Better late than never. With 2025 already far behind us, I am finally taking the time to celebrate the EPs that marked this past year for me. Here are the short but mighty records that left a lasting impression on me.

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#1 Grandmas House Anything for you

A superb EP combining post-punk, grunge and punk rock, carried by the singer’s powerful, rough voice. The four musicians are fully embracing the current post-punk wave with a sound that is entirely their own, combining effective yet sophisticated tracks with more surprising and experimental elements, as in From The Gods, or in the softer Haunt Me. A truly masterful EP that keeps the listener engaged throughout.

#2 Basht Bitter and Twisted

Bitter and Twisted pulses with a raw and explosive musical energy, perfectly complementing the abrasive vocals and sharp, distorted, guitars. The bitterness of the lyrics is amplified by the EP’s sonic intensity. Overall, the EP is very smartly produced, hovering between melodic and catchy parts and more brutal and chaotic ones, keeping the listener fully engaged.

#3 Keo Siren

Siren‘s craftes a very immersive soundscape, finding a delicate balance between airy, reverbed, vocals, and sharper rythms, putting the listener in a dreamlike-ethereal sonic athmosphere. Tracks like Thorn showcase Keo’s ability to blend warmer textures with colder ones, producing a sound that is deep, obsessing and subtly gloomy.

#4 Nerves Iarmhaireacht

Nerves delivers here a sonically rich, cohesive, and dark EP, by blending seamlessly an intense post-punk with more light, atmospheric, shoegaze-inspired layers. Tracks like Don’t let go, merging driving rythms, ethereal vocals, jagged guitar riffs, showcase Nerves’ ability to create an immersive, haunting and urgent atmosphere. The EP is truly fascinating by its darkness

#5 Croíthe A Brief Respite

A Brief Respite unfolds like a luminous and fragile reverie, its feathery instrumentation weaving an immersive shoegaze-like haze, especially in I Heard, I Saw. The EP’s defining feature is its soft, broken vocals, which drift above the music, that contrasts with weightier, more tensed moments, such as in The Lovers. This delicate balance gives the EP its deeply personal character, transforming it in an evocative, uncertain, journey in an atmosphere of fleeting peace and constant vulnerability.

#6 The Youth Play Someday, Forever

The Youth Play’s Someday, Forever channels the intensity of Joy Division, wrapping its post-punk roots in a modern, atmospheric haze, with hypnotic bass grooves. Like Joy Division’s iconic sound, the EP balances melancholic urgency with a stark, almost cinematic sense of space, particularly in tracks like Maybe This Was All For Us or A Fair Life, where the vocals cut through layers of reverb and rhythmic precision. Yet The Youth Play infuses this timeless post-punk template with a contemporary edge, creating a sound that feels both nostalgic and fresh.

#7 The Cutter The Cutter EP

The Cutter EP merges groovy rock energy with the dark side of post-punk, all filtered through the sleek prism of new wave. Its hypnotic bass lines, obsessive synths and sharp guitar riffs evoke the dark, danceable intensity of Bambara, combining raw urgency with infectious rhythms. While rooted in post-punk’s grit, it polishes the genre’s rough edges with new wave’s melodic precision, making it feel melancholic, intimate and contemporary.

#8 Send Me Love Letters This Won’t Cure Your Depression

Send Me Love Letters, This Won’t Cure My Depression is a raw, emotionally charged blend of post-punk and indie rock, where jagged guitar riffs and driving rhythms collide with vulnerable, confessional lyrics. The EP’s title alone sets the tone, balancing desperation and dark humor, mirroring the music, with soaring yet fractured melodies, sometimes dark, sometimes groovy. It’s a record that doesn’t shy away from discomfort, but rather embraces it as fuel for its sonic and lyrical fire, delivered with an energy that makes the pain feel almost exhilarating.

#9 Problem Patterns Boring Songs For Boring People

Problem Patterns’ Boring Songs for Boring People is a fiery, unapologetic blast of punk energy and riot grrrl defiance, packing post-punk’s jagged edges with the raw, confrontational spirit of the DIY feminist punk scene. The EP’s title might mock monotony, but its sound is anything but monotonous, with snarling vocals, pummeling rhythms, and razor-sharp guitar riffs. With caustic lyrics and unfiltered rage, Boring Songs For Boring People takes aim at stupid, archaic rules, turning rebellion into something urgent, infectious, and impossible to ignore.

#10 Naya Mö Dealing With Ghosts

Naya Mö’s Dealing With Ghosts is a luminous blend of pop-rock warmth, shoegaze haze, and soft-rock tenderness, crafting a sound that feels both nostalgic and effortlessly modern. The album wraps listeners in dreamy, reverb-drenched melodies and gentle, rolling rhythms, evoking the sun-soaked melancholy of bands like Slowdive or The Sundays, with a fresher, more intimate sound, marked by bedroom pop influences.