just an honest album, made extremely well.
Dust: Sky is Falling
As our favourite band from Newcastle, it would be rude to leave them out of this list. Sky is Falling is their incredible debut album, and a display that the five-piece is just getting started. Read our interview with them about the album here to find out more about it.
Daily Toll: A Profound Non-Event
A Profound Non-Event has a sort of melancholic and nostalgic cuteness reminiscent of Sarah Records releases of the early nineties. Full of catchy lyrics, jangly instrumentals and drums that do an incredible job at driving the whole album. It’s like the music you’d imagine your cool older sister listening to.
Eddy Current Suppression Ring: Shapes and Forms
Up until this year, it had been fifteen years since Eddy Current Suppression Ring had played a headlining show, and six since their last album. This past year has been huge for the Melbourne cult-favourites, from secret shows to shows that immediately sold out, and headlining a free show at Melbourne’s Federation Square to a crowd of ten thousand.
Untouched and unfazed by trends or time, the band is a perfect display of four friends doing what they’ve loved and always have loved, twenty-two years since their inception. And for their EP, Shapes and Forms, it will forever be the marker representative of 2025: the year of Eddy Current Surpression Ring’s incredible comeback.
Mouseatoullie: DJ Set
With guitars, drums, bass, synthesisers, vibraphone, banjo, melodica, shaker, clarinet, violin, piano, trumpet, trombone, accordion, and a pump organ all being played on DJ Set, Mouseatoullie is like if you got every kid who loved hanging out in the high school band room together to start a band. That band then went on to release a bunch of music, tour with their heroes Black Country, New Road, and gain a global cult following. Five years since their last album, they got all nine of the band’s members (plus five extra musicians) back together to produce DJ Set, a wholesome album featuring songs that are jangly and sweet.
DJ Set also came with a remix EP with remixes of songs on the album by Katie Dey, Weatherday, and Tex Patrello.
