You can say a lot about 2025. Good, bad, apocalyptic. One thing you can’t say is that it was lacking in music. Our album reviewers can tell you that much. They’ll let you know about the heaps of quality music put out by local artists in the last 12 months. Don’t take our word for it, scroll down below for an alphabetical list of every local album, debut, E.P. and project of note we reviewed in the past year.
Sitting and listening to Abbie Sawyer’s Persimmon was a blissful experience. It feels like frolicking on the first warm day of spring after a dreadful winter — fresh and bright, delightful despite the memory of the lingering cold.
Iowa has been the birthplace of some incredible heavy music acts…There is a great variety of heavy music from the Hawkeye State, and that variety is worth mentioning, because Ames’ Anchoress is not an easy band to define. Their latest EP, Sugarsong (released on July 26) may be only four songs, but they pack those songs with a grain silo full of ideas.
Andrew Hoyt — ‘Kind Of Paradise’
Sun-drenched hooks and sunscreen-slathered horn sections are not very Iowa. But for Andrew Hoyt and his latest EP, Kind of Paradise, bottling sunshine is the point, whether charting heartbreak or relationship blissdom.
Whenever Iowa City hardcore punk outfit Bootcamp sets off for the divey bars and dimmed basement venues of a tour, vocalist Juliette Enloe sets a phone lockscreen to a map of the U.S., with the state of Iowa circled in blazing red…a week before the band’s newest release Time’s Up hit airwaves, one thing rings clear — Bootcamp might be just the ticket to put Iowa City on the map, at least in the tightknit world of hardcore.
Do you know what it’s like to “feel in color?” That’s the question on the minds of five-piece Des Moines band Bouquet on their latest EP. Across seven tracks, emotions are laid bare, bloody, jagged and raw, while still being hypnotically tender.
Brother Trucker — ‘Live At Octopus’
You can’t talk about the history of music in Iowa without mentioning the seminal (and sadly defunct) grassroots record label Trailer Records, started by Iowa City musician David Zollo. One of those early signings to Trailer Records was Des Moines roots-rock band Brother Trucker. Founded by lifelong friends Andy Fleming and Mike Fitzpatrick, Brother Trucker has been a stalwart live music institution for over 25 years
Bryon Dudley & Ira Rat — ‘City Dead’
I want to begin by saying that Bryon Dudley and Ira Rat describing their album City Dead as “Zombi Giallo” immediately grabbed my attention. Was the title specifically an homage to the 1980 Lucio Fulci classic City of the Living Dead?
There are 12 drawings on the cover of Buz Owen’s most recent album, Sleep. There’s a bunny-eared television. A crucifix. An elephant. The images make up a visual tracklist for the album’s songs, music that draws from backyard bluegrass, folk and even Uncle Tupelo-era alt-country.
Breathe, the latest album by Cedar Falls-born BYOBrass, opens with an earthy soul groove in its opening track “Inner Turmoil.” Its melodic notes are pillows that lay upon each other, until they create this soft bed of a beautiful chord.
Emerging from the dormant memories of basement shows, DIY venues, crashing on couches and floors on tour and the nostalgia for a more active local music scene comes another supergroup of Quad Cities musicians in the form of Camp Regret.
Cory Peak has to be one of Iowa’s most adventurous artists. Probably best known as the bassist for the grindcore/emoviolence powerhouse that is Closet Witch, Peak recently produced beats and did animation [for the Iowa hip-hop project Negus Lamé].
Dearborn — ‘Memo for a Friend’
There’s a particular atmosphere to a sleepless night. More than likely, it culminates in stumbling through a dark room and mental fog to turn on the TV, hoping bottom-shelf infomercials and reruns of yesteryear sitcoms quiet your mind.
Genres are useful for categorization, but with certain artists’ work, the labels get too messy. In describing Iowa City’s Deivore, for instance, you can end up sounding like some insufferable aficionado regurgitating word salad, spewing out micro and nano genres to hapless homies just looking for a good recommendation.
