Kevin Bronson on December 12th, 2025

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Greatest Hits … This Week (Vol. 368) marks our final weekly mix of 2025.

Stay tuned for our annual playlist of favorite songs, Popular With Us 2025: The Buzz Bands LA 101, coming early next week.

In the meantime, check out our 49th weekly playlist (covering 1,468 songs, by our count) of the year. This one features music from GUV, Sego, Thebandfriday, Stanley Simmons, Illuminati Hotties, Fake Dad, Devon Thompson, WARFIELD, Auditorium, KennyHoopla, Los Retros, Active Decay, Cayden Wemple, Sam Slick and more.

Past playlists, with liner notes, here..

Anita Mills contributed to this roundup.

■ GUV, “Warmer Than Gold” — GUV is the solo vehicle for singer-songwriter-guitarist Ben Cook, who previously released music as Young Guv and Young Governor. He grew up in Canada and London and played for 14 years with Canadian hardcore greats Fucked Up. His solo material has mined Britpop, shoegaze and Madchester rock, and you can hear all those influences in the first two singles from his album “Warmer Than Gold,” out Jan. 30 via Run for Cover Records. Live Jan. 29 at Three Clubs and Feb. 13 at the Constellation Room.

■ Sego, “Never Enuf” — Art-punk agitants Sego have a new album, but you’ll only find “Never Enuf” on streaming services. “Direct to DVD,” which features some new songs mixed with unreleased songs written between album cycles over the years, is available only on CD and is packaged in repurposed DVD keep cases.

■ Devon Thompson, “Hunger” — “The concept [for her new single ‘Hunger’] was born after spending a night with people who make you feel even more alone than when you’re by yourself,” Devon Thompson says, and, yeah, we get that. It’s the fifth single Thompson has released since last year’s EP, “Skin.” Here’s the video.

■ Cayden Wemple, “Great Lakes” (feat. Runnner) — Last month brought the release of “Roommates,” the latest EP from San Luis Obispo-bred singer-songwriter Cayden Wemple, four songs (including “It’s Always Sunny”) of tasteful folk and emotional tenterhooks. Noah Weinman (aka Runnner) collaborates on “Great Lakes.”

■ Stanley Simmons, “Body Down” — You recognize these two surnames, right? Stanley Simmons is merger of Evan Stanley and Nick Simmons, whose fathers played in KISS and whose debut single, “Body Down,” is a big ol’ classic rock bearhug, with its reverence for vocal harmonies and tasteful guitar licks. The duo have a full-length in the works, with Rob Cavallo producing.

■ Fake Dad, “Science Fiction” — The follow-up to “Demonology,” “Science Fiction” is the latest single from L.A.-via-Brooklyn duo Fake Dad, who will release a new EP, “Sci-Fi Fantasy,” next year.

■ Thebandfriday, “Pink Lemonade” — “Pink Lemonade” finishes off a remarkable run of relases in 2025 from Thebandfriday (the Agoura Hills-bred duo of Finn Morris and Adin Eshaghpour), who dropped their sophomore EP, “Homecoming,” in August.

■ Begging Dog, “Common Place” — Jeff Kleinman is known for his work in the dream-pop band Choir Boy, but the solo project Begging Dog reveals a different side. Begging Dog’s “DEMO 1,” released today by Dais Records, showcases the songwriter’s penchant for urgent, narrative and unembellished punk-rock. Feed your inner beast.

■ Illuminati Hotties, “Washing Away” — Sarah Tudzin’s Illuminati Hotties wrap a huge year with a girl group-like charmer, “Washing Away.” Live tonight at Makeout Music.

■ KennyHoopla, “Birthday Card//” — KennyHoopla has released a deluxe edition of his EP “Conditions of an Orphan//,” which featured the single “Orphan//” and came out in September. We still don’t understand all the slashes but are completely down with the 2000s-styled post-punk-derived rock.

■ WARFIELD, “No Party” — Justin Warfield (of She Wants Revenge) has released “Deathrock Devotionals,” a full-length that combines the pulsing post-punk tracks from his Vols. 1 and 2 EPs. “No Party” chews through the geography of Los Angeles in search of a good time.

■ Sylvia Black, “Long Gone Gardens” — the follow-up to “Talking in Tongues,” “Long Gone Gardens” is the latest single from dark-pop artist Sylvia Black’s forthcoming album “Shadowtime,” out Jan. 16.

■ Dream Bodies, “Omens” — “Omens” the latest slab of gloomy-pop from Steven Fleet’s solo project, Dream Bodies, who’ve released an EP and four singles this year. Calling all goths.

■ Los Retros, “Without You” — Mauri Tapia, aka Los Retros, is going retro with his own catalogue. Today brought the release of “Early Days (2016-2019),” a collection of his previously unreleased songs from his teenage years, before his breakout single “Someone to Spend Time With” and EP “Retrospect.”

■ Auditorium, “Kill This Year” — Beyond its formidable lyrical content and typically grandiose vocals (again evidencing Spencer Berger’s formative years as a member of the Metropolitan Opera’s Children’s Chorus), Auditorium’s new single “Kill This Year” is yet another of the project’s DIY flexes. Yes, it’s a one-man production, including the background choruses, or as we like to think of them, the many layers of Spencer Berger.

■ Dacelynn, “Monsoon” — Dacelynn’s new EP of billowing pop, “Nine Lives,” is out today.

■ Sam Slick, “Life’s Too Short” — Folk-rocker and all-around raconteur Sam Slick has released two full-lengths, and a third, “After the Dream, Before the Memories” (produced by Adam Lasus), is coming out in March. As for “Life’s Too Short,” ain’t it the truth.

■ Veronicavon, “Drowning in a Daydraem” — Today brought the release of “Icecream,” the sophomore album from dream-pop duo Veronicavon (Xuan Nguyen and Chris Hackman). See the equally airy album opener “Dipped.”

■ Active Decay, “Lies” — Active Decay, the duo of Brooke Prince and (Lolipop Records honcho) Wyatt Blair have released their second full-length, “Duality.” If retro synth-pop is your bop, this is your stop.

■ Jordan Maye, “The Puppeteer” (feat. Rebecca Soul) — After releasing her debut album “Creation of Jordan Maye” last year, Jordan Maye returns with the rock ballad “The Puppeteer,” featuring some soaring background vocals from Rebecca Soul. Live Dec. 13 at the Roguelike Tavern in Burbank, Jan. 13 at WFNM at the Hotel Ziggy and Jan. 22 at the Sardine in San Pedro.

■ Lily Kershaw, “We Sold the House” — Remarkably prolific songwriter Lily Kershaw returns with another melancholic gem, “We Sold the House.”

■ Foliage, “Time of Life” — Foliage (San Bernardino’s Manual Joseph Walker) puts a little twinkle in your holiday season with “Time of Life,” which appears on the new EP, “Gift.”

■ Grandson, “Masters of War” — Earlier this year, Jordan Benjamin released his third album as Grandson, “Inertia,” a visceral record full of heavy riffs and equally weighty messages. Among the bonus tracks on the deluxe version of the release is a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Masters of War” — timely, considering the headlines pf the day. We thought it an appropriate playlist-ender.