Closing out an album is hard. For most bands, listing songs in an album is a difficult task depending on the pace and message you want to send to your listeners. A lot of the time, you want to end the record with your most provocative emotional song, or just a complete banger.

Here are some of the best album closers in the modern punk rock scene:

10. Untitled – Knuckle Puck

Apart of Knuckle Puck’s most anthemic album, Copacetic, this song warps up everything this album was about. In this song, it summarizes the feeling of feeling betrayed in a relationship and reflecting on all the things that went wrong. It’s a fairly long song, just shy of eight minutes, but it’s length and strong message that builds within the song is what helped it make this list. Let’s be honest, who hasn’t stayed awake and thought about past relationships before?

9. Slip Like Space – Armor For Sleep

Armor For Sleep fell off the radar a while ago, but this closer was a no brainer for this list. In an album about not knowing your place in the world and being lost, it was a perfect song to end the record. In this piece about saying goodbye to the world you once knew and going off into space. The message is subjective, to say the least. Whether it’s about death or letting go of the past, it’s definitely a good ending to a message carried throughout the album.

8. If I Leave – A Day To Remember

A Day To Remember are amazing at closing records, but this song beats the rest, no doubt. Not only is it a catchy song with great melodies, but like the others, it fits perfectly as a closing song. Questioning what a significant other would think if you left is a heavy thought, but Jeremy McKinnon does a perfect job explaining his worries about what people would think if he just got up and left.

Talk about being edgy.

7. Exit Song – Sum 41

Alright, the first sad song is here. It’s a short song, but it’s straight to the point. “Exit Song” is about giving up on a relationship after fighting to keep it alive, but realizing there’s no point to try and fix something permanently broken.

It’s real sad boy hours, now.

6. Sidelines – State Champs

Our first pop punk banger of the list!

Apart of State Champs’ best album, Living Proof, “Sidelines” could have fit anywhere on the record. However, with so many great songs already on the album, it fits very well as the closer. This one isn’t sad, but more about self-doubt and questioning if a relationship is meant to last. Nevertheless, they keep it going and try to figure it out. There’s no real ending to the story, which is actually creative when you think about the possibilities of the relationship continuing or ending.

Way to keep us thinking, State Champs.

5. Rock Bottom – Neck Deep

although we’re halfway to Rock Bottom on this list, Neck Deep is a good fit for right now. In a song about not trusting your friends advice and chasing a girl that you have no business being with, it’s a terrifyingly relatable song for some people. It’s never smart to drop your friends for a girl and Neck Deep seem to stick to that truth.

Never break the bro code.

4. Radio – Alkaline Trio

The melancholy lyricist god is here, and damn right he’s in the top five. There was only one way you could end Maybe I’ll Catch Fire, and it’s through dark, hurtful words to someone who betrayed you. The pain and anger in the lyrics in “Radio” are one of the best closers an album can get, summing up the entire message of the album.

Just for the record, we’re sorry for whoever hurt you, Matt Skiba.

3. The Last Song -All American Rejects

Could’ve had a more creative name for the last song on an album, but it’s only fitting. “The Last Song” is another anthem for those who were never good enough in a relationship and those who are still trying to recover from the breakup. Ending a relationship is like death -you go through stages. the first step is self-doubt, then you move on to say you are better off. The song is a banger, for sure, but the riffs and overall sound fit the message so well.

It’s definitely one of the most relatable on the list.

2. Famous Last Words -My Chemical Romance

Oh yeah, My Chemical Romance is here. MCR had a clear message to send and it’s an important one:

No matter how rough life can get, or how tough the road may be, never be afraid to walk that road alone. This song is so anthemic and changes pace in the bridge, where we hear the best in Gerard Way.  The lyrics and explosion of emotion throughout the piece was enough to move an entire fanbase in itself, as it’s one of the most viewed music videos MCR has on youtube.

With juxtaposition vocals and fantastic riffs, this song was the best way to end The Black Parade. 

1. Chapter 13 – Plus 44

For number one on this list, we have some of Mark Hoppus’s best work. His time with Plus 44 was limited, but it was worth the emotional driven lyrics. As the last song on their only album, it hits perfectly on the idea of moving further from someone you used to be really close with. Sometimes, life burns bridges and we move apart from the people we love best, causing some tension. In the end, no one really wins.

Who hasn’t been scraped and sober with nobody listening?

That’s it for our top ten list! Who should’ve made it and who should have been left out? Let us know what you think!