Ranked: Every Knocked Loose Album Ever

With their appearance at Outbreak just around the corner, here’s our thoughts on every Knocked Loose album and EP - in detail, because it's hard to stop talking about the biggest band in hardcore!

5) A Tear in the Fabric of Life - EP, 2021

Something has to go to the bottom of this list, and the process of elimination has placed Tear in the Fabric of Life here this time. As the full precursor to You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To, the artistry present in the animated film for the EP is phenomenal; the portrayal of grief through its skeletal beings as a never ending journey of horrors and derealisation. The scene of the roots taking hold within Forced to Stay is as haunting as it is beautiful (the whole section is a highlight of the animation), and as the lead begins to morph into the chaos they were running from, the moth motif is both poignant and crawls upon the skin while the final shot of the castle is artwork we wish was on a poster. Mangnus Jonsson deserves all his flowers for Tear in the Fabric of Life as Bryan Garris deserves his for seeing this concept.

As for the tracks: God Knows is a masterclass in the Knocked Loose breakdown, from the opening instrumental three act structure to “Loathing/caused by the weight of the/ terror” scratching the itch in the hardcore brain. The death wails at the end deserve a shoutout too, notwithstanding the chaos that is the final minute afterwards, and this track has also made for some of the best merch they’ve made (personal opinion). Return to Passion manages to over deliver within its minute and a bit runtime with that small low guitar/bell ride riff at its beginning before launching into the frankly dirty breakdown that makes up the rest of its bars.

So why last? As mentioned, it's not for the shortcomings of A Tear in the Fabric of Life but for the success and place in the hearts of other projects that other outputs have within the fanbase. Tear in the Fabric of Life set off the spark for what was to come in their artistry rather than ignited a flame, though the importance of this EP to the Knocked Loose evolution cannot be understated.

Highlight Tracks: God Knows, Return to Passion

4) Laugh Tracks - LP, 2016

It is hard to rank Laugh Tracks as the worst of the three Knocked Loose LPs because it infers it is lesser than its successors - if this ranking was based on personal opinion it would be much higher. As the album that started it all, each of its tracks will rank in top 10s and 5s in a given crowd of Knocked Loose fans, with singles such as Billy No Mates (featuring Counterparts) being a personal highlight of their commercial offerings.

As for album tracks, fan favourite Oblivion’s Peak is an instant standout; its theme of enacting revenge on the fraternity that rejected a friend of the group due to his being gay is a comfort to the queer hardcore scene and contains honest reflections on the odds that a want for community can have within a hostile society, while the track itself is almost sultry in the way it swings and gradually increases its chaos. The breakdown refrain “When it’s your time to be judged, you’ll get what you f**king deserve” is a cathartic bar also and cannot be forgotten.

Blood Will Have Blood is a bouncy number with a melody that manages to soothe the soul despite the genre it is contained in, then album closer Laugh Tracks is a testimony to the themes of isolation and lack of understanding that characterise this project. The use of the laugh tracks at the end of this album perfectly embody the layer of humour and attempts at charm that oft bookend the display of emotions that Laugh Tracks performs, and this track overall is a perfect closer to the project.

The only issue with this album truly, is that the fade outs at the end of ‘Last Words’, ‘No Thanks’ and ‘A Fetish’ all fade out as if they’re the last track, which takes some of the steam out of the project on a cover to cover. But apart from this Laugh Tracks is the darling of the Knocked Loose fan community, but the outer ripples of other projects inch them ahead for the purposes of this ranking.

Highlight tracks: Oblivion’s Peak, Blood Will Have Blood, Laugh Tracks

3) Pop Culture - EP, 2014

Knocked Loose’s first EP has a special place in the hearts of those who have been listening to the quintet for a while, and Out of Rage is no exception. Potential emanates from their debut, with the smooth transitions between tracks and its scathingly passionate lyrics about their dissatisfaction with the society presented to them.

