Emo
- This article deals with the genre of music. For other uses, see Emo (disambiguation).
Emo is a subgenre of hardcore punk music. Use of the term (and which musicians should be so classified) has been the subject of much debate.
In its original incarnation, the term emo was used to describe the music of the mid-1980s DC scene and its associated bands. In later years, the term emocore, short for "emotional hardcore", was also used to describe the DC scene and some of the regional scenes that spawned from it. The term emo was derived from the fact that, on occasion, members of a band would become spontaneously and literally emotional during performances. The most recognizable names of the period included Rites of Spring, Embrace, One Last Wish, Beefeater, Gray Matter, Fire Party and slightly later, Moss Icon. The first wave of emo began to fade after the breakups of most of the involved bands in the early 1990s.
Starting in the mid-1990s, the term emo began to reflect the indie scene that followed the influences of Fugazi, which itself was an offshoot of the first wave of emo. Bands including Sunny Day Real Estate and Texas Is the Reason put forth a more indie rock brand of emo, which was more melodic and less chaotic in nature than its predecessor. The so-called "indie emo" scene survived until the end of the 1990s, as many of the bands either disbanded or shifted their style to the mainstream.
As the remaining indie emo bands entered the mainstream, newer bands began to emulate the more mainstream style, creating a style of music that has now earned the moniker emo within popular culture. Whereas, even in the past, the term emo was used to identify a wide variety of bands, the breadth of bands listed under today's emo is even more vast, leaving the term "emo" as more of a loose identifier than as a specific genre of music.
History
The First Wave (1985–1994)
In 1985 in Washington, D.C., Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, veterans of the DC hardcore music scene, decided to shift away from what they saw as the constraints of the basic style of hardcore and the escalating violence within the scene. They took their music in a more personal direction with a far greater sense of experimentation, bringing forth MacKaye's Embrace and Picciotto's Rites of Spring. The style of music developed by Embrace and Rites of Spring soon became its own sound. (Hüsker Dü's 1984 album Zen Arcade is often cited as a major influence for the new sound.) As a result of the renewed spirit of experimentation and musical innovation that developed the new scene, the summer of 1985 soon came to be known in the scene as "Revolution Summer".
Within a short time, the DC emo sound began to influence other bands such as Moss Icon, Nation of Ulysses, Dag Nasty, Shudder To Think, Fire Party, Marginal Man, and Gray Matter, many of which were released on MacKaye's Dischord Records. The original wave of DC emo finally ended in late 1994 with the collapse of Hoover.
Where the term emo actually originated is uncertain, but members of Rites of Spring mentioned in a 1985 interview in Flipside Magazine that some of their fans had started using the term to describe their music. By the early 90s, it was not uncommon for the early DC scene to be referred to as emo-core, though it's unclear when the term shifted.
As the DC scene expanded, other scenes began to develop with a similar sound. In San Diego in the early 1990s, Gravity Records released a number of records in the hardcore emo style. Bands of the period included Heroin, Indian Summer, Angel Hair, Antioch Arrow, Universal Order of Armageddon, Swing Kids, and Mohinder. At the same time, in the New York/New Jersey era, bands such as Native Nod, Merel, 1.6 Band, Rye Coalition and Rorschach were feeling the same impulse. Many of these bands were involved with the ABC No Rio club scene in New York, itself a response to the violence and stagnation in the scene and with the bands that played at CBGBs, the only other small venue for hardcore in New York at the time. Much of this wave of emo, particularly the San Diego scene, began to shift towards a more chaotic and aggressive form of emo, nicknamed screamo.
By and large, the more hardcore style of emo began to fade as many of the early era groups disbanded. Even still, a handful of modern bands continue to reflect emo's hardcore origins, including Circle Takes the Square, Hot Cross, City of Caterpillar, Funeral Diner, and A Day in Black and White.
Back in DC, following the disbanding of both Rites of Spring and Embrace, MacKaye and Picciotto decided to join forces in a new band, called Fugazi. While Fugazi itself was not categorized as emo, the music it created would soon influence the second major wave of emo.
