Best of 2025 - EPs
Our Best of 2025 coverage continues today with a look at our favourite EPs released this year. Every team member has chosen a handful of short-form releases they loved and we compiled them all together for you to browse. The team ended up picking 24 different EPs from coast to coast that feature a wide-range sounds and styles. We hope this list will help you get to know our volunteers a little better and perhaps find a gem you may have missed this past year. Enjoy sifting through the Cups N Cakes favourite EPs of 2025.
Jeff MacCallum
The Bobby Tenderloin Universe - A Fistful of Metal
Idea: Take classic metal tunes and turn them into the intro themes for spaghetti westerns.
Outcome: A genius concept that transformed classics like “Cowboys From Hell” and “Fear Of The Dark” into more fitting versions than the originals.
Jared Jackel's Bad Vibrations - Bad Nauseam
One of my favourite hidden gems in the Great White North. Outsider-folk, psychedelic-pop, and a touch of twang in the hands of a masterful songwriter.
Big Evil Rat - Self Titled
Blowing minds in Alberta, Big Evil Rat finally gave us something to buy at the merch table after watching their double-drummer live show that is garage-rock revival at its finest.
NON ULTRAS - BULWARK EP
Members of two former (locally) influential Lethbridge bands put something together greater than the sum of their parts. Perhaps the most exciting new post-punk band.
Cut Cult - First Three
Holy Fuck!!! It’s Holy Fuck, the rock edition! I just loved this three track EP from members of that iconic band. A bit dance, a bit rock, a whole lot of fun.
Simone Atenea Medina Polo
Ribbon Skirt - PENSACOLA
Following up their acclaimed debut album Bite Down, Ribbon Skirt delivers a short EP that quenches our thirst for more while bolstering their iconic sound.
kimmortal - sunniest of days
Chill beats and slick flows define this release. Perfect for summer walks, you will find yourself grooving through your day.
Dazey - This is all i am i guess
The new line up has outgrown the act’s early lo-fi recordings. This new EP makes Dazey into an act to look out for.
King of Foxes - Hall of Shame
King of Foxes’ sound has shifted into the vein of sad girl indie and midwestern pop punk so effectively. Really switches the act’s formula.
Chinese Medicine - The Trans Agenda
This sophomore EP really puts Chinese Medicine on the map with its intense vocal delivery and energetic punk composition. Angst and uncompromising all the way.
Craig Martell
Eamon McGrath - Lust Never Sleeps Vol 6
Five more thoughtful, beautiful songs from a man who has written hundreds of thoughtful, beautiful songs.
sKiN - Alspach Shipka
Noisy, catchy guitar and tense vocals mesh with groovy sax and laid back drums. sKiN are special and unique. Impossible not to love.
fishlips - Root Canal
I’m reminded of seeing shows as teenager. Young bands teaching me why music was important. The bands I saw back then weren’t as good as fishlips though.
Chris Lammiman
Molten Lava - Moon Worship
Considering it’s only a couple of guys, the bass and drums two-piece outfit Molten Lava is a big sound. The three song Moon Worship EP is a great snapshot into the fuzzed out power of a couple of dudes who just straight up rip.
Rise Carmine - Come In Closer
Defying easy categorization and drawing on avant influences while still staying catchy, this debut EP highlights the Toronto psych-rock outfit Rise Carmine as an act to watch.
Ribbon Skirt - PENSACOLA
A welcome addendum to the highly acclaimed full-length Bite Down, Ribbon Skirt’s PENSACOLA is a weighty and emotive offering from one of 2025’s most standout groups.
The Bobby Tenderloin Universe - A Fistful Of Metal
Something out of another era, The Bobby Tenderloin Universe serves up gravelly-voiced outlaw country both heartfelt and evocative.
Em Moore
VVOMB - HISS
There are few records as cathartic as VVOMB’s debut EP HISS. With viscerally visual lyrics, dynamic vocals, and heavy instrumentation, the Montreal post-hardcore quartet embraces the abyss to find true healing.
Shiv and the Carvers - Tell Me You Love Me Again
Whenever you need a burst of energy turn Toronto punk rockers Shiv and the Carvers’ EP Tell Me You Love Me Again up as loud as it’ll go. It is impossible to be still or be quiet while listening to these four tracks and they are guaranteed to lift your spirits.
Chinese Medicine - The Trans Agenda
Chinese Medicine are a force to be reckoned with on The Trans Agenda. The EP opens with “Gospel”, one of the most impactful punk songs of the year, and only gains steam from there, proving beyond a doubt that the Toronto quartet are one of the most vital bands active today.
Dazey - This is all I am I guess,
Charlottetown-based emo trio Dazey strike a perfect balance of vulnerability and bite on their debut EP This is all I am I guess, with captivating melodies, lyrics that run the gamut of emotions, and riffs for days.
dogwhistle - textile waste
Toronto-based dogwhistle come out of the gate swinging on their debut EP textile waste. The post-hardcore quintet will have you opening up a pit in no time with superbly textured noise, groovily heavy riffs, and powerful vocals.
Louise Jaunet
Pierre Kwenders - Tears on the Dancefloor
Congolese-born Pierre Kwenders delivers an ode to the club and Douk Saga’s sagacité, merging Afro-centric club beats, raw emotion, and numerous guests into a vibrant communal soundtrack.
OLGA - Void Filler
The Toronto-based band OLGA plays bleak electronic, darkwave and industrial sounds with a real badass attitude, channeling the sexy danger of nightlife and the chemical resistance of PVC flesh.
The Fleeting Light of Love and Grief - L’Étang
The Montreal-based duo broadened their krautrock and Turkish folk world to enter the realms of improvisation, ambient and noise, transforming electronic sounds into a peaceful cybernetic forest.
Fernie - Hopeless Dreams
With a few piano notes, delicate string arrangements, and impressive falsetto prowess, our fallen angel Fernie created a raw diamond of soulful storytelling about a butterfly-effect moment.
Tea Fannie
Kimmortal - sunniest of days
Ironically titled and perfectly fitting, this EP delivers Kimmortal’s heavy-hitting lyrics making you pause, and reflect on your place in today’s world. Unforgettable on the sunniest of days.
Rebel Grrlz - We’re Gonna Eat Your Soul
This young rising punk band is everything your inner teen angst needs, with relatable lyrics for any age, this EP was something I had on regular rotation this year.
No bandcamp link or website. https://www.instagram.com/rebelgrrrlzband/
Melodna - Oops!
When you need that reminder that you are the baddest mother ***** on the planet, press play on Oops! And get reminded that you can indeed, conquer the world unapologetically.
No bandcamp, https://melodnasworld.com/
