The battle for #1 over the past month or so has been one of the most interesting in NACC 200 history. We’ve seen two albums trade places for the #1 spot before, but lately, three albums have been battling it out. A player whose time we thought had come and gone turns out not to be over. Bon Iver pushed Japanese Breakfast from the #1 spot four weeks ago, after Japanese Breakfast had spent four weeks at the top. Since then, Japanese Breakfast has returned to #1 before ceding the pole position to Tunde Adebimpe last week. But Japanese Breakfast has now done something no other #1 album on the NACC 200 has even accomplished: rebounding back to #1 a second time! This week, their fourth LP, For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women), out on Dead Oceans, rises back 3-1 and enjoys a sixth non-consecutive week at #1. In doing so, they now hold sole possession of the longest-running chart-topper of 2025. The point spread between #1 and #2 was a mere seven points this week, so it’s anyone’s guess what will happen next week! Watch this space…
Three albums reach the NACC 200 Top 10 this week. The first comes from Ann Arbor native and current Brooklyn resident, Mei Semones. We featured her here two weeks ago when her debut LP, Animaru (Bayonet), was the highest debut on the NACC 200. This week, she makes the biggest move into the top tier, rising from 13-7. This is her first time reaching the Top 10 (Congrats!) after the release of three EPs (one of which was the biggest mover on the chart in April of 2024).
The second new Top 10 entry this week marks the return of beloved indie pop band Stereolab… and it’s a grand return. The English five-piece formed in 1990. Even accounting for a decade-long hiatus from 2009-2019, the band has released eleven studio albums. Their latest, Instant Holograms On Metal Film (Warp/Duophonic), is their first album since their reunion and marks their first new music in 17 years, as their 10th album, 2010s Not Music, was a collection of unreleased material recorded in 2008. Their newest album is this week’s most-added record, collecting more than twice the Top 10 adds of the next most-added album. They also score the highest debut of the year, exploding onto the NACC 200 at #8. It’s the only Top 10 debut in 2025 and the highest since The Cure debuted at #7 last year.
The third and final new entry in the NACC Top 10 comes from Tennessee native Valerie June Hockett, who records simply as Valerie June. Her musical career began in 2000 when she moved to Memphis, playing in Bella Sun and Broken String Collective. Her first solo LP was released in 2006, and she has released five more studio albums since. Her sixth, Owls, Omens And Oracles (Concord) has been putting in the work on the chart, spending the last four weeks inside the Top 15 before finally pushing into the Top 10 this week, up 12-10. The album is also inside the Top 3 at NACC Non-Comm (3-2) & NACC Folk (2-3).
With Stereolab achieving multiple feature accomplishments this week, we have room to highlight one more album. We’ve decided the most noteworthy comes from Oakland, CA-based duo The Tune-Yards. Merrill Garbus & Nate Brenner have been making music together since 2006 and are no strangers to our Weekly NACC Chart Recap. Their last two albums both reached the Top 10 of the NACC 200 in 2018 & 2021. Now they seem poised for a third as their sixth LP, Better Dreaming (4AD), soars from 106-11. It’s the second-biggest climb on the NACC 200 this week and easily the biggest climber into the Top 20.
Wet Leg continues to dominate the NACC Singles chart with “Catch These Fists.” The first song from their second LP, moisturizer, due July 11, enjoys a seventh straight week at #1 and lands inside the Top 20 of the NACC 200 again this week. Only two of the 45 singles that went for adds this week reached the NACC 200 Top 30 Adds Chart. Enjoying an overall Top 10 Add position is the Asheville, NC band Wednesday. Their first new music since their NACC 200 chart-topping LP, Rat Saw God, in 2023, is called “Elderberry Wine.” They recently performed the song on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Also, reaching the NACC 200 Top 30 Adds is a single from They Are Gutting A Body Of Water.
