EMO = EMOTIONAL HARDCORE
In the summer of 2005, I was talking to a friend about the state of music. Of course, the subject of Emo came up. This was a friend who actually knew what Emo was, and we eventually got pissed off beyond all reason. So, I said those fateful words: "I'm going to make a website about this." Unfortunately, I was 14 at the time, so, of course, I wasn't exactly mature. Regardless, what was written worked well. I think the semi-retarded approach to the subject kept people coming in. However, that bullshit isn't going to cut it anymore. So, we (Brian, Marissa, and I [Holly]) decided it was about time to re-write everything. After all, if we're going to be getting this shit out to a larger audience, it would be better to present as mature.
Contrary to popular belief, Emo is not short for Emotional, at least not really. It is not a style, either. It has nothing to do with cutting yourself, or boys with swooping haircuts taking pictures of themselves. Emo is not about whining about your problems. It's got nothing to do with your girlfriend breaking up with you. If you believe that, you're exercising your right to do so. This does not, however, make you correct.
Emo is short for Emotional, sort of. It's short for Emotional Hardcore. Say it with me, folks. And repeat it several times to yourself. The thing I've never gotten is how people can even begin to believe that it�s short for "Emotional", because, well, the theme song for Fraggle Rock is emotional, for christ's sakes.
One response I usually get, when I say that it's short for Emotional Hardcore, is "Well, if all music is emotional, wouldn't it just be Hardcore?" I respond with telling them what the word "Emotional" means, when talking about Emo. The emotional aspect of Emo comes from the lyrics. They are, of course, emotionally driven, but usually actually about one emotion or another. It's usually about anger towards something, or whatever you want. Its instrumentals are brutal and loud, and seemingly random. They are the instrumental equivalent of screaming your lungs out.
Another question I get a lot is, "What if an Emo band got popular? Would it stop being Emo?" The answer is: No, it wouldn't. In the recent months, Circle Takes The Square has gotten somewhat popular, thank god.
However, people need to understand that Emo is essentially DIY punk. It cannot be mainstream. It can be as popular as it can possibly get. But it's still not mainstream. When we say DIY, we mean it gets where it gets without corporate promotion, and it's produced independently. What happens if you happen to see a Yage album at Wal-Mart? You stop taking drugs. This wouldn't happen. You're probably only going to find their album at, say, an independent record store. Even those don't always carry what you want. It's usually best to go with a distribution (or 'distro') website. You'll notice that those sites rarely charge very much for music, and they usually carry vinyl as well. They're always worth a look, and I have yet to find a distro that I wouldn't use again.
When I think about the songs I've heard, only one song comes to mind that's Emo and about a break-up: Venus & Bacchus by Saetia. But, take note: It isn't a "boo hoo, my girlfriend broke up with me, I'm gonna whine about it" song. It's about how much the guy hates what the girl did.
Emo started in the 80s, with a little band by the name of Rites Of Spring. While this is arguable, as the Husker Du album Zen Arcade, which is said to have started the style, came out before Rites Of Spring's End On End album. But I digress. Rites Of Spring were only together from the spring of 1984 through the winter of 1986, but in that span of time, they set the stage for the shape of punk to come. The term Emo started when people at Rites Of Spring concerts started yelling "You're emo!" at them. This is part of why people say Rites Of Spring started Emo. I tend to go with this, partially because I don't like the thought that an album started the genre. It makes more sense that the band themselves did.
Emo sparked and faded a bit, until the legendary band Moss Icon came along. In my personal opinion, while Rites Of Spring started the genre, Moss Icon perfected it. Their album Lyburnum is widely considered one of the best Emo albums around, as it's the ideal album. In my experience, the music on the album is perfect for beginners, as it's not too loud, but it's not quiet, either.
Other bands like Embrace (the US version), Faith, Void, and so on ruled the scene, blazing the trail for the new subgenre of hardcore.
After awhile, the sub-movement of Screamo began. Bands like Palatka and Swing Kids were the new norm. It was loud, fast, and it could easily kill you, if you weren't careful. This kind of music has become the new norm for Emo bands, but the unfortunate thing is that, nine times our of ten, it sounds like random syllables being screamed.
One thing that I don't like is that people talk about "the waves of emo" This doesn't work, because it usually includes what's considered Emo today. Yes, genres do change as the years go by. Rock has stopped being about sex and drugs, and started being more about that and more about relationships. Rockers have started talking about "making love". But genres do not become the polar opposite. Does it really make sense that a bunch of guys screaming could really evolve into one guy with an acoustic guitar? I don't think so. Sure, Pg. 99 is a vastly different band than, say, Moss Icon, but the two are in the same genre because of their sound and their content. Sure, Pg. 99 was a band with songs that make your vocal chords bleed just listen to them. Sure, Moss Icon sounds more like one of today's louder Indie bands, at times. But the two are, inherently, the same, because of their sound and their content. Go read the Mall Emo section for more on the subject.