Separate and Small Victories still hold up as some of the best in the discography; Separate a tirade against the fake with its unfiltered insults perfectly complimenting the punk energy that early Knocked Loose emanated; Small Victories a bouncy yet angsty track of self depreciation that performs a comfort in feeling unlikable that will evolve later as the project concepts do. All my Friends needs not be mentioned with its rerecording in the Different Shade of Blue era and its well earned spot in every tour setlist since this EP’s release, with this fan favourite passing the lips of many when asked what the band's best song is. It is a raw and genuine testament to loneliness and how it seeps into every emotion atop an endlessly hard soundscape which has cemented this song as a pointer for getting into hardcore. This said, of course there are some teething issues that get ironed out down the line. The old gag about Garris’ scream feels fairer in hindsight, and the lack of development in his scream shows in the reliance for spoken word at spots around this project.

Nevertheless, Pop Culture is a warm fire of an EP that stands the test of time in terms of its quality and the relevance of its themes.

Highlight Tracks: Small Victories, Separate, All my Friends (“Don’t put it past me babygirl/ I’m a wildcard” has a wince of cringe in it that you have to forgive a band in its teens and early 20s for every time you hear it, but Small Victories is still a great song).

2) You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To - LP, 2024

The most recent album and movement of the Kentuckians has launched them into the stratosphere, turning them from a sometimes-debated part of the hardcore furniture to the genre's posterboy for those outside of the scene. Suffocate with fellow scene-exploder Poppy bagged them their first Grammy nomination for best metal single as well as the now infamous Jimmy Kimmel performance (we all know where we were the first time we saw the pig squeal). As for the album itself, it is seminal work. Piece by Piece explodes into the ears on the back of track opener Thirst, not breaking for a second as it hops between the punk influenced hardcore sound that embodies Knocked Loose and pull-no-punches breakdowns that make no place safe from a fan throwing a spin kick just from it playing in their headphones.

Don’t Reach for Me is the personal favourite out of the singles from this album, with that looped note that rings out throughout and eerily mellow second bridge compared to the driving rest of the song. “Do you hate me yet/Do you hate me now?” Anyone who hates any of you is a fool. As for the second half of You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To, ‘Take Me Home’ is up there with the standout tracks. The riff that makes up the base of the track is haunting, and this offering has that passive and de-realised edge within its second verse and 20th century sample in its outro compounding it as a nod to Looses Knocked passed.’The Calm That Keeps you Awake’ deserves its flowers here too both for the drumwork at the beginning and that iconic swinging breakdown making up its last minute - there are no other words apart from immense.

The music videos for this project (so far, let’s hope) also add the air of maturity and confidence of skill that has felt missing from the in-person outputs of the quinintent from a visual perspective. Suffocate is the obvious example of this: a clear increase in camera quality from the Upon Loss singles while keeping the southern gothic theming makes for the trippy energy and the pit-in-your-stomach feeling of persecution that is part of the addictive nature of Knocked Loose’s music but put to visual. The use of an abandoned church in the Don’t Reach for Me video also deserves an honorable mention, as does the cultish themes of the ‘Blinding Faith’ video.

What stops this album from hitting the top spot on this list may be that somewhat midwestern-emo edge that is present within its concept and execution; the concepts and artistry around this elevate the listening and watching experience, but the entrancing nature of these elements does impact how well some of these tracks stand when listened to outside of the project they were recorded for. Despite this, You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To is sure to be the album of a generation, and with the grace of time even the most staunch old work supremacist may change their tune.

Highlight Tracks: The Calm That Keeps You Awake, Suffocate and Blinding Faith

1) A Different Shade of Blue - LP, 2019

Putting A Different Shade of Blue feels somewhat contrarian in the wake of You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed to, but it is everything that Knocked Loose has to offer with no breaks of speed. The artwork for a Different Shade of blue is stunning with the figure in its corner and the rips breaking through its colour scale, while the music videos from this era are the first nods of the artistry and high concept that Knocked Loose would come into.

