Here at Met Radio, we’re closing out 2025 with a new round of year-end favourites! To cap off the year, our volunteers and staff are sharing their personal top-ten lists, highlighting the music, media, and gems that defined the past twelve months. New lists to explore and enjoy will be dropping on the Met Radio website every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday this December!
Hey everyone! I’m Megan, Met Radio’s music director. I’ve been handling all the music intake at the station and helping to fill our station’s music library with tracks that all you listeners have been (hopefully) enjoying.
I also host two weekly radio shows, Worms of the Week and the Man Cave. I’ve been producing The Man Cave for over three years now, where I showcase all my favourite current and classic emo bangers. For this list, however, I figured I’d keep it current and share some of my favourite emo releases from the past year.
These albums are all amazing and it was difficult to rank them, so I’ve ordered them based on how much I listened to them, how much I like the overall vibe, and what my heart desired. If you enjoy this list and want to hear more yapping about emo music and the amazing local Toronto emo scene, tune in to the man cave live every Friday at 4 pm!
- Swimming – Old – February 21, 2025
This St. John’s, NL-based band has been a staple on my show for a while, so I was very excited for new music from them this year. This record was my companion through lots of travels and is easily my favourite release of theirs to date. There are so many catchy songs I couldn’t get enough of this year, especially CDE.
- Blame it on the Weather – Kerosene Heights – August 15, 2025
This is just a perfect modern midwest emo album. This band was one of my fave discoveries of the year, and this album is full of all my favourite things: lyrics full of yearning, painful-sounding screamo vocal moments, and of course, the classic midwest emo riffs I can’t get enough of. I predict they’re gonna have a big moment in 2026, especially since they’re touring with other midwest emo greats like TRSH and Saturdays at Your Place. Catch them at Pouzza fest this year if you can!
- Ben Quad – Wisher – Nov 14, 2025
This was my most unexpected fave of the year. This record was the perfect reinvention of Ben Quad’s sound, with lots of heavy moments similar to their past release Epherma, but also still drawing from the classic midwest emo riffs and melancholy energy that drew fans in on I’m Scared That’s All There Is. The evolution of this band is one to watch, and I am so excited to see them have even more success in the future.
- SO SAD – Heavy Sweater – March 14 2025
Easily one of my favourite Toronto bands, and probably the band I played the most across my two radio shows this year. This album has the perfect amount of power-pop, emo, indie punk, and Weezer energy while still having its own unique charm. The lyrics are cheeky and catchy, and the fun energy across the record is so addictive. If you listen to this I guarantee that So Sad or Real Good Guy will get stuck in your head forever. Let’s make them famous so I stop being their biggest fan in 2026.
- Kicksie – Big Sucker – June 6, 2025
Probably one of the more chill albums on this list, but I am still giving it the emo treatment because it’s so fire. Another one of my faves from Toronto, this record has been circling my brain since it came out. Combining R&B, emo, and indie rock into one perfect vibe, this album was the soundtrack to my summer returning to Toronto. It’s always a good time seeing Kicksie, so definitely make sure they stay on your radar in 2026, and check out this fun session we did over the summer from August 14.
- Michael Cera Palin – We Could Be Brave – March 7, 2025
Huge win for the furries. As a longtime MCP fan, I was so excited to finally have new music from them this year, and this album did not disappoint. This record is a great progression of their sound, steering away from the classic whiny midwest emo sound to something more evolved, calculated, and well-rounded, without losing their original charm. Don’t worry, this record is still full of intricate guitars and harsher vocals, plus ending with a nearly 12-minute-long closing track, what more could you need? I was able to do a session with them over the summer for the man cave, which you can check out here! The episode is from Oct 17.
- Greet Death – Die In Love – June 27, 2025
I have been waiting on a new Greet Death album for as long as I’ve been alive. The past few years I have become obsessed with their whole discography. There’s something about their slow, gloomy builds and depressive tone that keeps me coming back, especially when it gets dark at 4 pm. They tried something new with this record that totally paid off, being that they didn’t want to just write another depressive record that becomes so death-obsessed, but instead wrote a bunch of love songs in their signature style. Of course, death finds its way into these songs too, but not without an added layer of romance.
- Legss – Unreal – September 12, 2025
Admittedly, this album is lowkey not emo, but it’s so good I had to add it, and there’s a few songs that are more of a spoken word vibe, which is like basically La Dispute, and the lyrics are so gorgeous and melancholy, and they kind of scream on Forgot to Answer, which makes it count as emo. Basically if I like it then it’s emo don’t debate me. This is a British band I saw play on a boat in Bristol and haven’t been able to stop thinking about since. 909, See No Evil, and Nothing Would Make Me Happier have taken over every playlist I’ve made since this album came out. Keep this band on your radar because I predict they will have a big moment soon, especially if I keep playing this album to death on both my shows.
- PUP – Who Will Look After The Dogs – May 2, 2025
This pick was a no-brainer. PUP can do no wrong and they are perfect. I love a band where the frontman is so tiny and sings such high- energy angry songs. I saw them so many times this year and it still wasn’t enough. A top 10 life experience is being in the UK and hearing the crowd screaming DVP with such intensity like guys you don’t even really get it. And lowkey if one door closes, there might be no other doors. Nothing much to say about this one I just love this band, and I better be in that damn 40-dollar fan zine.
- Arm’s Length – There’s A Whole World Out There – May 16, 2025
Emo banjo – need I say more? Okay, I’ll say more – this album came out at the best and worst time possible, the final weeks of my semester abroad before I had to move back to Toronto. Though Tough Love will forever be my favourite arm’s length song, it’s been put up to some tough competition with this record. Coming back to Toronto and immediately going to this album release show a week later only solidified my love for this record and this band.This is my album of the year easily. It was insanely cathartic and sweet to be reunited with all my concert friends and return to this scene that I had missed so dearly. Plus, no one did a backflip during the sad part of morning person, so that’s a bonus.