This year, Vanita Leo confirmed her rep as the city’s cumbia queen this year. Credit: Instagram / vanitaleomusic
San Antonio musical acts had a prolific year, dropping releases across a wide variety of genres, from cumbia and country to metal and alt-rock.
Some of those releases did an admirable job representing their genres on an international stage, while others mixed those genres into new and exciting musical fusions. Hell, some even seemed to obliterate genre limitations altogether.
As per usual, we tasked our music writers with selecting their favorite albums and EPs of the year and ended up with this list of 10. Since it was tough to narrow down, we even threw in a list of honorable mentions at the end.
Let’s run them down in alphabetical order.
Calcraft — Reborn Through Torture
The brainchild of Jake Wayman and Semir Ozerkan, this death metal outfit named after a famed British executioner made quick headway in the scene, likely due to Ozerkan’s ties to other Texas outfits Oceans of Slumber and Necrofier. Don’t get it twisted, though. As a debut album, Reborn Through Torture holds its own as a solid piece of modern death metal with classic twists. Synths, sampled movie quotes and washes of atmospheric black metal are all part of the album’s slick production. Brutality and beauty dance throughout, just like watching an old-school slasher or giallo movie but in 4K. — Brianna Espinoza
Garrett T. Capps — Life is Strange
San Antonio’s crown prince of Krautrock-infused cosmic country has given us a Petty-esque Americana confessional with his spring EP Life is Strange. This is also Capps’ darkest release to date lyrically, as evidenced by the tracks “Endless Hole,” “I’m Afraid to Go Outside” and “Toxic Serenity.” Even a rollicking fiddle-driven stomper called “Happy Birthday” has the fatalistic refrain “Happy birthday, we’re all gonna die.” But our fave is the title track, which somehow makes all the ennui and paranoia of the album OK with the refrain “Life is strange, but it’s cool.” — Stephanie Koithan
Credit: Courtesy Photo / Donella Drive
Donella Drive — Axon
San Antonio’s resident heavy progressive act Donella Drive continues to surprise listeners with every album release, and this year’s Axon is no different. Left behind is the staccato chord work the band was once known for. Emerging in its place are slow, flange pedal-warped riffs a la Mastodon or Sleep, which melt listeners like ice cream exposed to scorching desert heat. Axon showcases Donella’s technical post-hardcore chops while also turning up the spotlight on the band’s funky and emotionally charged compositions. — BE
The Grasshopper Lies Heavy — Heavy
The members of this veteran art metal-meets-noise rock act weren’t kidding when they named their latest album. Although past Grasshopper releases tended to strike a mix between the band’s bludgeoning, off-kilter riff workouts and atmospheric tracks that explored a quieter kind of chaos, this release is mostly about the aggression. From the opening track “Human Claymore” on, this sucker delivers one rhythmically complex, misanthropic gut punch after another. It’s akin to being run over by a dump truck with one square wheel. But, you know, in a good way. — Sanford Nowlin
Las Hijas de la Madre — Diatribas Punk
Though a late-year release, Las Hijas de la Madre’s Diatribas Punk had time to endear itself, partly owing to the fact that it features five songs released as singles earlier in the year. The feminist, anti-capitalist, queer, Chicanx punk band, helmed by poet and performance artist Amalia Ortiz, is the exact band we need right now. “Dayglo” is the standout album track. Its pop-punk bop is the most fun you’ll ever have while lamenting the ubiquity of microplastics. But other standouts include “Hocicona, Peleonera,” “Too Drunk to Consent” and “Periphery,” all of which, steeped in righteous rage, exemplify Las Hijas’ rare ability to make music about issues of dire import which also happens to be fucking awesome. — James Courtney
Credit: Courtesy Image / Los Juanos
Los Juanos — La Llegada
At four tracks and 15 minutes, the La Llegada EP hits like a Tejano tornado, wild on arrival and not letting up until it’s over. It colors exuberantly and defiantly outside the lines of the golden age Tejano blueprint that serves as a launchpad for Los Juanos. For this first extended release, which follows a slew of stellar singles, producer David Beck did a masterful job of capturing all that’s best about the band. What stands out most, however, is the masterful songwriting, which is pure nuevo-Tejano gold. Right now, “Razón Suficiente,” a big-vocals waltz about existential crisis, is my favorite track, but they take turns — por la neta, every track here is a standout. — JC
Vanita Leo — Cumbiamante
With the EP Cumbiamante, Vanita Leo cemented her rising star status in the most satisfying way, delivering a song set that feels cohesive in both music and sentiment. My favorite local song of the year, Leo’s unstoppable banger “Cumbia Wepa,” isn’t even on this EP, and yet it’s still perfect — that’s the kind of run this cumbia queen is on right now. This one features the hometown love letter “San Antonio,” a stunning bolero, and other fast favorites “Caballito” and “Kais Mal,” both killer cumbias. — JC
Harvey McLaughlin — Peña
Many people best know Harvey Mc-Laughlin for his keyboard contributions to SA bands including the Hickoids and Eddie & The Valiants. Turns out the guy can also uncork darkly funny material of his own that hits like a lost lo-fi record-ing of Warren Zevon fronting Tom Waits’ band circa Bone Machine. Demented blues, off-kilter New Orleans grooves and raw energy pervade in songs such as “A Bag of Shrunken Heads” and “A Dead Body in the Backseat” — all showing off McLaughlin’s chops as both a musician and a storyteller. — SN
Credit: Courtesy Image / Sunjammer
Sunjammer — Sunjammer
It’s appropriate that this country-rock jam band’s fourth album is self-titled, because with this release, it feels like the collective has gelled and truly arrived at its quintessence. This album is all killer, no filler, so we recommend listening to the whole thing straight through, but we’re kind of partial to “Lunch Break,” “Step Outta Line,” “I Wanna Quit” and “Real One.” Homegrown like a pot plant poking in the backyard, this group is somehow supremely chill and rock ‘n’ roll at the same time. Not quite cosmic cowboys, they veer in the indie-Americana direction with more than a microdose of psychedelia thrown in. — SK
Virtual Limbs — Big Time Crime
The biggest crime we see here is that more people don’t know about experimental San Antonio noise and Krautrock duo Virtual Limbs, which released its EP Big Time Crime this spring. Standouts on the release include “Roach Neck,” “Reasonable Grandmother” and the album’s eponymous track. Josh Borchardt lays down harsh, looping guitar effects and monotonous spoken vocals while Mason Griffin Macias absolutely annihilates the drums. — SK
Other 2025 San Antonio favorites:
Tenure — Aspects Of
Mexstep — Tráfico
Street Lamp — Guillotine
Joaquin and the Glowliners — ‘¡Hijole!’ (Single)
New Attractions — Holding Onto You (Single)
Very Old Morris — Last of the Rodeo Clowns
Chavela — s/t
Favorite Son — Juniper
Elnuh — Entropy
West of Rome — Keep It Fly in the Negative Zone
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