I didn’t even pretend I was going to do less than 50 songs for this list. There was no way. And y’all made it difficult to narrow it down to even that! I’m gonna end up with a top 100 if I’m not careful.

So, this is totally subjective, of course. There were tons of amazing releases over the past 12 months, and I tried to share them all (though I know I missed a few, or found them too late). But these are the tracks, in no particular order, that grabbed and held my attention without letting go.

View the full playlist HERE.

Note: One band/artist cannot have more than one song included. I tried not to put anything by major label bands/artists on here. Last but not least, no covers!

• The Fifth: “Starlight”
• Wicked Playground: “The Madness”
• Hayden Helms: “Motive Behind the Move”
• LASTRY: “Trick or Treat”
• Kill the Fall: “Let It Breathe”
• Maudlin Strangers: “Silver Stain”
• EarlyRise: “Dance for the Money”
• Nick Nasty: “Lose My YOUth”
• Brett Carlisle: “Runaway”
• Til Fauna: “Whisper”
• Deep as Ocean: “Dark Place”
• Globus, A.D.A.M.: “Redemption (down the line…)”
• No Fly List: “Ghost”
• Towers of Jupiter: “Morsus Frigoris”
• Hooked Like Helen: “It Doesn’t Look So Good For You Now”
• THEHERO: “Blood Money”
• Christopher Ardra: “Losing You”
• Circuit Preacher, Mobiius: “Burn”
• Blackjacket: “Blood Stains”
• Alchemy Within, Skyler Parker: “Blood in the Snow”
• Modern Mimes: “Black Butterflies”
• Major Distortion: “The Lone Sailor”
• High Fade: “Bone to Pick”
• Swim The Current: “Stay”
• Carbonstone: “Echoes”
• Bridges Ablaze: “Numb”
• A Shadow Within: “Event Horizon”
• Feverlust: “i dare you to speak”
• Leonine: “Out of Sight, Out of Mind”
• Young Other: “Change Everything”
• Neon Society: “Heliocentricity”
• Mike’s Dead: “Bestrafe Mich (Punish Me)”
• Black Tourmaline: “Embers”
• Hotel Security: “Manic Attack”
• O Mateus: “Perception”
• Silk Parlor: “Holding Me Up”
• Alibis: “Sell Out”
• Eli Howard & the Greater Good: “Too Broke to Die”
• Mads Krul: “Feeling Alright”
• The Whispering Trees: “Bloodline”
• EverFelt: “River”
• Empty Atlas: “Little Voices”
• Red Eleven: “Path”
• Nothing Like Robots: “all natural”
• Algorhythm: “Deeper”
• Signal the Revolution: “Come to Life”
• The Holy Knives: “Killer”
• Kendall Cage: “Rabbit Hole”
• Nick Palma: “Super Electric”
• Sick Century: “Tidal Wave”