Curious what notable personalities in the scene think was great this year? So is TGEFM! So we reached out to some of our favorite luminaries ranging from musicians, label personnel, and more for their “Best of 2025” lists. Now, listen: TGEFM is not a taskmistress. Contributors can write these out however they want. So if it doesn’t actually look or read like a list… and sometimes it really is just a list with no other observations! Who cares?
Anywhere But This Year
A desperate attempt to mope and cope in a different decade with Vempire
Let’s face it, we are among some pretty bleak current times. Take two of these and join Mike and Lindsey through some simpler moments in human history, let’s go back sixty years for some perspective. **Play along from home! Take a drink every time you find yourself saying, “The more things change…”**
1965 saw some tremendous tides and social unrest in the United States and the rest of the globe, with an increase in recreational drug use and significant military conflict that divided everyone and everything to levels not seen until this moment. This shift was particularly audible as Rubber Soul by The Beatles was cut, marking the very beginning of the already legendary act in adapting their sound and demeanor to the experimental and politically aware growth of the quartet. Across the pond, American artist Andy Warhol would release “Vinyl;” a gritty, shitty Clockwork Orange adaptation (years before Kubrick’s) dripping in the black and white film of Warhol’s New York City studio The Factory, and showcasing a growing sense of apathy that refuses to vacate.
*Vempire connection: The legendary Plack Blague first told us about the movie “Vinyl” during a joint-radio interview. HI RAWS!
1975 marked the end of the Vietnam War with the fall of Saigon, large victories in space exploration, and an colossal advancement in cinematic universes and storytelling. Resulting in a cultural obsession with futuristic fantasies and dystopian expectations. The release of “Death Race 2000“ is a fundamental example of this, telling the tale of David Carradine, (a yet-to-be Rocky) Sylvester Stallone, and three other drivers in customized automobiles, fighting neck-and-neck across a repressive American dictatorship in the year 2000. ’75 also saw the debut of the infamous Alice Cooper with Welcome To My Nightmare, a blend of glam, sex, and rock and roll that no one had dared to attempt. Now for some sort of Delorean segue..
1985 saw an even tighter grip on technological advancements, with the expansion of the personal computer and the moog, among which a group of Norwegian songwriters finally found the vehicle to shine their jumbled “Take On Me” demo to the absolute top. A-ha‘s Hunting High And Low is synthesizer madness and just a perfect release from front to back, gnashing incredible songwriting to unforgettable Linndrum sequences and epic “music videos”… a relatively new term. The limitless hunger fueled a new standard for science fiction horror film the same year, as “Re-Animator” hoisted believable severed heads in the air of a collegiate medical lab, celebrating young adult students across the world, who could get the degree, the kegger, and the meaningless sex. Yeah it took a long time but perhaps humans being attracted to intelligence is a new normal.
*Vempire connection: A-ha’s “Train of Thought” was one of many songs amongst two Spotify “inspo” playlists Lindsey and Mike exchanged during Vempire’s very first song writing sessions.
That was, of course, until the apathy of the 90’s oozed over everything. Entering 1995‘s Party Girl, the very first feature film to premiere on “the internet”… a relatively new term. (Forever crush) Parker Posey plays a rave drug dance party enthusiast, forced to give up the party scene for a job at the New York Public Library in order to repay an arrest bail. ’95 would also see, perhaps the very best release from the southern California punk rock band The Vandals with Live Fast, Diarrea. Layering levels of selfish inside jokes and anti-establishmentism that almost mirrors the childishness and apathy of our current government… fucking crazy world we live in.
The 2000’s saw a rising increase in independent artistry and the power of “the internet” to share expression to one another from virtually anywhere. Welcome to 2005’s Cansei De Ser Sexy by Brazilian rock band CSS, a beautiful production of feminist and party anthems by the woman-fronted group, in both English and Portuguese. The playful nihilism was also front-and-center with the ’05 film adaptation of Douglas Adam’s “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” taking the comedic approach of the fickle human race to a larger screen than ever. Life. Don’t talk to me about life.
*Vempire connection: Check out our “Marvin’s Hitchhiker Mix” of “Programmed For You” on our Bandcamp for some more insight into our obsession with Marvin, the Paranoid Android and Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
Alas, we are reaching our final decade, at least for this exercise anyways, the 2010’s saw the beginning of the mass Jersey Shore-ing of society as we know it, paving the way for stupidity to be defended, and the richest to get richer. This period also saw the real economic aftermath of a severe housing crisis, and the sweep of foreclosures and drowned mortgages are so accurately broken down in 2015‘s “The Big Short,” the comedy gold truly wrote itself. These financial corruptions and uneven distributions of wealth had long ravaged the music business by this point, leaving mindless pop radio alone at the charts and a gaping hole for independent artists. The United Kingdom’s CHVRCHES are a great example of true and honest songwriting, trying the best they can, and dancing the night away as the world burns. The release of Every Open Eye is a spectacular example of that. Perhaps setting a precedent for artists ten years from that point and beyond, one can hope.
Regardless, this is Vempire saying “See you next year, sluts! So long, and thanks for all the fish.”
“We are made up of our longest days
We are falling but not alone
We will take the best parts of ourselves
And make them gold”
– CHVRCHES
| Year | Album | Film |
| 1965 | The Beatles – “Rubber Soul” | “Vinyl” |
| 1975 | Alice Cooper – “Welcome To My Nightmare” | “Death Race 2000” |
| 1985 | A-ha – “Hunting High And Low” | “Re-Animator” |
| 1995 | The Vandals – “Live Fast, Diarrea” | “Party Girl” |
| 2005 | CSS – “Cansei De Ser Sexy” | “The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy” |
| 2015 | CHVRCHES – “Every Open Eye” | “The Big Short” |
Bad Dad (occasionally called Ed) has been on the periphery of the punk and punk-adjacent scene for over twenty years. While many contributors to this site have musical experience and talent, Ed’s musical claim to fame comes from his time in arguably the most punk rock Blockbuster Video district in NJ where he worked alongside members of Blanks 77, Best Hit TV and Brian Fallon. He is more than just an awful father to his 2 daughters, he is also a dreadful husband, a subpar writer, a terrible dresser and has a severe deficiency in all things talent… but hey, at least he’s self-aware, amirite?
Check out the pathetic attempts at photography on his insta at https://www.instagram.com/bad_dad_photography/