PUP are a great recent case for quality over quantity. For most of the year we’ve only had two singles and talk of a (still-untitled) debut album from the band, but those two songs are more than enough to get them on this list. “Lionheart” was a charged pop-punk tune that did the impossible of making you not roll your eyes at the combination of those two words. Balancing that was “Reservoir,” a fiercely bitter and angry criticism on doing nothing but partying every night, which came right in time as the weather started getting colder and the nights shorter. – Miles

FOLLOW: @PupTheBand | Facebook

BUY: PUP is available 10/8 via Royal Mountain Records.