Diezeleater — ‘Couthless Aggression’
With a band name styled in ALL CAPS and “kvlt and tru” spelling, you know you’re going to have some sort of preconceived notion of the Des Moines-based metallers DIEZELEATER (Should it technically be DIEZELDRINKER?) and I won’t tell you mine.
Dizzy Bridges — ‘Spot The Pattern’
Dizzy Bridges’ new album is holistic, with hidden themes and lyrical depth to decode. Up for the challenge and armed only with the hint “Spoon-meets-Carlo Rovelli,” I enveloped myself in the poetry and existential questions of this Iowa-based art-rock quartet.
Early Girl — ‘Do I Even Cross Your Mind’
If every song is a sort of conceptual collage of sound, with its layered instruments and vocal harmonies, then Early Girl’s EP Do I Even Cross Your Mind? feels like both an auditory and physical collage.
Fungal Mass — ‘Psychedelic Poison’
“Fungal Mass,” the first track off Psychedelic Poison and named after the band itself, acts as something of a manifesto. Along with the use of second-person throughout the song, the lyrics further welcome the listener to continue their aural adventure with the group, who describe themselves as “an American Thrash Metal band originating from the small town of Wilton, Iowa.”
Good Cal El — ‘Buried Talents’
Detroit rapper GooD Cal-El echoes the spirituality of these hip-hop greats on his demo tape, Buried Talents. The emcee spent a decade living in Fairfield, Iowa before returning to Detroit. Fairfield, famous as the home of the Maharishi International University, has a religiously diverse population compared to most of the state, and GooD Cal-El carries this universal approach to spirituality in his lyrics.
Ion Alexakis — ‘Broken Glass EP’
It’s crazy to think that hip hop is 50 years old. It’s global, ubiquitous. Including in Iowa. Ion Alexakis — though much younger than hip hop — has been active musically in Iowa City for years, working as a producer, singer and emcee.
This is the fourth time I have reviewed a recording by Iowa City-based vocalist James Tutson. Each of the first three reviews — of 2019’s Make You Free, 2021’s Still and 2022’s Happy — could accurately be described as glowing.
Leaving things never has a natural conclusion. Leaving things means unresolved relationships, passion projects and bucket lists. And maybe, just maybe, that place, or person, or thing left behind is incomplete now.
The freshly imagined Unum starts and ends in essentially the same way. The soundscape for opening track “Tempest” fades in with one note like it’s revving up for a chorus of guitars, while closing track “A Thousand Armies,” after exploding into one last instrumental jam break, has its final guitar chord prolonged, slowed down and fading.
Lady Revel has matured but will never grow old. With their sophomore album Slow Burn, the self-proclaimed Midwestern indie rock band trades the open-hearted urgency of their 2023 debut for something wiser, softer and more emotionally nuanced.
Lex Leto x Christine Burke Ensemble — ‘I Am Here But I Must Go’
Lex Leto has released their highly anticipated second studio album, I am here but I must go, in collaboration with the Christine Burke Ensemble. Beautiful yet jarring, all six tracks are extremely well-ordered and create an enchanting story.
Margaret Driscal — ‘Mommy Planet’
Margaret Driscal, a Quad Cities native, offers up a refreshing look at the apocalypse on Mommy Planet, a folk song cycle that imagines the year 4000, in which late-stage capitalism and climate change have won, leaving surviving humans, robots and Mommy Planet herself passing an acoustic guitar around a campfire for one final night of singing and reflection on everything that’s transpired in the wastelands.
Moscow Puzzles — ‘Vast Space Of The Interior’
Instrumental rock music has always been a little underground. From its origins in surf rock to the many post-rock bands of today, there have been few moments where it has reached the attention of the mainstream music fan, which makes playing in a post-rock band a true labor of love.
