The punk world of 2023 was vast, diverse, and constantly rewarding. It was a year that saw “fifth wave emo” and the open-minded new generation of hardcore both continuing to leave their marks, with instant-classics coming out of both corners. It’s a year that saw veteran bands come out of hibernation with remarkable comebacks, and a year that saw lifer bands put out career-high albums. In addition to hardcore and emo, it was a year full of great records across screamo, post-hardcore, punk, pop punk, ska-punk, metalcore, indie-punk, and all kinds of other things that fall somewhere in between. All of those subgenres are represented on this list, which ranges from some of the sugariest pop punk to some of the heaviest metalcore to some albums that are more “punk”...
