Emo is a style of rock that reached its zenith towards the end of the 1990's; its roots lie in hardcore punk, although emo itself isn't punk rock; it also owes some debt to grunge, but it isn't grunge, either. It is an almost exclusively indie-rock phenomenon (although the majors took notice as it grew bigger). It's also a genre that divides audiences; some love it, and some loathe it.
As the name would imply, emo, at its core, is emotional music; its lyrics are deeply personal, often of a confessional nature. It also encompasses free-form poetry, and impressionistic lyrics. Musically, it can be complex and progressive, with unusual time signatures, noise and feedback, detailed and unorthodox guitar work, and unconventional song structure. Other emo stays closer to its hardcore roots, softening some edges, emphasizing its melodic line, representing a kind of punk-pop.
On the positive side, emo is a less threatening, more musical hardcore which retains an anti-authority, anti-commericial aesthetic; it is perhaps most concerned with 'authenticity' and conveying an untainted, uncompromised vision independant of what record labels push for. On the negative side, the emphasis on authentic emotional depth to the lyrics pushes some artists well beyond the boundaries of excess and bathos; some come across as oversensitive singer/songwriters with fuzz boxes.
Taken as a whole, however, emo can be inspirational and spine tingling; challenging music with a lyrical depth that resonates with the common listener.
Tracing its roots, one would have to go back to the DC hardcore scene of the early 1980's, home to hardcore legends Minor Threat and Bad Brains. "Emocore" was first coined to describe their vocal styles, which were expressive and sung, as opposed to the hardcore thrashers who shouted and barked. Ian MacKaye of Minor Threat formed Embrace, sometimes credited with being the first true emo band, others give that distinction to Rites Of Spring, who recorded for MacKaye's Dischord label.
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Article comments
1 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
wonderful uao. thouroughly enjoyed everything here. i just been startin to sort of half-poke at the edges of emo on account of a lady-friend seems to like a hella lotta bands that could fit snugly within the confines of the genre. and politically, as a reaction to both commercial music business and the macho fuckin posturing of so many rock bands, i think its an incredibly positive thing.
Other than Weezer i dunno that any of these bands would've crossed my listening post until recently, save for Modest Mouse, who i didn't for a second ensvision as emo. I just imagine there ain't no right reason in the world for me to decry all that "whinin" no more. Look at the songs you wrote, folks would say. Look at those fuckin bright eyes records litterin the place. Look all that nonsense. And you don't like emo becuase it's all "whining for no good reason"??????
on the other hand, the number of emo bands straddlin the rock world at the minute, the number of them cynically exploiting the emotions of their fans for nothin other than commercial gain, that shit i can't get behind for a damn second.
but i could listen to Pinkerton all day.
i have NEVER been able to find Zen Arcade in a record strore, and had to make do with candy apple grey, which was fairly dissapointing.
2 - Mark Saleski
holy crap! the duke doesn't own that Fugazi record?
what the hell?!! buy it tomorrow!
3 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
mark, Fugazi are one of the bands up yonder who have indeed infiltrated my record collection. i never much cared for the Straight Edge shenanigans (save for a brief weekend back in 99), but regardless, Fugazi and Minor Threat are sitting neath my keyboard at this very minute. even though, to be perfectly honest, the dead kennedys stuff next to it gets all the stereo-space.
and curse this, i just spent too long crouched over fumbling through CD's in order to find that Husker Du record. which i now have beside me for to iTune-ise. alongside a loada other stuff i always meant to fling on there. How could i have forgotten Gillian Welch or Bill Monroe or System Of A Down? makes no sense. but there there are, fit for to be ripped.
4 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
an i think maybe the reason why i didnt even think of fugazi when commenting up yonder, is becuase never in my wildest pigeon-holeing delirium would i have considered them emo. most likely on account of i still don't especially know what the fuck emo means.
i have that documentary on VHS someplace, too. what was it called? the fugazi one... Document or somethin??
5 - Craig Lyndall
This read like a much more concise version of Andy Greenwald's book, "Nothing Feels Good" which blathered on a bit too long about Dashboard Confessional.
Anyway, a fine article. I am just waiting for the people who hate the word Emo to come out of the woodwork and call you an idiot. It will happen. Just warning you.
Good selections for meaningful songs. I would have to put Mineral on any list that I make of most influential artists. In terms of Modest Mouse, I wouldn't call them emo. This is where I think there is a clear split between emo and indie rock. Whenever a band like modest mouse pushes boundaries of weirdness, I say it is eclectic and think of indie. When a band is wearing its heart on its sleeve like Mineral or Sunny Day, it is emo.
Try and place a band like Death Cab for Cutie though and you are going to start getting into trouble.
6 - Mark Saleski
i'm not here to call anybody any names, but i am in duke's camp with this Emo thing...in that it's an interesting bit of categorization where there's not necessarily a unifying sound with these groups.
think about it. if you'd never heard about any of this stuff before, switched on the radio and heard Weezer's "Hash Pipe"...you'd think it was, what? to me, it's a just a rock song.
7 - The Theory
yeah, most of that I don't think I'd consider emo. That said, the genre is ambiguous enough that it is pretty worthless trying to argue it.
8 - Tom Johnson
Another very nice piece, uao.
I'll echo Craig - watch for the Fugazi supporters to ignorantly rip into you for labeling them as emo. ,a href="http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/02/24/135437.php"My first post here was about Tortoise's self-titled album that, for whatever reason, talked about Fugazi and mentioned emo, and well over two years later it got a comment from just such a person.
9 - Julie
Fugazi is not EMO!.Emo is closer to green day that hardcore punk. Even mentioning Bad Brains in the same ARTICLE as Emo seems preposterous.Good Article though. Tries too hard to make Emo sound legit instead of wimpy(Which I feel it is).
10 - Craig Lyndall
This is another reason that I just call my band a melodic rock band. I have heard people tell us we are emo, alternative, etc, but it is just a form of rock really.
Give it a listen and tell me what it is if you like, but I just call it rock.
11 - uao
I didn't write the history; I just report it.
Honest injun; Fugazi and Dischord records' output were called "emocore" at the time for much the same reasons the 90's bands were called emo.
If the tough guys in Fugazi's audience want to pretend this isn't true, fine.
But while researching this piece I came across about a dozen comprehensive articles that say the same things this article does. Just do a google search "history of emo" or "fugazi + emo" and see what comes up.
Those Fugazi fans who don't like emo might want to consider listening to the late GG Allin instead.
;-)
12 - Craig Lyndall
Well said, uao...
By the way, if you want to see some fans attack, go check out the review I did of War All the Time by Thursday...
(sniff) they were so mean!
http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/09/18/140826.php
13 - SFC SKI
Another good on, uao, I read it on your site first.
Not much for emo, but everyonce in a while I hear something worth listening to more than once.
14 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
regarding comment #11 - gg was the KING of emo
15 - uao
Craig: I've had a few pieces go that way here, too. This one still might...
I liked your reply in your thread "Maybe you are blinded by your infatuation." Simple, and to the point. That was pretty funny.
Duke: now that you mention it, maybe GG indeed was the king of emo. You've cast him in a whole new light for me.
:-)
16 - BRICKLAYER
Lil' Brick says More Elmo. Less Emo. Thank you.
17 - Eric Olsen
super super job getting your ears around a very slippery genre, which basically means whatever the person talking says it means - thanks uao!
18 - Cordy
I would have to say that bands like Weezer, Death Cab, Bright Eyes, The Postal Service. I'd say they were Emo. Emo to me is strange out-there music, usually having some electronic stuff or an acoustic guitar.