Best Punk & Emo Songs of April From 'In Defense of the Genre'

In Defense of the Genre is a column on BrooklynVegan about punk, pop punk, emo, hardcore, post-hardcore, ska-punk, and more, including and often especially the bands and albums and subgenres that weren’t always taken so seriously.

Hey all, Andrew here, I’m still temporarily keeping this column shorter than usual for previously mentioned personal reasons, so less talk, more rock: head below to find my list of the 10 punk, emo, and hardcore songs from April that I’ve been loving the most this past month.

For more, browse our recent editions of Notable Releases for writeups on the new albums from American Football, Prince Daddy & the Hyena, The Saddest Landscape, Portrayal of Guilt, Terror, I Am The Avalanche, Birdlegs (ft. AFI’s Jade Puget), Knumears, Commitment, Bad Operation, Division of Mind, .gif from god, Lip Critic, Teen Suicide, Makthaverskan, Failure, Foo Fighters, At the Gates, Melvins/Napalm Death, and other new albums; and listen to the recent episodes of BV Weekly for look-backs on albums from 1996 like Jimmy Eat World’s Static Prevails , Texas Is The Reason’s Do You Know Who You Are? , Weezer’s Pinkerton , Bikini Kill’s Reject All American , and more.

Pick up punk vinyl in the BV shop, including exclusive variants of some of the upcoming albums whose new singles I highlight below. And for my own personal plug, if you like the writing I bring to this column then you may want to pre-order my upcoming book EMO REVIVAL .

Read on for my list of the 10 best songs from underneath the punk umbrella released this April…

Citizen – “Highs and Lows”

Citizen just keep getting better and the full scope of their ever-shapeshifting catalog just keeps coming more and more into focus. They’re introducing their upcoming sixth album Halcyon Blues with “Highs and Lows,” an anthemic post-hardcore/indie rock hybrid that doesn’t sound like any other band in the world.

If you like this song as much as I do, pre-order our exclusive “Ether” color vinyl variant in the BV shop .

The Menzingers – “Chance Encounters”

The Menzingers are true lifers and “Chance Encounters”–the new single off their upcoming Will Yip-produdced eighth album Everything I Ever Saw –is another great reminder of that. It reminds me a little of The Killers’ “When You Were Young” and a little of Manchester Orchestra, but mainly it’s just The Menzingers being The Menzingers. And it’s a certified banger.

FILM – “Rings True”

Last year, The Starting Line and Algernon Cadwallader both released long-awaited comeback albums (that both made our list of the 50 best punk albums of 2025 ), and now Starting Line vocalist Ken Vasoli and Algernon guitarist Joe Reinhart have revealed that they have a new band together called FILM. They actually formed during the pandemic days with TJ DeBlois from pre-Algernon band Halfway to Holland (and A Life Once Lost) on drums, and they recorded a demo of their album which they decided to release as their actual debut album Permanence after TJ sadly and unexpectedly passed away in 2023 at age 38. The song “Rings True” was named by TJ before his passing, and Ken later wrote the lyrics while he was grieving TJ’s loss. This whole record is made up of the rawest, grittiest punk/post-hardcore of Ken’s fruitful career, and “Rings True” in particular is one of his most emotionally gripping songs to date.

Public Opinion – “Balloon Man Running”

While most of the current hardcore/rock crossover bands look to the ’90s grunge era, the Denver hardcore kids in Public Opinion lean into the 2000s garage rock revival, and the Hives-y “Balloon Man Running” off their upcoming sophomore LP The Curse of Public Opinion is one of their crispest, catchiest songs yet.

We’ve got an exclusive “cherry bomb splash” vinyl variant of this one.

Hew – “Your Version”

Just about a month after Houston emo revival vets football, etc. announced a big 15th anniversary reissue of their 2011 debut album The Draft , guitarist/vocalist Lindsay Minton and bass VI player Mercy Harper announced the existence of a new band, Hew, whose debut album Your Version is coming out July 10 via Tiny Engines, the beloved emo revival-era label that recently started back up again. “Your Version” is cut from a similarly nostalgia-inducing cloth as football, etc., but it also sounds fresh. If you’re into football, etc.’s sparkling indie-emo or that of their ’90s forebears Rainer Maria and Mineral, don’t miss this.

Hey, ily – “Ugly On the Inside (& Out)”

Hey, ily’s third album is underway , and meanwhile they’ve shared two very promising new songs. On “Ugly On the Inside (& Out),” they harden and streamline their sound into a mix of charged-up post-hardcore, bubbly chiptune, and shouty Midwest emo. It’s the most undeniable they’ve ever sounded.

Converge – “Hum of Hurt”

Converge already made a huge return this year with their first album in nine years and their fastest, punkiest album in about two decades, and they’re not slowing down. Their second album of 2026 comes out in June and this one might even be punkier. J Bannon says “to me, it leans more into being an emotional hardcore album,” and lead single/title track “Hum of Hurt” is Converge at their most fiery.

Get ‘Hum of Hurt’ and other Converge records in the BV shop .

Quicksand – “Get To It”

After leaning into their prettiest side on their last album , Quicksand embrace their gnarliest tendencies on these new songs. “Get To It” is a real ripper that almost sounds more like one of Walter Schreifels’ pre-Quicksand bands than Quicksand. And Walter basically said as much: “For this album, I was going back to a lot of my earlier influences about ‘break down the walls’ or ‘start today’… that’s the energy that I wanted to bring to this.”

We’ve got an exclusive vinyl variant of this one as well, pink splatter to be exact.

Evil Island – “Tiger Baby”

The Blood Brothers have put on some chaotic reunion shows over the years, but they haven’t released new music in 20 years. Evil Island–which features Blood Brothers members Johnny Whitney, Cody Votolato and Mark Gajadhar along with Autry Fulbright II (Trail of Dead, OFF!)–just might be the closest we’ve come to new Blood Brothers music in that timespan. Their debut single “Tiger Baby,” which was produced by Burn Piano Island, Burn producer Ross Robinson, captures all the same dance-punky post-hardcore sass that The Blood Brothers captured during their heyday. If this song had come out under the Blood Brothers name, not a single eye would’ve been batted.

Dillinger Four – “Don’t Happy Be Worry”

Dillinger Four released their first song in 18 years, and it sounds like a Dillinger Four song. How cool is that?!

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In an effort to cover as many bands as possible, I try to just do one single per album cycle in these monthly roundups, so catch up on previous months ’ lists for even more:

* Best Songs of March

* Best Songs of February

* Best Songs of January

* Best Songs of December

For even more new songs, listen below or subscribe to our playlist of punk/emo/hardcore/etc songs of 2026:

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Read past and future editions of ‘In Defense of the Genre’ here .

Browse our selection of hand-picked punk vinyl .

PRE-ORDER HERE

_Originally reported by [Brooklyn Vegan](https://www.brooklynvegan.com/in-defense-of-the-genre-best-punk-emo-songs-of-april-4/)._