Mr Softheart — ‘Reflections On Primitive Action’
In a musical landscape littered with algorithm-choked playlists and brand-safe radio edits, Mr. Softheart comes forward in a defiant whisper. Their latest EP, Reflections On Primitive Action, spins a glittering web of discontent, yearning and sleazy dramatics on this six-track stunner.
Patricia Holly — ‘Satin Sashes’
With a stage name like Patricia Holly, a Christmas album seems to be a no-brainer. Name synergy aside, the Des Moines-based jazz and Americana artist is wholly up to the task of a new holiday effort; her signature vintage sound glides effortlessly between dazzling big-band-style orchestrations and a jazzy, moody piano bar.
Penny Peach — ‘Yearn 2 Cleanse’
Perhaps you’ve read to be cautious when finishing off a peach — that the pit contains trace amounts of cyanide. While not quite true (it contains a compound that the enzymes in your gut turn into the poison), it’s close enough that one should probably refrain from crunching on the pits of stone fruits.
Pit Lord — ‘Massive Grilling Capacity’
There is a persistent conflict in heavy metal: that of silliness versus profound seriousness. Extreme metal sees the most self-serious, philosophical bands win critical favor and masked bands are, again, taking the top of the charts.
Rahlan Kay — ‘An Ode 2 Hip Hop The Boom Bap Letters’
Rahlan Kay’s An Ode 2 Hip Hop: The Boom Bap Letters plays like grown folks’ music. It’s mature, grounded and built on experience. Across the project, Kay shares wisdom and encouragement in a way that’s direct and easy to take in.
River Glen — ‘Poignant Folk Pop’
There’s a certain cyclical nature to the poignancy of folk in popular culture. Turned to most in times of turmoil, folk music is perhaps the most durable music genre as a medium for both protest and comfort.
Quad Cities’ Running Man are the local antithesis to aging out. These guys have been steady putting work into the QC DIY scene, playing in bands like Meth & Goats, Lord Green, Tambourine, The Multiple Cat, Mondo Drag and more.
Salt Fox — ‘Miss You Kyle Love Ya Boys’
In January 2024, the Cedar Falls indie pop trio Salt Fox found themselves heading to Texas for a gig. Right before departing, Kyle, a friend of a friend that the band had never met, showed up to be the roadie for the trip and became the inspiration for the title of the band’s new album.
Simon Cropp — ‘Paperback Dream’
Simon Cropp doesn’t just write songs — he crafts worlds out of the ordinary. On his debut album Paperback Dream, the 28-year-old songwriter invites listeners into his universe of small-town stories, worn highways and quiet revelations.
Sophie Mitchell — ‘What’s Left of Us’
So rarely does an album break free from its auditory confines and spin itself into the most visceral, tender visual scenes, painting an achingly beautiful portrait of being in your 20s. But with Sophie Mitchell’s What’s Left of Us, you see it — all of it.
When Alyx Rush declares, “I need my space,” in the first atmospheric gasps of Flux4D, it would be easy to assume the aforementioned space only speaks to normal human conflict, bound entirely to Earth.
The Shining Realm — ‘Talismandala’
“Welcome to the Hallucination we call Home,” beckons a calm, steady voice in its echoes and layers of slithering percussion and Eastern-influenced stringed instrument tapestries. Where is home? Well, at least for these 40-odd minutes, that home is the Shining Realm — both an Iowa psychedelic supergroup and a state of being.
In Eliza Gilkyson’s “Solitary Singer,” she croons, “He sings his best when nobody’s listening.” Wax Cannon reminds me of that song.
Wolfskill — ‘The Wild Feral Heart’
It may seem counterintuitive to first notice and bask in the silence of an album, when music is quite literally about the sound created. But something genius unfurls from the quiet as Wolfskill & the Wild’s Feral Heart comes into view.
Just Keep Swimming, the latest EP from Des Moines rapper xco$mox (pronounced cosmo) pulls you in almost instantly and rolls right into the end credits so fast, it takes you a moment to realize it’s already over.