END OF THE YEAR REVIEW: Top 10 Indie Rock, Emo, and Punk Albums of 2016

2016 has been an absolutely insane year. From Donald Trump being elected to the slew of amazing musicians dying, I would say we have nearly hit rock bottom as a planet in 2016. Luckily, we have been blessed with having many incredible artists release eclectic and seminal albums that will be stuck in our heads for decades to come. The emo, punk rock, and indie rock genres have had quite the shift in sonic change. A lot of bands who play these styles of music have really hit it home with their style changes. Here are, in my opinion, the Top 10 Indie Rock, Emo, and Punk Albums of 2016:

10. Celebrate – Tiny Moving Parts
Tiny Moving Parts are an emo band who have a unique approach to the genre. They write music which is both impressive and just all around fun to listen to. With their third full-length LP, Celebrate, Tiny Moving Parts deliver a much more accessible album than their last two releases, Pleasant Living and This Couch is Long and Full of Friendship, but still encapsulate the great Tiny Moving Parts sound that always has me screaming their lyrics on long car trips with my best friends. They include lyrics which harken back to previous albums, and the tracks are as melodic, fun, and emotional as ever.

9. Weezer (White Album) – Weezer 
Weezer have had a long a bumpy music career that has been completely characterized by their first two albums, Weezer (Blue Album) and Pinkerton. These records are staples of the 90s, boasting classic tracks like “Say It Ain’t So,” “Undone (The Sweater Song),” and “El Scorcho.” After these two records, Weezer began releasing what I believe is commercial garbage, especially albums like Weezer (Red Album) and Ratitude. White Album is easily their best release since Pinkerton, featuring their catchiest and Weezer-iest tracks to date such as “California Kids,” “LA Girls,” and “Do You Wanna Get High.” If you love Weezer and love catchy indie/alternative rock, give White Album a listen.

8. Nobody Likes a Quitter – All Get Out
Georgia’s All Get Out is back with another loud and catchy release. The Favorite Gentlemen Records favorites have delivered their most powerful and unique collection of tracks on Nobody Likes a Quitter. On their first record, The Season, All Get Out dished a sound like Manchester Orchestra with some Band of Horses-esque southern rock sounds mixed in. All Get Out has remained consistent with this next release, performing compelling tracks with catchy and well-written indie rock riffs.

7. White Hot Moon– Pity Sex
RIP Pity Sex, a band whose approach to shoegaze was incredibly distinct and emotional.Pity Sex released White Hot Moon a couple months prior to announcing their indefinite hiatus. Previous to this release, the band released their first EP Dark World, and first LP, Feast of Love, through emo kingpin label Run for Cover Records. On all both of those releases, and White Hot Moon as well, Pity Sex released music unique to both the shoegaze and emo genres featuring the dual female-male vocals of Britty Drake and Brennan Greaves. Their vocals were set back in the mix, creating a blend of vocals and instrumentals which went along perfectly with their dreary, yet poppy, riffs.

6. Slow Burn– Old Gray

New Hampshire’s own Old Gray, the first of Cam Boucher’s many great projects, is an emo/screamo band derivative of 90s favorites I Hate Myself, Saetia, and American Football. On the band’s sophomore LP Slow Burn, Old Gray delivers a short, yet powerful 20-minute banger. This record is filled with both soft, twinkly emo ballads, blaring screamo tracks with Cam’s high pitched scream, and a dynamic mix of the two, creating an overall exceptional album. For fans of both Old Gray, and the emo and screamo genres as a whole, Slow Burn will not disappoint.

5. Tired of Tomorrow – Nothing
Nothing is a shoegaze band who broke out in 2014 with their debut LP Guilty of Everything, which was met with immense critical acclaim, and also hit #4 on my top 10 best album list of 2014. With Tired of Tomorrow, Nothing have released the perfect follow up to their 2014 masterpiece. This record combines catchy 90s indie rock and modern shoegaze and does so with power and fury.

4. Holy Ghost – Modern Baseball
Ah, Modern Baseball, a band who blew up so fast, and out of nowhere they have played both basements and massive venues in the past three years. Modern Baseball is a consistent band whose three LPs have all been magnificent in their own ways. Holy Ghost has done the band justice by securing their spot as the faces of the emo revival, and is a quite eclectic record to boot. Spanning influences from The Get Up Kids, to Brand New, to The Killers, Holy Ghost serves as Modern Baseball’s most diverse and dynamic album to date.

3. Stage Four – Touché Amoré
Touché Amore has had a long and interesting music career, releasing four great LPs, but Stage Four is by far their best. Stage Four is the ideal emo album because it mixes all aspects of emo perfectly: from its punk side, to its screamo side, to its hardcore side, to its most melodic and emotional side. Stage Four is a poignant and moving album, focusing lyrically on the death of vocalist Jeremy Bolm’s mother to stage four cancer of which the album is aptly named. Featuring vocals from Julien Baker and songs with a new, clean vocal Bolm, Stage Four makes for a rather powerful listening experience.

2. The Dream is Over – PUP
PUP have been a savior of punk with their self-titled 2014 debut and their sophomore album, The Dream is Over. No punk band has been more important and critically acclaimed in this music scene in a long time. With The Dream is Over, PUP expands upon their already catchy and original sound and mixes it with the classic punk rock formula. The album flows together perfectly from the dynamic opener “If This Tour Doesn’t Kill You, I Will,” to the furious hardcore attack on both “DVP” and “Old Wounds,” to the massive, anthemic finale “Pine Point.” PUP belong on any punk fan’s Top 10 list.

1. Cardinal – Pinegrove
Here we are, with the grand finale, #1. Pinegrove released their indie rock magnum opus, Cardinal, earlier this year, and blew the music world’s mind. If you think Modern Baseball have grown a lot, look at Pinegrove’s career. They were playing basements last year, and are now taking the music world by storm. Cardinal is the perfect mix of alternative country, folk, indie rock, emo, and even punk rock sounds to create Pinegrove’s diverse and eclectic sound. There really is nothing like this record, with the masterfully catchy “Old Friends” and “Then Again,” the beautiful and emotional “Cadmium” and “Aphasia,” and the moving closers, “Size of the Moon” and “New Friends.” Pinegrove have created their own sound and image, and manifested it into this seminal debut collection of eight amazing songs.

– Zach Mccollum