Knocked Loose's presence has loomed large over hardcore for almost a decade now.
After breaking out on the underground circuit with 2014's Pop Culture EP, the Kentucky band became genre mainstays with 2016's Laugh Tracks — and then mosh-pit rulers with 2019's A Different Shade of Blue.
In the 2020s, Knocked Loose became hardcore's premier breakdown ambassadors, and they've only gotten bigger as their music has gotten heavier, resulting in jaw-droppingly awesome Coachella performances and head-scratching endorsements from the likes of Demi Lovato.
We asked the band's fans to comb through their whole catalog and select their single greatest song. The results were spread across all of their different eras thus far. See the top five vote-getters ranked accordingly below.
5. "All My Friends"
"All My Friends" was the piece de resistance of Knocked Loose's 2014 Pop Culture EP, and while the band have made creative leaps and bounds since then, this song still stands the test of time.
Bryan Garris' confessional lyricism on this track still hits hard, particularly when he screams, "All my friends have problems with their selves/We don't talk about it nothing helps." And oh yeah, the mosh parts are gnarly.
4. "Counting Worms"
"Counting Worms" — colloquially known as the "arf arf one" among fans — might be Knocked Loose's best-known song. It's easy to see why.
At just over a minute in length, the band pack all of their signature elements into a single impactful banger: screechy guitar dissonance, quotable lyrics ("I wrote a song about getting better/It's a feeling I can't remember") and one helluva breakdown.
3. "Deep in the Willow"
"Deep in the Willow" is one of the two Upon Loss Singles that Knocked Loose dropped in 2023, and its high placement in this poll goes to show just how apeshit the fans are going for it.
It's wildly heavy but also full of subtleties: the stormy background rumbles during the first breakdown, the death-metal double-kicks in its galloping bridge, and quick-cutting transitions between each part. Clever and clobbering.
2. "God Knows"
Knocked Loose's 2021 EP, A Tear in the Fabric of Life, vaulted their already-crushing sound to new levels of sonic malice. It's a devastatingly dark and brooding project, and "God Knows" is its highlight.
The guitarwork is almost as savage as Garris' terror-inducing shrieks. The breakdowns make the ones they wrote before sound like child's play. "God Knows" is decimating in all the right ways.
1. "Guided by the Moon"
"Guided by the Moon" is the centerpiece of A Different Shade of Blue, and in some ways, it's the nucleus of Knocked Loose's whole catalog, showcasing their concussive might and their artistic finesse.
Unlike so many Knocked Loose songs that start with a bang, this one begins with a moody intro riff that slowly builds tension before bursting into a sludgy dirge. The song gradually picks up power as it moves along, while also taking a brief detour where Garris mutters eerily in the vein of Code Orange's I Am King.
By the end, Knocked Loose are in their wheelhouse. Right before the wind-knocking breakdown arrives, Garris screams, "I have a bone to pick with death/He still follows me around" — and boom! You know you're swingin'.
