Origami Angel - Feeling Not Found

🥉#3 | S Tier

Gami Gang rejoice! This is Origami Angel’s best outing since GOATed Emo album Somewhere City, and that is an amazing statement given their legendary discography. Whereas on their debut LP they clung to a youthful and somewhat naive sense of hope and optimism despite life's turmoils., on Feeling Not Found, five years later, they present a new sense of cautious optimism that only wisdom and world-weariness can draw out. Replacing their fixation with Math Rock is a penchant for Easycore riffs and breakdowns, the latter of which is particularly creative and ubiquitous on this record. Despite being 14 songs deep, almost every track is prominent and serves a function on the larger experience.

Stay Inside - Ferried Away

#9 | A Tier

Stay Inside eschews the darker Post-Hardcore tones of their previous work in favor of brighter Pop-Punk ones on Ferried Away to magnificent results. This is the perfect Summer Emo album to vibe to on the beach while wallowing over a breakup. The horns add depth to the melodies but also contribute to the isolated vibes. For fans of their older work, there are still some moody and atmospheric tracks, placed perfectly within the album’s immaculate flow. You need to stop reading and start listening! Now!

your arms are my cocoon - death of a rabbit

A Tier

In 2020, YAAMC controversially released their s/t EP, singlehandedly establishing Bedroom Skramz as the genre of the times. Beloved by many, it remains unlistenable for a huge swath of Emo fans. Fast forward four years into the future and YAAMC has released their first proper full-length record. While Bedroom Skramz hasn’t really evolved since it was introduced in 2020, Tyler Odum took the last four years to mature his sound. death of a rabbit is fragile and cathartic with many quiet instruments like acoustic guitars and soft synths juxtaposed against harsher synths and desperate screams. Listening to this album feels like prying into someone’s diary, a document of their private thoughts. And while it almost feels wrong, the near 45-minute runtime evaporates with each listen. Definitely listen to this whether you liked the 2020 s/t or not.

STOMACH BOOK - SOPHOMORE SLUMP CALLITHUMP

A Tier

Stomach Book is a band unafraid of the 5th Wave Emo label. In fact, they thrive on it; there's lots of not-unfounded comparisons to glass beach, though they draw from entirely different wells of inspiration. Stomach Book enjoys the chaos from combining Emo with Noise Rock, which often emanates a dark carnival vibe. Cathartic, poignant, experimental, boisterous, dissonant and utter mayhem is how you can describe this LP, and even that can't fully encapsulate this beast. Recommended for those looking for something different and offbeat.

glass beach - plastic death

A- Tier

This band is no stranger to controversy in the Emo scene; their first album caused a rift between people who categorized it as Emo and those who didn’t so great it almost singlehandedly defined 5th Wave Emo. After five years, J and the gang triumphantly return with their second LP plastic death. On this second full-length, glass beach drops some of the poppiness found on the first glass beach album in favor of more Progressive Rock influences. Some may say this album has even less Emo cred than their original, though I’d argue that this record transcends simple genre conventions. The Mars Volta successfully combined Prog Rock and Post-Hardcore on De-Loused in the Comatorium, Circle Takes the Square did the same with Prog and Screamo on As the Roots Undo, now glass beach has taken the mantle and fused Prog with Emo on plastic death.