It’s time to reflect on the year in music! This month, we’ll be highlighting Jam of Today’s favourite albums of 2025. Working our way up to the #1 album, which will be revealed on the 31st of December, we’ll go one by one past this year’s favourites. Today, our #29: ‘Wisher‘ by Ben Quad.

Like every year, I’ve tried my best finding new and under-the-radar acts within the genres I enjoy most. One of my discoveries this year is Ben Quad, a midwest emo group signed on Pure Noise Records. The renowned record label (or at least it is here on Jam of Today) always get their post-hardcore and emo signings right so I was naturally curious to learn more about this group. The amount of artists off of the Pure Noise roster present in the JoT-playlist speaks volumes and I happily like to add Ben Quad to that list, too.

Ben Quad started making name for themselves within the scene by releasing ‘I’m Scared That’s All There Is’, a 7-song debut filled with staple midwest emo songs. Unaware of the existence of that record, I dove into ‘Wisher’ only having ever heard two Ben Quad songs before, namely their 2022 indie release ‘You’re Part of It’ – a song having the potential to become a modern classic within this specific genre – and ‘Your Face as an Effigy’ hailing off of the acclaimed screamo EP ‘Ephemera’ (2024), a dazzling tune blending all the aforementioned genres together seamlessly. Being highly impressed by these two songs, I come to the conclusion that ‘Wisher’ never really reaches those highs I was expecting.

Midwest emo thrives on sentiment and emotion and arguably, Ben Quad’s second is filled with that, too. Although this time, the confrontational and saddening songs get swapped out for a more comfortable and pleasant blanket of emo music. Unlike albums by similar artists like Tiny Moving Parts and Origami Angel, ‘Wisher’ is a bit more polished than what I’d hoped for. I reckon a tad bit of screamo and post-hardcore would’ve done this album good. Highlights off of ‘Wisher’ include the collab with Microwave’s Nathan Hardy on ‘West of West’, ‘Painless’ and today’s Jam ‘It’s Just A Title’, while the odd use of banjo on this album doesn’t do much for me. Of course, this wouldn’t be a proper midwest emo record if there wasn’t some kind of movie reference. Not only is this band’s name taken off of a podracer in Star Wars, ‘Very Big in Sheboygan’ seems to be referring to a polka band in Home Alone. Ha! Well, at least there’s always something to laugh about in this music. For me, ‘Wisher’ serves a nice get-to-know of Ben Quad, though I think I’d rather play my old finds on repeat than this album.