Ogbert the Nerd

Here's the December (and year) roundup of our punk/pop punk/emo/etc column 'In Defense of the Genre,' with tons of year-end lists, and the five best songs of the month...

plus Lana Del Rey, Eddie Vedder, Rufus Wainwright, Mary Lattimore, Julianna Barwick, Papa M, La Luz, Sleater-Kinney, and more livestreams you can watch this week since there are no live concerts to attend.

This week's playlist includes new music by Converge, Haviah Mighty, Bartees Strange, Thou & Emma Ruth Rundle, Every Time I Die, JPEGMAFIA, The Armed, Julia Jacklin, Bill Callahan & Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, and more.

It's raw, anthemic, energetic emo that sounds as indebted to Cap'n Jazz's scrappy Midwest emo as it does to Tell All Your Friends-era Taking Back Sunday's melodramatic post-hardcore.