Early Emo's Influence
In California, particularly in the Bay Area, bands like Jawbreaker and Samiam began to mix the DC influence with pop punk to come up with their own take on the classic DC emo sound. On Jawbreaker's album Bivouac, singer Blake Schwarzenbach evolved from the traditional hardcore vocal sound into a more melodic crooning, which displayed a more emotional feeling of loss than the desperation and frantic nature of MacKaye's voice. Other bands soon reflected the same sense of rough melody, including Still Life and New Jersey's Garden Variety. The style continued to evolve into the 2000s through bands like Avail and Hot Water Music.
Also in the early 90s, bands like Lifetime reacted in their own way to the demise of youth crew styled straight-edge hardcore and desired to seek out a new direction. While their music was often classified as emo, it was also considered to be melodic hardcore. In response to the more metal direction their hardcore peers were taking, Lifetime initially decided to slow down and soften their music, adding more personal lyrics. The band later added a blend of speed, aggression, and melody that defined their sound. Lifetime's sound, lyrics, and style were a virtual blueprint for later bands, including Saves The Day and The Movielife.
Though rarely mentioned in the same breath as "textbook" emo, Canadian punk rockers No Means No (formed in 1978) have been cited by critic Ned Raggett as an indirect "secret influence on a fair amount of both early-'90s math rock and emo, what with the barely controlled fervor of the singing and the sudden jerks back and forth in the rhythm section."[1]
The Second Wave (1994–2000)
As Fugazi and the Dischord Records scene became more and more popular in the indie underground of the early 1990s, new bands began to spring up. Combining Fugazi with the post-punk influences of Mission of Burma and Hüsker Dü, a new genre of emo emerged.
Perhaps the key moment was the release of the album Diary by Sunny Day Real Estate in 1994. Given Sub Pop's then-recent success with Nirvana and Soundgarden, the label was able to bring much wider attention to the release than the typical indie release, including major advertisements in Rolling Stone. The heavier label support allowed the band to secure performances on TV shows, including The Jon Stewart Show. As a result, the album received widespread national attention.
As more and more people learned about the band, particularly via the fledgling Internet, the band was given the tag emo. Even where Fugazi had not been considered emo, the new generation of fans shifted the tag from the earlier hardcore style to this more indie rock style of emo. It wasn't uncommon for Sunny Day and its peers to be labelled with the full "emo-core". However, when pressed to explain "emo", many fans split the genre into two brands: the "hardcore emo" practiced in the early days and the newer "indie emo".
In the years that followed, several major regions of "indie emo" emerged. The most significant appeared in the Midwest in the mid-90s. Many of the bands were influenced by the same sources, but with an even more tempered sound. These bands included Boy's Life, Christie Front Drive, and Cap'n Jazz. This brand of emo was often referred to as "Midwestern emo" given the geographic location of the bands. In ensuing years, bands such as The Promise Ring, Braid, Elliott, and The Get Up Kids emerged from the same scene and gained national attention.
The area around Phoenix, Arizona became another major scene for emo. Inspired by Fugazi and Sunny Day Real Estate, former punk rockers Jimmy Eat World began stirring in emo influences into their music, eventually releasing the album Static Prevails in 1996. The album was arguably the first emo record released by a major label, as the band had signed with Capitol Records in 1995.
Other bands that followed the "indie emo" model included New York's Texas Is the Reason and Rainer Maria, California's Knapsack and Sense Field, Austin's Mineral, and Boston's Piebald and Jejune.
Strangely, as "indie emo" became more widespread, a number of acts who otherwise would not have been considered part of the "indie emo" scene had their albums referred to as emo because of their similarity to the sound. The hallmark example was Weezer's 1996 album Pinkerton, which, in later years, was considered one of the defining "emo" records of the 90s.