The Mistakes Like Fractures video has the trippy body double motif with the themes of consumption in its sterile environment, while …And Still I Wander South has the desolation and arthouse energy that becomes prominent in the later projects covered but here the lyrical dance played on loop is beautifully creepy. As for And Still I wander south, it is the personal favourite of the singles from this bands discography: as a song it feels the most raw out of this project, like the concepts have been stripped back to the feelings that inspired them - as Garris proclaims “I spent most of my life trying to get out/ and still I wander south” it speaks to the frustrations of breaking out of a geographical typecast that those who get it, get. It needs not be mentioned how iconic “God fell silent when I cried out” is as a bar in Mistakes Like Fractures also, but we will mention it for its sheer quality. Within this album there are many gems too.

Trapped in the Grasp of a Memory is violently good; focused on its soundscape more than its lyrics the winding riffs from its first movement are complemented by the gorgeous drum rolls from its second before all out chaos ensues for the rest of its two minutes - it is an unrelenting banger. Emma Boster’s (Pounds of Flesh) feature in its follow up ‘A Serpent’s Touch’ is another standout of this project too, rounding off a personal favourite perfectly.

When By the Grave hits within this project the reasoning behind why this place first becomes apparent. Its swelling intro before takeoff sets the tension wonderfully which is maintained throughout the rest of A Different Shade of Blue; the subsequent pickup in tempo in ‘In The Walls’ and it's haunting themes of someone whose left never quite leaving, with the PT radio broadcast at the end feeling chillingly real in this context that adds a terrifying layer to lyrics screamed. The standout songs from this project come in (almost) one after another: Forget your name ft Keith Buckley (Every Time I Die), Route 23, then Denied by Fate. Forget your name juggles its titanium hard soundscape with a dancey feel that is captivating for every second, while the spoken word elements of Keith Buckley’s are haunting - “Brother in arms, amputated” as a lyric sticks in the brain for weeks.

Route 23 begins with the sickly sweet sample from 1990’s Misery then transforms into a thrash masterpiece within its 2:21, pausing only for a short breath before a screaming testimony of torture. …And Still I wander South follows, then slips into the most danceable of this power block in form of Denied by Fate.The groove is strong throughout this track with its treble breakdown that is just as easy to shake hips to as it is to throw glass - Kevin Kaine’s drumming has much to do with this, a listen just to focus on it is a treat.

All in all, A Different Shade of Blue encompasses all of the best of Knocked Loose, from the punk-infused hardcore of their early days to the high concept artistry of their current creative output. The lyrics remain raw throughout their discography, but in A Different Shade of Blue the growing pains of a band about to break into superstardom captivate in a different way. The tracks go hard, stay hard, and stay on the brain more than any other project.

Highlight Tracks: Forget Your Name, Route 23, Denied by Fate

Honourable mentions) Split - EP, 2015

Split is a joint EP with Damaged Goods, with Knocked Loose covering the first three songs. These honestly aren’t so memorable, but buried in this EP is D.T.A.H; arguably one of their most underrated songs. From the first “Did you…” to the final “the Tree of Life bears no fruit, unless it’s rotten/ to the f**king core” the door-to-the-face swing of this song hits the listener in the face, breaking only to pull off a bell ride breakdown at breakneck speed. This track alone is a crown in the jewel of the Knocked Loose discography, and Damaged Goods’ half of the project is worth its runtime.

Upon Loss Singles - EP, 2023

Deep in the Willow/Everything is quiet now is the proof of concept that became their most recent project, with its accompanying music video/short film being a testament to Garris’ ethos of “pushing hardcore into places it doesn’t quite fit.” This is literal within the short film - the plot of persecution and the juxtaposition of this persecution in a warmly lit affluent home - and through the integration of hardcore into an arthouse concept. This final primer for You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To is a great listen, and it is good to see the quintet get used to taking an on screen role.

Words: Julia Brunton

Catch Knocked Loose at both Outbreak Manchester and London this June.