Welcome to Janky Fresh Friday- the busiest day of the week for artists and labels to drop newly released music. Check in every Friday for a fresh squeeze.
AFI: Silver Bleeds The Black Sun… (released October 3, 2025): Run For Cover Records
AFI has recently been in music news more than they have been in decades. A major aspect of this is frontman Davey Havok drastically changing his physical appearance recently, looking like he’d be more likely to front an indie folk group than a goth or hardcore or alternative band. Are those AFI‘s genres? It’s hard to pin them down to a specific sound, as they are constantly evolving and reinventing themselves throughout their career.
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Today’s release of “Silver Bleeds The Black Sun…” marks the beginning of a new era for them, shifting much more into synthesizer based goth music and darkwave rather than their roots as a rock band. This shouldn’t be a surprise considering Havok’s side-projects Blaqk Audio and Dreamcar were hinting that he’s wanted to head in this direction for a long time. Even AFI’s last couple of albums were heavily incorporating goth and industrial influences like Echo And The Bunnymen and Killing Joke; this is just the final evolution.
Don’t miss AFI live this November:
11/5 – SOMA San Diego
Their recent signing to Run For Cover records is also indicative of the band’s desire to experiment in new territories without record label pressure. The label is home to many hardcore-adjacent bands like Turnover and Fiddlehead, and in a way this is a return to form for AFI. Even in their hardcore days, they’ve always been a more experimental, theatric, and emotional band than their contemporaries. If Run To Cover records were around in the 1990’s, AFI would have perfectly matched the label’s focus on creating a space to hosts punk rock ethics for alternative bands that don’t fit the scene entirely.
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Now the question that I’m sure many of you are asking is whether or not AFI needs to head in this direction as well, or if they pulled it off. Neither opinion really matters, as this is Davey’s band and his confidence about this change can be felt throughout the whole album. That bold confidence alone makes their mission a success. The opening track The Bird of Prey start with rapid acoustic guitars that slowly build into a grand orchestral piece, reminding me of early 90’s Swans where that group was experimenting with possibly becoming a goth or new-wave band as well.
This passion for 80’s industrial can be felt in the next track Behind The Clock as well, with the bassline resembling Kerosene by Big Black if it were put into a more vulnerable and atmospheric setting while holding the same intensity. While the band is heavily wearing their influences on their sleeves throughout this album, each track does sound distinctly AFI still. The next track Holy Visions opens with a synth groove that almost sounds like I Ran by A Flock Of Seagulls oddly enough, but Havok’s emotional vocals bring a punk rock rawness to the track that cannot be felt in most 80’s new wave or goth songs. AFI is creating a completely new sound here with how authentic they naturally sound, even with all of these obvious and unapologetic influences that can be felt throughout the album.
With an album this ambitious in entering a new sound, not every song is going to hit. The track Marguerite specifically reminds me of a parody goth song that would be heard in that South Park episode where Stan joins the goth kids. AFI can get away with it somehow, just by how determined they are in entering this direction. Parody is the most sincere form of flattery after all, and AFI obviously has a deep passion for the genres they are diving into. The last track Nooneunderground really mixes things up by having a noisey and chaotic death rock sound to it, saving the most punk rock moment of the whole album for its finale.
If you’re a punk or alt-rock purist that has been following AFI over the years, this album might not appeal to you. But if you are that person, AFI probably wouldn’t have appealed to you in the 90’s either with how different they were than the other hardcore punk bands at the time. This newest release “Silver Bleeds The Black Sun…” is perfectly on brand for them; I personally believe we will be seeing much more of this new AFI in the future and they will only master these sounds even more as they grow into them.
Snõõper: Worldwide (released October 3, 2025): Third Man Records
Snõõper just released their second album “Worldwide” and it’s an absolute explosion of quirky and unconventional freak-punk from start to finish. The term “egg punk” is often used to describe their Devo-influenced sound and lo-fi production. While I think it’s a dumb term, the music itself is very whimsical and the randomness of it does reflect how hard the genre is to describe. It’s music that you would imagine is created by the background dancers of Time Warp in The Rocky Horror Picture Show with their bizarre quasi-futuristic outfits. Ignoring all labels and genres, this album absolutely rips and could appeal to punks or indie-rock fans with how eclectic their sound is. It’s silly and fast, fun music to jump around to, and who could be against that?
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Regardless of how silly the music is, this is a band to be taken seriously and we will be seeing them on many 2025 AOTY lists with just how perfectly structured its chaos is. While touring as the opener for The Hives the past couple of months, Snõõper have been playing side-shows in smaller venues that look like they were absolute chaos. For Los Angeles, they played a set at the newly opened DIY venue Oblivion that we at JankySmooth are kicking ourselves for not attending. With how much attention Snõõper is getting and with how perfect this album is at mastering the egg-punk genre, this could have been the last chance to see them in a DIY venue like this.
One of the most notable aspects of Snõõper and egg-punk in general is their emphasis on silly and sometimes nonsensical lyrics, and Snõõper absolutely nails the mission here with lines like “I’ve got the keys to the company car. Come with me and we’ll go real far. Let’s take it to Planet Fitness, just so everyone can witness” on Company Car and “Dogs don’t bark when I’m with you” on Guard Dog. Like I said earlier, it’s cute and quirky music that might make punk purists gag with how whimsical and poppy it is. For real punk rockers however, it’s the kind of carefree rock n’ roll rebellion that the genre has always been about.
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That’s kind of the point however, providing a more lighthearted environment for everybody to jump in the mosh pit without the fear of violence. Riot Grrrl band Bratmobile resembles this egg-punk sound while also pre-dating it, and their focus was providing an atmosphere for women to go apeshit at punk shows while feeling safe. While that socio-political focus isn’t at the forefront of Snõõper’s music, the music does feel like it has a similar mission of inclusivity that they succeed in perfectly.
One of the most batshit insane moments on this Snõõper album is when they break into a cover of Come Together by The Beatles, a feat that would be impossible for most punk bands; Snõõper somehow pulls off the cover with the speed you would find in a punk song while maintaining the same experimentation of the original, a combination that would only really work within their egg-punk sound.
Bringing things back a bit, the faster songs on the album like Worldwide and Guard Dog do remind me of early AFI songs, specifically He Who Laughs Last with its rapid speed and bouncy energy. Both bands experiment with genres that would alienate punk and hardcore purists, but create their own distinct energy that sounds completely different due to their unwillingness to play by the rules.
Similarly to AFI’s release today, Snõõper’s album ends with the most intense and punk rock moment of the entire experience. The track Subdivison is double the length of any other tracks on the album and does not let down as the epic finale it wants to be. The beginning of the track actually has a new-wave sound to it, always returning to its groovy danceable bassline throughout the first half before absolutely erupting into a quagmire of distorted guitars and noise at the end. Again like AFI’s release, it’s a hell of a way to end the album and really cements the whole release as an unforgettable experience.
October 3, 2025 is an incredible day for punk rockers who are looking to step outside their comfort zone and experiment with new sounds. We at JankySmooth personally recommend having a crazy and unpredictable Friday night with the Snõõper release, and diving into AFI’s new sound while relaxing on Saturday or Sunday. Both releases are going to surprise you throughout, and that’s what all new music should accomplish in doing.
Words by Danny Ryan
