Hundred-word Reviews for December 2025: Rock

I get lots of music sent my way. And even after I weed out the ones that don’t move me enough to write about ‘em, I’m left with a surfeit, a plethora, a panoply, a veritable cornucopia of great new music. But there’s only so many hours in a day, so now and then I put together these quick-take reviews of the ones I haven’t been able to make time or space to cover in greater detail. Don’t let the brevity fool you: all are worth your time, says I.

Star Collector – Everything Must Go!
Big guitars, bigger beats, whip-smart drumming, fiery and melodic bass and gleefully rocking vocal work characterize Everything Must Go!, the latest from Star Collector. This is wonderfully exuberant power pop with arrangements that swing for the fences without being needlessly arty. The energy level is cranked to eleven, and the band sounds like they’re having the time of their lives.As fine as their previous releases have been, to these ears Everything Must Go! captures the Vancouver foursome at the height of their powers. If you’re ambivalent about the appeal of powerpop, start here and you’ll be won over. Get it!

Bobby Conn – Bobby’s Place
The NYC and Chicago no-wave scenes introduced some weird and wonderful artists; Bobby Conn is one of those. His latest takes that avant garde approach and applies it to more conventionally accessible musical ideas. The result has one foot in the bizarre and outré, the other firmly planted in catchy, tuneful and beat-heavy rock. This album brilliantly melds disparate styles. Bobby’s Place deals in psychedelia and noise, at times suggesting Suicide (the band, not the action). The dark textures of “Wretched” show that Conn delivers krautrocky subtlety as skillfully as he can churn out the dancetronica of “All for You.”

Chris Stamey – Anything is Possible
One of popular music’s renaissance men, Chris Stamey is equally at home creating compelling and original Americana, modern-day candidates for the Great American Songbook, power pop, alt-rock and who-knows-what-else. One might even say that in his capable musical hands, anything is possible. That phrase gives his latest its title. With like-minded guests like the Lemon Twigs and Marshall Crenshaw, he turns in another winning set of classics. “I’d Be Lost Without You” suggests his take on Pet Sounds-era Beach Boys. Stamey’s knowing way with a melody informs every one of the album’s 11 songs (including an actual Pet Sounds cover).

Highfield – Highfield
Spiky, roaring and forceful rock out of Philadelphia, Highfield shine on this self-released album (which might or might not actually be titled A New Relationship to Sound). The opening title track showcases the band’s assets: a watertight rhythm section, precise buzzsaw guitar, and spirited, shouted/sun vocals. A noisy blast of lead guitar announces that these guys know how to mix muscle with melody. Some tracks are bracingly short, but they make their points. One of the “longer” (sic) tracks, “Don’t You Worry Your Pretty Little Head” is more Sell Out Who-like than The Jam could ever have hoped to be.

Henri Hebert – Get It While It’s Hot
For listeners whose taste in piano rock leans toward Jerry Lee Lewis and early-to-mid period Elton John, Get it While It’s Hot is worth checking out. Hebert may hail from Europe (he’s U.S.-based these days) but his sound draws form the American rock ‘n’ roll (not rock) tradition. While the album has none of the in-the-red overdriven sonic aesthetics of Nick Curran’s classic Reform School Girls, Hebert’s album measures up to its sass, swagger and rocking-out vibe. When he tickles (rather than pounds) those ivories, Henri Hebert proves that he’s a commanding instrumentalist… just one who insists on rocking hard.