playlist: the best punk songs of 2025 so far

A hot, humid, swampy summer in the Midwest has been my day-to-day reality as human rights atrocities define contemporary life across the planet. We’re living through a grim era of dehumanization at a mass scale. When shit feels unbearable, it’s definitely a consolation prize to engage with new punk music on a daily basis.

It’s not just the speed, volume, or anger of this music that lends itself to catharsis; it’s the tangibly human element. The vast majority of stuff I write about on see/saw feels more grounded than everything on the Billboard Hot 100. I’d rather be sonically chain-whipped by people working day jobs than dropped into a corporate pop star’s big budget sound bath. (Side rant: Fuck Spotify, shout out Deerhoof, support unions like UMAW.) Give me the blown out, top-speed, visceral noise expression of someone getting together with their friends in a basement than some glistening over-worked record made in the world’s most expensive studio.

If you’re reading see/saw, “Sex Fiend Abomination Tapes and Discs puts out better music than Universal Music Group” is not a surprising take, but with every new month of see/saw, I’m getting more and more in touch with what I loved about music writing to begin with: the work itself, not the celebrity bullshit. When I listen to punk music, go to shows, and talk to other people who love this stuff, I feel like a human being with my feet planted on the ground—not a live-wire anxiety cog doing breaking entertainment news for an unforgiving information superhighway. I even like myself lately.

Here are my favorite punk songs from the first half of 2025. It’s unranked, just sequenced in a way that sounded right. There’s an embed below if you view this post in a browser, or you can listen here. This one’s free for everybody. If you like it, please subscribe to see/saw. ❤️