As the wide range of emo bands began to attract notoriety on a national scale, a number of indie labels attempted to document the scene. Many emo bands of the late 90s signed to indie labels including Jade Tree Records, Saddle Creek, and Big Wheel Recreation. California's Crank Records released what many considered the defining compilation of 90s emo in 1997, titled (Don't Forget to) Breathe, which featured tracks by The Promise Ring, Christie Front Drive, Mineral, Knapsack, and Arizona's Seven Storey Mountain. In 1998, Deep Elm Records released the first in a series of compilations called Emo Diaries, which featured tracks from Jimmy Eat World, Samiam, and Jejune. In 1999, famed 70s compilation label K-Tel even released an emo compilation titled Nowcore: The Punk Rock Evolution, which, regardless of its source, was surprisingly comprehensive. (Nowcore included tracks by Texas Is the Reason, Mineral, The Promise Ring, Knapsack, Braid, At the Drive-In, and Jawbox, among others.)
With the late-90s emo scene being more national than regional, major labels began to turn their attention toward signing emo bands with the hopes of capitalizing on the genre's popularity. Many bands resisted the lure, citing their loyalty to the independent mentality of the scene. Several bands cited what they saw as mistreatment of bands such as Jawbox and Jawbreaker while they were signed to majors as a reason to stay away. The conflict felt within many of the courted emo bands resulted in their break-ups, including Texas Is the Reason and Mineral.
By the end of the decade, the word emo cropped up in mainstream circles. In the summer of 1998, Teen People magazine ran an article declaring "emo" the newest "hip" style of music, with The Promise Ring a band worth watching. The independent nature of the emo scene recoiled at mainstream attention, and many emo bands shifted their sound in an attempt to isolate themselves from the genre. In the years that followed, Sunny Day Real Estate opted to shift to a more prog-rock direction, Jejune aimed for happy pop-rock, and The Get Up Kids and The Promise Ring released lite-rock albums.
While "indie emo" almost completely ceased to exist by the end of the decade, many bands still subscribe to the Fugazi / Hüsker Dü model, including Thursday, The Juliana Theory, and Sparta.
The Third Wave (2000–Present)
At the end of the 1990s, the underground emo scene had almost entirely disappeared. However, the term emo was still being bandied about in mainstream media, almost always attached to the few remaining 90s emo acts, including Jimmy Eat World.
However, towards the end of the 1990s, Jimmy Eat World had begun to shift in a more mainstream direction. Where Jimmy Eat World had played emocore-style music early in their career, by the time of the release of their 2001 album Bleed American, the band had almost completely removed its emo influences. As the public had become aware of the word emo and knew that Jimmy Eat World was associated with it, the band continued to be referred to as an "emo" band. Newer bands that sounded like Jimmy Eat World (and, in some cases, like the more melodic emo bands of the late 90s) were soon included in the genre.
2003 saw the success of Chris Carrabba and Dashboard Confessional. Carrabba's music featured lyrics founded in deep diary-like outpourings of emotion. Where earlier emo had featured lyrics of a more dark and painful direction, Carrabba's featured a greater focus on love won and lost and the inability to cope. While certainly emotional, the new "emo" had a far greater appeal amongst teenagers experiencing love for the first time, who found insight and solace in Carrabba's words and music.
With Dashboard and Jimmy Eat World's success, major labels began seeking out similar sounding bands. Just as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and the other Seattle scene bands of the early 1990s were unwillingly lumped into the genre "grunge", some record labels wanted to be able to market a new sound under the word emo. Which sound that was didn't particularly matter.
Emo Today
In an even more expanded way than in the 90s, emo has come to encompass an extremely wide variety of bands, many of whom have very little in common. The term has become so wide-ranging that it has become nearly impossible to describe what exactly qualifies as "emo".
Correctly or not, emo has often been used to describe such bands as Funeral for a Friend, Taking Back Sunday, Coheed and Cambria, The Starting Line, Brand New, AFI, Something Corporate, The Used, A Static Lullaby, From First To Last, Matchbook Romance, Finch, Silverstein, From Autumn To Ashes, Thrice, Fall Out Boy, Alexisonfire, Hawthorne Heights, and My Chemical Romance. Fans of several of these bands have recoiled at the use of the "emo" tag, and have gone to great lengths to explain why they don't qualify as "emo". (The revulsion of some bands from the term emo is not unlike the retreat from the genre by the bands in the indie emo scene near the end of the 90s.)
In some cases, "new emo" bands are simply trying to pursue their own version of the "emo" that came before on their own terms. However, the backlash stemming from the success of a few seemingly "less emo" (and more popular in the mainstream) bands, including Dashboard Confessional and The Used, has brought an increasingly substantial pool of detractors.
