The PoYB Monthly Playlist: October 2025

I was against dropping any new blog posts on Thursday after the Film Club post, just to give that thing space for discussion. But discussion's been sparse lately on Thursdays (maybe Howard the Duck fixed that), and I also kinda like the idea of this playlist hitting right before the (or my, or my for now) weekend. So here are twelve songs that I discovered and/or enjoyed in the past month. Let them color in your weekend.

October 2025

1. "Taxes" by Geese — I try to avoid choosing the best songs from any given album for this playlist, but sometimes it's unavoidable. I'm still not completely sold on Geese (and even less so after that solo album from its lead singer last year), but a hit is a hit. In between picking the songs and writing these quick blurbs, I heard "Taxes" on XPN. I'm not going outside my lane here.

2. "The Hunter" by Albert King — This isn't the first time I recognized a lyric from a Led Zeppelin song. It's bound to happen as I move through some older blues and soul and R&B and rock 'n' roll songs, since Zep did a great job plundering most of it. I'm here because Booker T. and the M.G.s are the backing band, but it was nice to make that Led Zeppelin connection too.

3. "Tumbleweeding" by Telethon — Some of Telethon's stabs at humor are Cheekface-esque, and that makes me ponder how and why Telethon can get by while bands like Cheekface attempt Cake and TMBG and are crucified (on this blog) for it. I think it's because Telethon never goes full nerd rock. They just take lazy swipes at it as they rush in the opposite pop-punk direction.

4. "Brotherly Hate" by Hayley Williams — Fuck, dude, this new Hayley Williams album is paying dividends. No bad songs! Not even the one that interpolates Bloodhound Gang (you know the one)! And certainly not this Philly-alluding slow-burner of a song that seriously heats up in the bridge.

5. "Max's Kansas City" by Brian Dunne — I love Steven Hyden and always will, but man, for the past couple years, his big recommendations have been hitting at only maybe a 40% clip for me. I liked his rec Clams Casino by Brian Dunne, very Mellencamp-lite (in a good way). But I think "Max's Kansas City" is gonna be the only one that sticks with me here. So it goes.

6. "How Bad Do U Want Me" by Lady Gaga — Just as a warning, when this song eventually makes the Top Ten for PoYB's Best Songs of 2025 list, I will make a joke, and it will go something like this: "Taylor Swift had some great successes this year, but the best Taylor Swift song of 2025 was undoubtedly 'How Bad Do U Want Me' by Lady Gaga." FUCK I love this goddamn song.

7. "Honestly" by White Reaper — See, this is what I was talking about. What are those? Synths or keyboard hits or something? This is the weird-ass shit that I want from White Reaper. I hope they get even weirder next time instead of retreating yet again back to the middle for another album.

8. "Movin' On Up" by Primal Scream — I know I already labeled this song as a wild outlier on the Blind Spots album, but divorced of context, it really is a great song. Some of the best that otherwise mid-tier lame-ass British '90s rock has to offer.

9. "Pick Up That Knife" by Wednesday — I warned Pam that her overplaying "Eldeberry Wine" was gonna fuck up my experiences with Bleeds, and I was right, but man, "Pick Up That Knife" is correcting the issue a lot quicker than I anticipated.

10. "Lake of Fire" by Meat Puppets — Great song. I know I'm skeptical of the man sometimes, but yo, Kurt Cobain was actually kind of a genius when it came to finding this idiosyncratic underground shit and elevating it to popularity that it never, ever would've seen without his network boost. 

11. "Playing Classics" by Water from Your Eyes — Pretty much the same blurb as the Geese one above, except that I don't have to worry about Water from Your Eyes being overrated, and I don't have to contend with XPN boomers who are gonna overrate it, and I actually like this song better than any Geese song I've ever heard. That piano riff fucking goes!!!

12. "Rockestra Theme" by Wings — I've heard the story a couple times already in our budding friendship, but I'll have to get my pal Stef to write on the blog at some point about how she met Paul McCartney. In honor of that anecdote, she recommended Wings' final album to me recently, and it's the most Paul McCartney shit I've ever heard (in a good way, obviously). Here's what I assume is the intro music to a fake movie? Is that what this is? I don't care, it fucking rocks. Makes me wonder how many hundreds of deep cuts more this dude's got for me. I doubt I'll ever meet the man in person, but I'm sticking with him through the music in my earbuds.