Can you believe we’re halfway through the year? Already there’s been a swell of alternative albums that’ve come out, some that are still in our queue. Poppy’s Empty Hands made an early impression in January, followed by releases from Kim Gordon, Sleeping With Sirens, and Death Cab For Cutie — not to mention an explosive pair of albums from Converge. Essentially, there’s been a record for every palette, with plenty more to come in the ensuing months. Because we’ve reached the middle of the year, we turned to our readers and asked them to name the best albums of 2026 so far. Their answers were diverse, and you can find the top fan picks ranked below.
Read more: In conversation with Pete Wentz and Daisy Grenade
5. Static Dress – injury episode
Just last month, Static Dress released injury episode — a commentary on the commodification of art that’s destroyed attention spans and relied too hard on algorithms. Across their second LP, the Leeds quartet channel nostalgia while offering something new, building out worlds with the same ambition and intention as their MySpace heroes. As bandleader Olli Appleyard recently told AP, “The big thing with this new record is we wanted to make sure it sounds good on its own first. Then anything you want to add on top — production levels, value, or ear-candy things — that’s just icing on the cake. Not the cake itself.”
4. Joyce Manor – I Used to Go to This Bar
Joyce Manor’s fast, melodic punk exists somewhere between Weezer, Jawbreaker, and Descendents, bottling vignettes about love, apathy, and drunken nights into songs that rarely exceed two minutes. This year’s I Used to Go to This Bar, produced by Bad Religion’s Brett Gurewitz, treads that same path, but the songs are more grown-up. As its name suggests, the LP treats memories with reverence and some discomfort (“I had a dream when I woke up this morning/I was a shadow of my former glory”), steeped in a similar catchiness that made them blow up with 2014’s Never Hungover Again. It rewards repeat listens all the way through.
3. Sleeping With Sirens – An Ending in Itself
The energy around Sleeping With Sirens feels different lately. Early on in their An Ending in Itself promo cycle, Kellin Quinn and Nick Martin played a pop-up show at a subway platform in NYC, where they debuted the title track acoustically. It was a far turn from the urgency of their latest, which readers voted as a top album of 2026 so far. Produced by Will Yip (Turnstile, Title Fight), it’s got brand-new energy that strikes a balance between their roots and pushing themselves beyond that. Capping off a trilogy about darkness, total collapse, and hope, the latter centers on “going from a child to a grownup and having the understanding of your responsibilities and the person you’re wanting to be.”
2. Evanescence – Sanctuary
2003’s Fallen put a bright spotlight on Evanescence, but no matter how many years have passed, they’ve shone through, proving that they have staying power beyond their first two albums. That’s especially true with their latest full-length, Sanctuary, which tells a story of good versus evil — and suggests that human connection is a solution to the chaos. “Who Will You Follow” set the tone early, but the album is full of other bangers that, musically and lyrically, reflect their whole journey. It goes back to something Amy Lee said during her AP cover story last month: “There’s a new perspective where past and present and future are all colliding for me, and it’s made for this album, which I feel like is quintessential. It feels like us, new but at our roots at the same time.”
1. Tigers Jaw – Lost on You
Overwhelmingly, our readers said that Tigers Jaw’s Lost on You was the best album of 2026 so far. If you’ve already listened front to back, it’s not hard to see why. It’s a level up, with the band fixating on time in every direction — past, present, and future. When Tigers Jaw played an intimate show at Rough Trade earlier this year (and took AP behind the scenes), they showed us exactly why these songs will remain potent. Bookended by conversations with former and future selves, Lost on You is unafraid to confront uncomfortable truths, point out bad habits, and attempt to understand themselves better, little by little. As the band wrote on release day, “This is the record we’ve always wanted to make.”