In a strange twist, screamo, a sub-genre of the new emo, has found greater popularity in recent years through bands such as Thrice and Glassjaw. The term screamo, however, was used to describe an entirely different genre in the early 1990s, and the bands themselves more resemble the emocore of the early 1990s. (As a reference, see Jim DeRogatis' November 2002 article about Screamo.)
As a result of the continuing shift of "emo" over the years, a serious schism has emerged between those who ascribe to particular eras of "emo". Those who were closely attached to the hardcore origins recoil when another type of music is called "emo". Many involved in the independent nature of both 80s and 90s emo are upset at the perceived hijacking of the word emo to sell a new generation of major label music. Regardless, popular culture appears to have embraced the terms of "emo" far beyond its original intentions, out of the control of the independent-minded.
Backlash
As the chorus of detractors increased, emo became more and more a target of derision. People who focus on emo music often share an emotional psyche that makes them feel like they belong outside the mainstream. They tend to thrive on the emotional ups and downs that are typically prevalent in emotionally-driven music such as emo. At the same time, fans of other rock genres accuse emo of being too "soft" and "whiny". But these accusations can be justified to an extent. Emo often pretends to be hard musically, but is unsuccessful due to arguably weak guitar playing & drumming and poor songwriting values (very few emo records could really be considered "classics" on a general level). The high-pitched "helium" style of singing doesnt appear to express any real emotions, as it tries to do, and it is considered fairly annoying and devoid of true musical skill by the general music listener.
In the early years of the "third wave", however, the derision was relatively light-hearted and self-effacing. In September of 2002, web developer Jason Oda put forth Emogame. In the game, Steven Tyler of Aerosmith kidnapped The Get-Up Kids, and players could assume the identities of several popular singers to fight him and his minions, along with more or less every subculture in the American landscape. The game referenced numerous emo stereotypes, but also included pop culture references such as R2-D2 from Star Wars. The game was well-received by both fans and critics of emo alike, eventually spawning multiple sequels. This kind of self-awareness gave emo a much more respectable image to outsiders, as it showed emo to be self-conscious enough to see the humor in itself without abandoning what made it unique.
In recent years, the derision has increased dramatically. Male fans of emo are often hit with homosexual slurs, largely a reflection of the style of dress popular within the "emo scene" and the fact that in many cultures, males are expected to be stalwart and strong, not overly emotional; emotions are "weak" and "feminine".
Regardless of the criticism, emo music retains a loyal audience that includes many who would otherwise consider themselves outside the so-called "emo scene". As with punk rock, the term "emo" may persist for years to come and evolve into even more styles and sounds. Whether or not recognition of the genre will persist and which version of "emo" will be best remembered remains to be seen.
See also
|
|
Sources
- DeRogatis, Jim (August 24). "Screamo". Guitar World.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=and|year=/|date=mismatch (help) - Heller, Greg (September 10). "Bands Seek Emotional Rescue: Young postpunk stars sick of 'Emo-core' label". San Francisco Chronicle.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=and|year=/|date=mismatch (help) - Radin, Andy (July 17). "What the heck *is* emo, anyway?".
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=and|year=/|date=mismatch (help) - . ISBN 1-887-128-49-2.
{{cite book}}: Missing or empty|title=(help); Unknown parameter|Author=ignored (|author=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|Publisher=ignored (|publisher=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|Title=ignored (|title=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|Year=ignored (|year=suggested) (help) - . ISBN 0-31-230863-9.
{{cite book}}: Missing or empty|title=(help); Unknown parameter|Author=ignored (|author=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|Publisher=ignored (|publisher=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|Title=ignored (|title=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|Year=ignored (|year=suggested) (help)
External links
- Emo-ology – an attempt to create an Emo discography.
- Viva La Vinyl! – a site with a strong Emo community.
- A!E.com's Emo Guide
| Components | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genres by decade of origin (sub-subgenres not included) | |||||||||||||
| Regional scenes |
| ||||||||||||
| Radio formats | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Related | |||||||||||||
