Emo 2025 Tier List: B Tier (Cont)
Tiny Voices - Reasons I Won’t Change (B Tier)
Late-Revival-Core? I don't think that's a thing, but these folks from Wisconsin embody the sound perfectly on their debut full-length album. The release is a celebration of their near five-year journey as a band, featuring several contemporary artists from the scene, repping bands like EMWAY? and Hot Mulligan; Tiny Voices owes the latter band a great deal, despite owning their particular spin on things with several excellent tracks.
Weatherbox - Compass (B Tier)
Compass is the first proper release from zany Indie / Emo / Alternative artist Weatherbox in over a decade, heralded by two random singles that came out of nowhere last year. The band's tenure ran parallel to the Emo Revival, even if they weren't all that similar sonically. Frontman Brian Warren is well known for two things by longtime fans of his songwriting and that's his minute-to-minute unpredictability and remarkable consistency. These two outstanding qualities are ever-present on this EP, marking a proper return to form for the local San Diego legends.
Athletics - What Makes You Think This Is How It All Ends? (B Tier)
Athletics make their mighty return to the scene after over a decade since their last proper release. Living up to the lofty standards set by Who You Are Is Not Enough was never going to be easy, as it is a standout album in the canon of Post-Rock-infused Emo, but I'm pleased to report the band's talents are back on full display. Even though it lacks some of the powerhouse crescendos found on their aforementioned cult classic, you will still find gorgeous soundscapes with sorrow sprawled all across.
shallow water blackout - Outside of Salton City (B Tier)
Melancholy distilled to its purest elements, these heroes of the Inland Empire finally released their debut LP after a year of chipping away at it. The various elements, from chamber instruments to the melodica to intimate acoustic passages, are flourishes that emphasize the somberness on display. Once these songwriters figure out how to take this sound to its natural evolution and culmination, they’ll be remembered as heroes of Emo everywhere.
Swimming - Old (B Tier)
Swimming is part of a surprisingly active and interconnected DIY community in St. John’s, at the edge of the Earth in Canada. On Old, they play their own brand of Emo Revival with tons of Math Rock influence and a Pop-Punk edge that keeps the momentum going, even through well-executed quiet-loud switches. Everything is played and produced crisply and tightly, with nothing on here crossing the threshold into obnoxious or overwrought territory.
Cash Only Tony’s - demo (B Tier)
Putting the Emo back into Emotional Hardcore, these fine folk whipped up quite a doozy on this debut demo. Agonizing Screamo with a fantastic guitar tone, the dynamics on display are varied and impressive. They are occasionally interspersed by softer, acoustic tracks that shed pure vulnerability. Overall, I'm looking forward to what the future has in store for them.
Comfort Object - Pinnacle Hill (B Tier)
Pinnacle Hill is a Thursday-tinted Queercore / Emocore spectacle by debuting New York-based Comfort Object with other old school Punk influences mixed in a blender. The production is purposely garage-level, there to capture the imperfections of the recordings as an artistic choice. The vocals are powerful and shouty, the guitar noisy and dissonant; the basslines are punchy and the drums are boisterous. This album represents a certain aspect of Fifth Wave Emo - queerer, grungier and more vulnerable than its predecessors.
Collars - Half Life (B Tier)
From the desert outskirts of LA comes Collars, a criminally overlooked Emo Revival Revival band. These boys have all the bells and whistles one would expect from a genre staple, including gigantic dual guitars, group vocals, the requisite quiet-loud dynamics and, of course, mathy twinkles. Nothing on here would be out of place on a 2014-2016 Emo Revival classic, for better and for worse. Despite wearing their influences on their sleeves, this is an absolute must-listen if you dig the description.
Amateur Standing - Amateur Standing (B Tier)
Penfold is perhaps the best “lesser-known” band of Second Wave Emo; their influence has been quiet yet steady, and judging by their recent comeback, this generation is the one ready to fully embrace their sound. Amateur Standing's debut s/t EP isn't Penfold worship or anything, but it does harken back to the mid-late 90s, with Post-Hardcore-informed Emo with tons of distortion and noisiness. They exemplify this new generation of artists interested in Midwest Emo without the excessive Kinsellaisms.
Texas 3000 - Weird Dreams (B Tier)
Midwest Emo by way of Tokyo, Weird Dreams is the most appropriate title that could’ve been given to this experimental gem. There is no "Shimokita-kei guitar rock" to speak of on this record, and the Midwest Emo leans much closer to the old school than the Revival stuff. In a way, this music reaches into strange parts of the human psyche, and not just due to the covert psychedelia; the mixed “Japanenglish” that’s sung is spruced up by overt sentimentalism.
my point of you - this is my first heist (B Tier)
this is my first heist is Midwest Tweemo heavily inspired by the likes of Everyone Asked About You and Johnny Foreigner, releasing during this current rise of Twee-inspired Emo. The dual feminine-masculine vocals can best be described as “cutesy,” but that isn't a slight against them; they rest comfortably atop the active, noodly twinkles of the guitar. If any of this description piques your interest, have a listen! The EP breezes by.
Rosemary Nods Upon the Grave - EP1 (B Tier)
Hailing from the burgeoning Emo state of Georgia (which we will revisit later on), Rosemary Nods Upon the Grave represents the caliber of Skramz artists that are casually releasing music these days, leading to me labeling 2025 as The Year of Screamo. Another “Return to the Golden Age” with this debut EP, sounding like they could’ve opened up for The Saddest Landscape back in the mid-00s. Look out for the proficient use of melody, dissonance and aggression from these songs.
Two Winters Only - Two Winters Only (B Tier)
This self-titled debut EP is among the most promising of the entire year! Two Winters Only rides along with modern contemporaries on the wave inspired by the creative pinnacle of Screamo's history, the 2002-2005 era, heavy on experimentation, melody, dissonance and pure sentimentality. They pair this with the raw and intimate vocals you would expect in the 2020s and gritty basement production. If they can get the recordings to be punchier, they will be a force to reckon with.
FinalBossFight! - How Do U Have Friend (B Tier)
FinalBossFight! is a standout Pop-Punk/Emo combo from Flint, Michigan. This band has been operating under the radar since Covid, with each of their releases getting very little coverage. On How Do U Have Friends, FBF continue the safe and consistent routine of mixing these genres, with dynamic song structures, catchy melodies and fantastic mid-tempo energy on full display through this album’s 30+ minute runtime.
That’s it for today! We’re going to dip into the B+ releases tomorrow, and that’s where these start to get really intriguing!
