An abundance of excellent reissues hit store shelves in 2025. We take a look back at what was looked back upon.
20. The Paragons, On the Beach (Charly) The UK-based reissue imprint Charly has had a presence in the record store bins for decades. It’s great to see that the label is still going strong by putting out records that will either be difficult (if not impossible) to find or insanely pricey to procure in good quality, in an original pressing. For example, there’s this swell slice of rocksteady from The Paragons, which came out way back in 1967 on Duke Reid’s Treasure Isle label. Including the original version of “The Tide is High” and featuring backing from Tommy McCook and The Supersonics, this set is a total delight.
19. Bratmobile, The Real Janelle and Peel Session (Kill Rock Stars) Bratmobile’s beautifully back-to-basics attack could really get under the skin of some listeners back in the day, and that’s likely still the case. Favoring a buzzy and at times kinda surfy feel that was nearer to Beat Happening and Girl Trouble than the blistering fury of others in their Riot Grrl cohort, Bratmobile could still let loose with the rage when it hit them. This combines their ’94 EP and subsequent Peel Session, and the whole still barely breaks 20 minutes.
18. Salem 66, Salt (Don Giovanni) Like a slew of 1980s underground bands, the Boston-based Salem 66 was underrated while active and posthumously neglected but not forgotten. This collection, issued on vinyl and CD, coincides with the digital reissue of what appears to be the band’s entire catalog (this is a model more contemporary reissue programs should employ). Salem 66 caught some occasional guff while extant for being a little too college rock in orientation, but the reality is that their approach was appealingly moody post-punk.
17. Ken McIntyre + Eric Dolphy, Looking Ahead (Craft Recordings) Obviously, the commercial hook here is Eric Dolphy, but please notice that Ken McIntyre’s name is favored size-wise in the cover design. McIntyre, who was later known as Makanda Ken McIntyre, was, like Dolphy, a multi-instrumentalist attracted to the edgier regions of the ’60s-’70s jazz scene. He recorded into the early ’90s as a leader and sideman with Cecil Taylor, Archie Shepp, Bill Dixon, and others, passing in 2001. Taking this album’s title into consideration, Looking Ahead is still a very approachable set, and it’s very deserving of reissue.
16. Trees, Fore & After (Earth Recordings) For those attuned to psychedelic sounds (no matter one’s personal engagement with the appropriate drugs in question), Brit acid-folk is a wonderful genre to plunge into, and Trees, who formed in London in 1969, present as fine an entry point as any. Earth Recordings issued a spectacular Trees box set back in 2020 that’s still available, but not really the best place for a newbie to start. Gal-vox is always a plus when it comes to Brit-folk (acid or no), and courtesy of Celia Humphris, Trees had it in spades.
15. Lisa Germano, Geek the Girl & Inconsiderate Bitch (4AD) It’s wild to consider how this reissue is the vinyl debut of both Geek the Girl and the “Inconsiderate Bitch” EP (or mini album, as it’s been called). Both were released in 1994, making this 30th anniversary edition, which came out in April for Record Store Day, just a smidge late in arriving, but there’s no shade in pointing this out. Across both of these records, Germano swathes her robust songwriting in a tense, dark, and occasionally disturbing sound that has hardly dated at all.
14. Naked Raygun, Basement Screams, Throb Throb, & All Rise (Quarterstick) Six Naked Raygun albums were reissued by Touch and Go back in October, all remastered by Bob Weston, and while albums four, five, and six are certainly worthy of consideration, we’re limiting the picks here to the first three. Debut Basement Screams is actually an EP expanded with eight bonus tracks on side two. It’s a fine kick in the pants, but Throb Throb makes great strides and is the one to get if you can only get one. All Rise delivers sweet gusts of rage that don’t disappoint, however.
13. Pink Anderson, Carolina Blues Man, Volume 1 (Craft Recordings) It’s nice to see some work by the underrated Anderson finally reissued on wax. Long overdue. After cutting a pair of 78s for Columbia in 1928 in duo with Blind Simmie Dooley, Anderson didn’t record again until rediscovery in the mid-’50s. Subsequent to that, he was one of many folk blues guitarists on the scene; his is a warm, accessible sound, but with depth and a little edge to it. Anderson’s versions of well-known songs are inspired, and his variations upon familiar blues motifs broaden the appeal. This set makes clear that Anderson is far more than a Floydian footnote.
12. V/A, All the Young Droids: Junkshop Synth Pop 1978–1985 (Night School) For those thinking this set is going to offer sounds that are “outsider” or otherwise left of center in the manner of “loner” records or private press items, this is not the case, or at least that’s not my impression. The sounds here are tangibly distinct from the polish of big-time, major-label synth pop, however. As is the norm with genre comps, things do get more interestingly strange (but fairly subtly so) as the entries unwind, but there isn’t a dud track in the bunch. Not even close.
11. The Yardbirds, Five Live Yardbirds, For Your Love, & Having a Rave Up with the Yardbirds (Charly) The sheer historical importance of The Yardbirds is undeniable, but the band’s ability to deliver the musical goods is often downplayed, no matter which guitarist is in the lineup. These three albums make a strong case for The Yardbirds’ worthiness as a performance unit. After The Beatles, the Stones, and Dylan, I can’t think of another act that was more influential on the US garage rock explosion. Please note that side two of Having a Rave Up features four tracks from Five Live Yardbirds. But side one of Rave Up is pure sweet gravy.
