Well, it’s 2025 and after a hiatus through December due to health issues of one kind or another and the festive season which took its toll we kick off a new year with an epic extended episode. With a whole bunch of new songs from new albums as well as a few welcome classics there’s much to be getting on with.

We kick off in style with a track from the mighty Lucifer Star Machine and their recent single ‘Baby Outlaw’ lifted from their last album ‘Satanic Age’. We did record an episode in December but sadly it got eaten by my dog or that’s my excuse. The track list will forever be a secret and the exclusive songs we had will forever be locked in the RPM vault, a secret never to be revealed. We did however offer a track for the sadly departed frontman Bjørn Muller who passed away recently and it felt right to play a track on this episode to remember the fallen Rocker so ‘Too Cool For You’ from Backstreet Girls is track number two on this episode.

Next up we play a single lifted from the excellent Frankie And The Studs album that was reviewed last week by Gerald, and follow that up with one from Carol Hodge and her new album ‘ Effortless Insecurity’. Another album from 2024 that really impressed me was from the band Rowdy so it seems fair to drop ‘Just The Tip’ from that debut album into the playlist for this episode. another day another fine record released by the always impressive indie label Drunken Sailor Records who also released some of the best albums of 2024 and I’m sure will uncover some of the best in 2025 (long may it continue).

Now we always say on the show how there aren’t enough bands that reach us from countries that always have healthy live shows like Spain, Italy and Germany so it’s always great when bands like Idol Lips, or Smalltown Tigers break through onto our radar and joining these are Weirdolls also from Italy with a great song ‘Reputations’ from their ‘Almost Unbreakable Toys’ album that has one of the finest album artwork of the year no question great power pop from Italy.

Former Trash Brat Tony Romeo & The Creampies are up next with a track from their I-94 Records single ‘Autumn Song’ quickly followed by an excellent track from the brand new CJ Wildheart album ‘Slots’, ‘Another Big Mistake’. The guy is on fire on the new album and the good news is he’s already done the follow up so if it’s half as good as Slots then 2025 is shaping up to be a fantastic year for fans of CJs.

Some new music for 2025 next in the shape of MC-16 and the opening track ‘Shoot Em Up’ lifted off their debut album ‘Machine Code’ which is released on Feb 14th.

A band I’ve long admired outta Milwaukee – Indonesian Junk and the lead vocalist is a guy called Daniel James not to be confused with the Leeds forward it’s not a side hustle honest, anyway, Daniel has an EP about to come out this month called ‘Darkness Over This Town’ so it’s only right we air that title track from The Daniel James Gang for your listening pleasure.

Another album that came out in 2024 on Ghost Highway Records was The Volcanics. These Australian rockers delivered an excellent album in the shape of ‘Volatile World’ in 2024, The band are heading to Spain in Feb for some live shows and it’s a shame they aren’t heading further afield for some live action but until they do you can head over to Ghost Highway and pick up the record, I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

Next up on the show we head to Frankfurt then Denmark for some punk rock in the capable hands of The Pill and their track ‘Hollywood Smile’ quickly followed by Big Mess and this week’s cover being Lou Reed’s ‘Hangin Round’ from their excellent album ‘Cleaning Up With…’ delivering some superb power pop.

Another German band this time in the shape of Nazi Dogs who have just or about to release a new single so still out there doing what they do on Wanda Records and Deadbeat Records. Another recent release from Drunken Sailor Records is the 7″ from Patrol who do a fine line in NWOBHM mixed with some power pop and punk rock a combo that we heartily back here at RPM Online and as our good friend Johnny noted they remind him (quite rightly) of Norways Razorbats who also do this style very well. The track is ‘Cold Blood’ and is a chance for you do put on your studded wristbands and high tops and bang that mullet like there’s nobody watching you solo in your mam’s bedroom mirror.

LA still delivers some fine music and this next record is from the excellent Teenage Frames and a track of their last October release ‘Everything Leads To This’ entitled ‘Fighting The World’, it’s always good to hear Teenage Frames and this is top-notch as you’d expect.

Hands down one of the best-named bands currently kicking up a fuss is The Mary TylerWhores and the new album ‘Savage World’ is apt in 2025 so it seemed like a good time to play the title track ‘Savage World’.

Newport South Wales has a rich history of underground music and always delivering the goods, from TJs to Le Pub its a town that has a rich history from Nirvana to Joe Strummer a place that’s had the Misfits and recently hosted sick of it all and Split Dogs so with locals garage punks Deathtraps dropping their latest EP it’s the perfect time to air a track from ‘The Lust For Likes’ and keep the ferocious level of quality going.

It can’t always be crash, bang, wallop there has to come a point where you give your ears and heart a chance to recalibrate and calm down so it seemed like a great opportunity to play a track from Richard Davies & The Dissidents who as it happens have a new album out next month entitled ‘High Times And Misdemeanours’ and the album opens with the excellent slice of Rock n Roll named ‘Keep Your Fire Burning’. An album that is heading for release is the brand new one from The Hellacopters which is always going to be a much-anticipated record so before the release and the RPM review why not whet the appetite with ‘Wrong Face On’ the first song we’ve aired from ‘Overdriver’ due for release this month.

Keeping it ScandiRock, A recent album that was reviewed on RPM was that of Spiders who released the album ‘Sharp Objects’ which was the first album I reviewed in 2025 so it seems right to offer up the opening trace off it called ‘Rock n Roll Band’ I’m sure you’ll agree it’s soaked in classic 70s Glam rock with a modern twist.

I recently had a conversation about the band The Disconnects from New Jersey and whatever happened to frontman Ryan and it tied in with a conversation about how our phones are listening to our conversations which led me to believe this theory because the same day I was sent to a youtube channel from a guy calling himself Ryan Kidd the human B Side and low and behold My old pal from Jersey was on my TV screen airing classic punk n power pop b sides so I reached out and reconnected with him to find that he has since released an album on his own label and a couple of demos as well as a brand new album that will hopefully see the light of day in 2025 and we can get him on the podcast with his knowledge of a genre we love. so it has to be a track from his 2023 demo tape ‘Degenerate from Ryan Kidd.

The penultimate song on this Episode is from Switzerland I believe and a long overdue return from The Peacocks who released a brand new long player in November of 2024 and this is the lead track entitled ‘Nowhere’.

Closing this mammoth episode is a new song from the forthcoming album on Spaghetty Town Records from Mala Vista entitled ‘Don’t Owe You’. the band hails from the NYC and does punk rock n roll 77-style and do it very well. Being on Spaghetty Town is like a seal of quality assurance so it should need no introduction but closing this first episode of 2025 on a high is a must so Mala Vista has that HONOUR. So lets keep it a ‘Fun Time’ and let these NYC punks rock us outta here, so until next time keep it RPM Online.