Consider this a bonus addendum to my previous post! As I continue to reflect on the last year in music and culture, I can't help but realize that there has been a category of superlatives that has been severely deprived of discussion.
White Boy of the Year
Not quite a formal award, but certainly not an unfamiliar practice, participating in this trend (but really only within the sphere of indie-adjacent music) seems justified! Also, something about this is vaguely reminiscent of the content of 2000s teen and celebrity magazines- which is part of a broader cultural (and economic) preference for nostalgia. I know no one is actually clicking on these links, but I promise this article is worth the read- especially if you're like me and frequently enjoy the tasteful palette of 2008 Obama-era indie music (wait- is the generational recognition of a destabilizing and unsatisfactory present driving me to write this? am I clinging to a past I barely knew? thats for me to figure out later I suppose).
Anyways, here are my contenders:
Kai Slater- Few other 21 year old musicians have released 3 acclaimed albums in one year (one of them a solid 18 songs). Did I mention he makes an impressive zine?
Hayden Pedigo- You know you're in for a good story when google calls them a "musician, politician, [and] performance artist". I won't even try to compete with the brilliant Rolling Stone profile that says of his 2018 city council campaign- "If David Lynch were in charge of a political campaign, it might look something like Pedigo's". His 2025 accomplishments include a riveting instrumental guitar album, I'll Be Waving As You Drive Away, and in October, released In the Earth Again, a surprising collaboration with Chat Pile, which was a whole lot better than I could have possibly expected it to be.
Djo/Joe Keery- 4ish albums (The Crux, The Crux Deluxe, Iron, Iron Deluxe), a featuring role in the final season of an insanely popular TV show, and additional appearances as both Stephen Malkmus ("Pavements" is an underrated meta-comedy type biopic that was lowkey one of my favorite movies of the year) and George Washington's dentist??? I'd like to see Stefon from those Weekend Update skits try to come up with a more dazzling resume than that.
MJ Lenderman- Did Manning Fireworks come out last year? Yes! Was he an instrumental part in two amazing releases- Snocaps s/t and Wednesday's Bleeds? Also yes!! At this point, he seems to be solidly cemented in the geist (i hate using that word) as a solo act and for his numerous collaborations (like a Phoebe Bridgers type, you know?), which is quite the feat.
Nate Amos- Half of Water From Your Eyes, and all of This is Lorelei, Amos is responsible for one of my favorite albums of 2025, It's a Beautiful Place (not forgetting about you Rachel Brown). Amos also released Holo Boy this year, a revised collection of songs from his earlier Bandcamp days. Although I greatly enjoyed both of these albums, I think Amos' staying power is in his songwriting, and coverability, if you will. Referred to as a 'songwriter's songwriter', I've seen Waxahatchee, MJ Lenderman, Snail Mail, and Cameron Winter all contribute to the ever-growing canon of impeccable covers this year. Well, technically some of those covers came out in 2024, but if Rolling Stone is counting MJ's cover of 'Dancing in the Club' as their second best song of the year, anything goes at this point, right?
Cameron Winter- Music journalism is alive and well and I know this because of all of the beautiful musings I have read about Mr. Winter and his songs. Something about the vehement rise of Geese and Winter's solo work is also reminiscent of the early 2000s indie music scene, which, as we've discussed, is certainly in demand.
AND THE WINNER IS....
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