Happy New Year, everybody.

Overall, 2018 was confusing, dark and downright stressful. But every Monday I brightened up the place by interviewing an awesome band and rocking out to their music—you’re very welcome.

Out of the hundreds of bands I chatted with this year, these are my top fifteen favorite. Check the list out below (in order from oldest to most recent) and head to The Music Meetup page to listen to all the episodes and choose your own favorites.

1. Thelma & The Sleaze Will Make You Scared, Horny And Empowered

Powerful & dangerous rock ‘n’ roll.

2. Frankie & The Witch Fingers Experiment With The Dark Side & Psychedelia

Exploring the good and evil side of music.

3. Screaming Females Stay Fierce After a Decade Together

BTRtoday chats with NJ-based rock/metal group about their lengthy run as a band and their new album ‘All At Once.’

4. The Medium Are Unsinkable

The Nashville band plays flowery melodies with intricate harmonies and choruses that’ll stay in your head like the Titanic at the bottom of the ocean.

5. Big White Take on America With ‘Street Talk’

The Australian quintet’s newest album was shaped by their time traveling on the wide-open roads of America.

6. Meet The Goth Queen of Panic & Mayhem Sloppy Jane (possibly NSFW)

Haley Dahl talks religion, celibacy and the epic NSFW tale that is her newest album ‘Willow.’

7. Shannon Shaw Talks Going Solo And Overcoming Self-Doubt

She chats with us about her ups and downs of going solo, working with Dan Auerbach and becoming a godmother.

8. Guantanamo Baywatch Are Today’s Ultimate Surf Rockers

For over a decade this surf rock trio has been spearheading a beach punk movement from Portland to all over the world.

9. Backstage with Promiseland at The Voidz Residency

Visits from Surfbort, matching sunglasses and chats about hypnosis, past lives and music.

10. Mother Feather Bleeds New Music

With their debut LP under their belt, Mother Feather has locked themselves up to bleed out new tunes.

11. SadGirl Combines Romantic Ballads & Rock ‘n’ Roll

The L.A. group was just signed to Suicide Squeeze and are already embracing the doo-wop tradition of keeping love in music.

12. Alex White On 10 Years Of White Mystery

The brother-sister rock ’n’ roll duo turns ten this year and hasn’t slowed down even once.

13. Retail Talks Punk, Death, Shitty Jobs & Cats

The NYC punkers are all about moshing with friends, loving their cat and screaming fast songs about dying.

14. Miss World Takes A Selfie & Makes An Album

The London-born musician just released her debut album, which she describes as one big elaborate selfie.

15. Surfbort Was Born To Scream & Dance

Thrashy and trashy NYC punkers just want to be your friend and for everybody to love each other.