the best punk songs of 2025 so far

Panel: Neurotica
Fugitive Bubble: Rot
Steröid: After Dawn
Jolana Star: Stoned Alone
Necron 9: Flower Child
The Number Ones: Sorry
Lùlù: Lùlù
Good Ramen: Bite Marx
Yuasa-Exide: Marjorie
The Vacant Lot: Age
Autobahns: Bad Day
T.A.C.K.: Repair Man
Amex: Mememe
TV Crime: Never Been in Love
Misprints: feel
NYLON: Pig Pen
Tommy: Sleeping Dogs
Teo Wise: Morto di Caldo
Puffer: Jimmy
Electric Chair: Barbed Wire Fence
Amor, Muerte Y Leonora: Apaga La Luz
Split System: On the Loose
Media Puzzle: Bundy Vision
Makin’ Out: Sunflower Song
Um, Jennifer?: Girl Class
Xanny Stars: Green Sugar
Self Improvement: Settle Down
Eye Ball: The Cheapskate
Skull Cult: Organization
Raya: Malas noticias
Billiam & Busted Head Racket: Take Ya to War
vale vale vale vale vale: Pica La Puerta
Cult Crime: Desperation
Happy Death Men: Dancing With the Lights Off
SEXFACES: Anti-Satanic Drugs
Answering Machines: Waste My Time
TY: USA
Cold Meat: Prick at the Pub
KiLynn Lunsford: Disney Girls
Eraser: Simon Says
Piggy Bank: technology discriminates against the poor
Stress Positions: Sadistic
Rapid Dye: Penance
Nisemono: 酷い思い出 (Hidoi Omoide)
LASSO: Aquém
Brown Eyed Girl: You Won’t See Me
Gee Tee: Hit With a Club
Shit Missile: Sean’s on Social Work
Delivery: Operating at a Loss
OUST: Rather be a fuck up than a fascist
Pure Terror: Mara Baad Mara مرة باد مرة
Waterschade: Church of Cunt
The MFC: Piss on a Tesla
EKGs: Dumbss
Coffee Stain: Hot Rod
Kaleidoscope: Blood Minerals
Nick Cage: Swing State
Total Con: Riders on the STorm
Nympho: Where’s My Shit
null tone: og nå har du blitt ingenting
Cheap Fix: Re-animator Blues
Good Flying Birds: Last Straw
Dumbells: Seeds
MSPAINT: Wildfire
Sister Agnes: Sister Jeanne
Sharp Pins: I Can’t Stop
Ex-Vöid: Swansea
Pigeon Pit: alone in the basement (for august)
The Gotobeds: Goes Away
Day Residue: I love what you’ve done with the place
Artificial Go: Circles
Boo/Hiss: Banana Song
Egg Girl Girl: Post Hole
Twisted Teens: Circus Clown
Plastic Act: Everywhere I Go
Crayon Cats: October Girlfriend
Frizbee: Me Time
Power Pants: Rock n' Roll Babe
Dorothy Fuzz: 123 Understand Me
Chime Oblivion: Neighborhood Dog
Mirror Mask: Bleed U Dry
Rough Francis: Great to Be Alive
The Men: At the Movies
Sex Scenes: Nothing
HUEVO: Fiesta
GHOULIES: Four Decisions Every Minute
Kram-A-Xam: Itty Bitty Toe
PORQ: Battery Acid
Molbo: Fun and Games
Gavin Picon-Seara: Earn My Life
Seudo Youth: M*A*S*H
Silo Kids: Planet
Science Man: Animals
Small Portions: Dumb as Dirt
Commitment: Send the Deposit
Elvis 2: On the Motorway
Snörkler: The Virus
Punter: Bone to Pick
Monda: Everything You Wanted
Meow Meow and the Smackouts: An Decent Punch
the gobs: do I look like I DILLIGAF, man?
Beer: Pine Barrens
Cerezas: Cerezas
Gnome: I Like It
Waylon Thornton: Maids, Mothers, Widows, and Wives
The Smog: Speed of Life
Game Set Match: Hang Out With You
Krystian Quint & the Quitters: Outer Drive
Wesley & the Boys: Grieving
Dru the Drifter: Sold My Soul for Rock and Roll
Paper Jam: Polka Dot Girl
Palánta: Agáta
Heavy Möther II: One Man’s Love
Liaam: Dancing With My Clothes On
Mary Jam: Mopeds
SPLEEN: Albatros
Pyrex: The Curse
Lambrini Girls: Company Culture
Strawberry Moon: Polly Pocket World
Positive Thinking: Controlled Burn
Spike Pit: Servant
Jacket Burnet: Tonite
Vermit: The Curtain
Lame: Te Traigo Una Bomba Mi Amor
Grief to Alice: Stupið
Embargo: Embargo
Outtacontroller: Cheap Pop
Meditation: Small Places
SPY: On the Brink
The Disgusting: Disgusting One
KISSLAND: I don’t care you broke your elbow
Sex Germs: Breeder
悶煮悶MENGZHUMENG: SPACE RED ARMY
Delta Van Del: I’m a Lover
Dauber: Making Mega Moves
LAXISME: écarté
Fugue State: In the Lurch
Bratakus: Final Girls
Isabella Strange: Unfinished Business
Johnny Maraca & the Marockers: Nobody Else
FACS: Sometimes Only
Johnny Skin: I Need You
DANA: Ether Frolic
GLITTERFAST: GLITTERFAST
Bad Breeding: Blood Manifest
Phobophlyptix: Environmental Racism
S.O.H.: Psychological Warfare
Alienator: Alienator
Ritual Cross: Simulations
PISS ME OFF: SLIDE THE SHELL
Clenchers: Get Around
Judy and the Jerks: Bug Boys
Pizza King Girl: Pac Man Roller Skates
PAL: I Think You Should Order
Olivia’s World: Chemlab
Nurse Joy: Eclipse
Violet Bloom: Despize
Warthog: Iron Fist
Powerplant: Crashing Cars
Motorbike: Cold Sweat
Béton Armé: Cercle Vicieux
T.U.F.T.: Gun
Irked: The Hardest Man in Billingham
Tyvek: I’ve Got TV
Perverts Again: Cussword
Michael Younker: So What!
Water Machine: Hot Real Estate
Why Bother?: Speck’s Lament
Bart and the Brats: Sick Sick Sick