A few nights ago, I was quietly vibing to an old playlist on shuffle on the floor of my bedroom. First, “Pictures of Girls” by Wallows came on, soon followed by “Scene Five – With Ears to See and Eyes to Hear” by Sleeping with Sirens and “Coffee Shop Soundtrack” by All Time Low. After an hour or so, Spotify continued to inspire me with song after song to make a list of some of my favorite and criminally underrated EPs. It can be all too easy to forget about your favorite artists’ earlier and less popular works, and I have been no exception. After many hours of deliberation, I have finally compiled a list of some of my favorite EPs of all time that people really need to stop sleeping on.
- “Dogs Eating Dogs” – Blink-182
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Blink-182 released “Dogs Eating Dogs” independently after their departure from Interscope in December 2012, and it is by far some of the best music they’ve ever put out. They produced it in less than a month and it was one of the first times that they were able to make something that they were all creatively involved with together. “Boxing Day” is my favorite song not only on this EP but from their entire discography. Although the album art may be a little tragic, the music is a stroke of creative genius.
- “If You Were a Movie, This Would Be Your Soundtrack” – Sleeping with Sirens
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Words cannot even begin to describe how actually incredible this EP is. With two acoustic covers of already amazing songs from the band’s first album, it beautifully paints a love story with three additional masterpieces. Normally, especially with more punk-influenced groups, acoustic projects tend to fall flat. But this one sold over 17,000 copies in a week and is often considered some of the group’s best work. I love the concept, the execution, the art — everything about this EP is perfect.
- “Put Up or Shut Up” – All Time Low
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The title plays off of lyrics from “Break Out! Break Out!” off of their debut album, and even over a decade later, this EP slaps. Like “If You Were a Movie, This Would Be Your Soundtrack”, this EP features reimagined recordings of songs from a previous album, bringing new life into the tracks. However, what pushes this one over the top is “Jasey Rae.” In my opinion, this song is one of All Time Low’s best. Lead singer Alex Gaskarth wrote this song as an apology to a girl he left behind in Pennsylvania that he met while they were on tour. He said later that the group is all still friends with her and they still visit her any time they’re nearby, which I think is both cool and surprising considering how poorly things ended between the couple. Either way, we got bop out of the ordeal, so it’s worth it.
- “Rain in July” – Neck Deep
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“Rain in July” is not only Neck Deep’s first EP, but their first album ever. And it is so good. Lead vocalist Ben Barlow wrote pop-punk songs for fun, and he met the lead guitarist Lloyd Roberts while his brother was recording his own music. Roberts and Barlow became friends almost immediately and started making music together. They recorded “What Did You Expect?” and released it online under the name Neck Deep, and that was that. Within the span of 6 months, the band had grown and signed to the We Are Triumphant label to produce “Rain in July”. “A Part of Me” featuring Laura Whiteside is such a good song and one of my favorites, however, Barlow says that he can no longer listen to the song because of how he feels disconnected from the story behind it. It’s about a girl who he says he’ll love forever, but he explained that his relationship with her was when he was 16, so it’s hard to connect to the same emotion he felt when performing the song initially. Regardless, the EP holds up after all this time and I still listen to it regularly.
- “Spring EP” – Wallows
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Every single song on this EP is a MASTERPIECE. If there’s ever been an album with no skips, it’s this one. It’s hard to pick a favorite song from the tracklist, but “1980s Horror Film” elicits a special feeling whenever I hear it. Wallows got popular extremely quickly, and for good reason. They have yet to put out a bad song! In 2018, they announced that they were planning on releasing Spring and a music video for “Pictures of Girls” and they’ve been on the up and up ever since. With the release of “Nothing Happens” in 2019 and the promise of new music, it’s safe to say that the amazing “Spring EP” was just the start of something even more impressive.
I really labored over this list, because there are so many incredible extended plays out there that narrowing down the list requires the effort. But if you ever get the chance, treat yourself to a listen! You won’t regret it.