Maynard James Keenan’s shared songlist is a tribute to ‘80s goth

Between the Spotify Wrapped brags and endless end-of-the-year lists that look back at every detail of music in 2025, the tracks Puscifer recently dropped on Instagram are their own special collective treasure trove.

The band’s members, Maynard James Keenan, Carina Round, Mat Mitchell and Gunnar Olsen, shared lists of the songs they listened to while working on their upcoming record, “Normal Isn’t,” which is scheduled for release on February 6. 

These lists don’t currently exist separately or together as a band-created Spotify list. On the band’s Instagram page, they encouraged people to listen to the songs in whatever format and on any platform they prefer. Fans, of course, have since done with the tunes what they wish. You can peruse the comments on the posts for links.

Individually, each list is entirely boss. And combined, a sonic victory.

Gunnar Olsen’s list has some hard edges with “Misfit Love” by Queens of the Stone Age and Viagra Boys’ “Man Made of Meat.” He also gets a little dreamy with a Blonde Redhead track and Fischerspooner’s “Emerge.” The latter, with its driving beats and lyrical repetition of “Uh huh/that’s right,” you can’t help but be motivated.

Like a poker game, Carina Round ‘sees’ Olsen’s “Emerge” and ‘raises’ with “3AM Eternal” by The KLF. Another electronic track that has served to destroy bodies on the dance floor. She has some gorgeous, lush tracks on her rundown, including FKA Twigs’ sultry and sparse “Keep It, Hold It.” The Cocteau Twins’ classic “Wax and Wane” is another one that slips around you like a plush robe. She’s also rocking some Kendrick and Bon Iver.

Mat Mitchell’s list raises a salute to sound. Howard Devoto’s band Magazine, a late ‘70s art rock gem, is featured a couple of times, alongside Throbbing Gristle, a legendary band known for also mixing art and noise. His energetic choices include the never-not-fun “Pump Up the Jam” by Technotronic. A fun surprise in this mix of punk and electronica, and let’s face it, that song could get a boulder moving. Another great one is the song that tells the sonically sexiest version of the outlaws Bonnie and Clyde’s story.

Maynard James Keenan’s list is where you are taken on a trip to the ‘80s goth-dance underground. So much so, you can smell the Aqua Net, picture eyeliner that was lit with a Bic lighter for maximum fluidity, and imagine yourself in a dark club, either swaying on the dance floor or lurking in the shadows. 

You’ve got songs like Bauhaus’s swirly “She’s In Parties,” to their more primal tune “King Volcano,” to other seminal scenemakers like Joy Division. It features a band formed by members of Bauhaus — Tones on Tail. The Cure, Swans, Dead Can Dance; this list is thorough. It takes some twists, too, including a couple of Slint songs, such as “Breadcrumb Trail,” from “Spiderland,” which is, fundamentally, one of the most renowned indie post-hardcore records of all time.

Here are the lists shared on Instagram by Puscifer: