The Cut Worms have transformed from the solo vision of songwriter Max Clarke to a collective of collaborators, with Jeff Tweedy jumping on board as a producer and player.

Striking a more melancholic tone than 2023’s self-titled release, Transmitter brings Kinksian songcraft to jangly mid-tempo guitar pop. The melodies provide ample aural canvases to Clarke’s witty wordplay, highlighted on tracks like Evil Twin, Long Weekend, and Shut In. He captures a 21st-century loneliness we all feel.

Tweedy features the band’s sound well, but you can hear his knob twisting, bringing noisy flourishes that punctuate the album’s complicated introspection.

Buy it.

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Music presents a dilemma, both timeless and immediate. I listen to a lot of albums spanning almost 100 years, multiple media, and in varied social settings. But it also has an immediacy: new releases, critical buzz, and the excitement of NOW! A year-end best-of tells a partial listening story, but alas:

2025 Superlatives

Best Album: Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band – New Threats from the Soul  Best Single & Video: Elderberry Wine by Wednesday Best Debut: Annie DiRusso – Super Pedestrian  Best Comeback: The Lemonheads – Lovechant Best Concert: Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band/Snocaps – Bowery Ballroom, Manhattan

Fourteen 2025 releases on heavy rotation, in no particular order:

• Snocaps - 'Snocaps' (Anti-): Twins Sisters Powers Reactivate

• Jeff Tweedy - 'Twilight Override' (dBpm Records): A box set of new material? Jeff writes a lot of songs

• Wednesday - 'Bleeds' (Dead Oceans): I slept on this band before Bleeds, awake now

• Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band – 'New Threats from the Soul' (Sophomore Lounge): Can't stop listening  The Larry’s100 review

• Kurt Vile/Luke Roberts - 'Classic Love EP' (Verve): Played almost as much as Ryan Davis The Larry’s100 review

• Lemonheads - 'Love Chant' (Fire Records): Cell Phone Blues was almost my song of the year  The Larry’s100 review

• Kathleen Edwards - 'Billionaire' (Dualtone Records): A full-throated and tuneful platter of rugged individualism

• The Bug Club – 'Very Human Features' (Sub Pop): Second great album in 3 years

• Rose City Band - 'Sol y Sombra' (Thrill Jockey): Meditations with steel pedal

• Annie DiRusso - 'Super Pedestrian' (Summer Soup Songs): Punchy, energetic first record. Her Tiny Desk is a must-watch

• Dean Wareham - 'That's the Price of Loving Me' (Carpark Records): Crazy, this is his first solo album

• Superchunk - 'Songs in the Key of Yikes' (Merge): On one of the best post-hiatus runs in indie rock history

• Neil Young - 'Ocean Side/Country Side' (Neil Young Archives): Never before released, even though you know all the songs. Great to hear them, as it was originally conceived and tracked

• Kacey Musgraves - 'Deeper Into The Well' (MCA Nashville): Seven new tracks!

#music #albums #2025BestOf #MusicReviews #BestOfMusic #Larrys2025FavesMusic #NewMusic #NowPlaying #100WordReview #Larrys100 #100DaysToOffload #Larrys2025Faves

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