ON THE SUBJECT OF SCREAMO:
Screamo is the only subcategory of Emo. It is categorized by much more screaming than the average Emo band (and it shows, if you listen to Rites of Spring and then Orchid), but there really isn't much else that separates an Emo band from a Screamo band. However, Screamo is STILL Emo, and still must follow the rules of Emo.
The phrase "Post-Emo" (which has been kicking around for awhile) seems to imply that, not only is Emo a dead genre, but it shares a lot of the traits that Emo has. Now, compare a band like, say, A Fine Boat, That Coffin! and, say, Taking Back Sunday. Do they sound anything alike, besides the fact that Taking Back Sunday can be a bit loud at times? Not really. Or, how about Moss Icon and Dashboard Confessional? Do they share any major traits? I'm excluding style and such, I mean lyrics and such. Do they share anything? Not really. So how can Dashboard be Post-Emo Indie, whey aren't Post-anything?
In addition, Emo is a sub-genre. Punk, then hardcore, then Emo. So, then, Post-Emo Indie would be a sub-genre of Emo. So, how can those bands be Post-Emo Indie, when they don't truly share any traits with Punk, Hardcore, or Emo?
I agree that these bands, and the title, have been exploited. But is the best way to cope with that exploitation, to create a new title that exploits not only Emo, but Indie as well?
It's a pickle.
LABELS
Dischord Records was born in 1980. The first of their many almost unknown but brilliant albums was Teen Idles' Minor Disturbance 7". They went on to release albums by Minor Threat, (the afore mentioned) Rites of Spring, The Untouchables, and Government Issue. While Discord is not an Emo label, they don't need to be, as they released the first Emo band's music.
In the nervous morning light of 1990, Ebullition Records rose from the ground, in Goleta, California. Starting with Downcast's 7" , they started their legacy. Today, they are one of the most important labels, with bands such as Yage, Yaphet Kotto, Ampere, and Orchid.
1996 brought forth Magic Bullet Records, with the release of Boy Sets Fire's This Crying, This Screaming, My Voice is Being Born, and while Boy Sets Fire may not be Emo, Magic Bullet has produced some great Emo, such as Kodan Armada, Majority Rule, and To Dream of Autumn.
1997 marks the release of Saetias first record (a 7"), and the debut of Level-Plane Records, which is probably the most prominent Emo label out there, with bands such as Hot Cross (though they have moved to Equal Vision Records) Amanda Woodward, Gospel, Envy, City of Caterpillar, and Pg.99, and is still going strong today. It has released many influential albums, and is a huge part of todays Emo scene.
In 1998, Happy Couples Never Last began it's legacy. According to Clark of Happy Couples Never Last (who was kind enough to respond promptly to my email), their first release was the Majhas self-titled (featuring members of the proto-Nineties power violence band Ice Nine and later on, the guitarist of Fax Arcana), with their first vinyl release being the Usurp Synapse/Emotion Zero split 7".
While Happy Couples Never Last may be a label that does more than Emo (as most do), it has released albums by Usurp Synapse, Pageninetynine, and Breather Resist.
A NOTE TO READERS: This is but a short label history. It is by no means complete, as there are far too many labels to mention by name, and let's face it: I'm not creative enough to give interesting information on all of the labels with Emo bands on them. I have, however, covered several fairly important labels that have released albums by fairly prominent Emo bands, as a way to give you a taste of the forces behind the release of key records of the scene.
The Long List:
* 1905
* A Case Of Grenada
* Amanda Woodward
* Ampere
* Angel Hair
* Antioch Arrow
* Arse Moreira
* Assfactor 4
* Aussit't Mort
* Balaclava
* Baron Noir
* Blacken the Skies
* Boa Narrow
* Born Dead Icons
* Breather Resist
* Bucket Full of Teeth
* Burnman
* Calvary
* Circle Takes the Square
* City of Caterpillar
* Clikatat Ikatowi
* Cobra Kai
* Conation
* Corn On Macabre
* Cost of An Arm
* Cowboys Became Folk Heroes
* Creation is Crucifixion
* Crestfallen
* Current
* Daitro
* Danse Macabre
* Dear Diary I Seem To Be Dead
* Die, Emperor Die!
* Dispensing Of False Halos
* Efra
* Embrace
* Emo Summer
* Enoch Ardon
* Envy
* Evergreen
* Flashbulb Memory
* Former Members of Alfonsin
* Funeral Diner
* Get Fucked
* Gospel
* Harriet the Spy
* Heroin
* Hot Cross
* Hugs
* I Hate Myself
* Indian Summer
* I Wrote Haikus About Cannibalism In Your Yearbook
* I Would Set Myself on Fire for You
* I, Robot
* Index for Potential Suicide
* Joan Of Arc
* Joshua Fit for Battle
* Kakistocracy
* The Khayembii Communique
* Kobayashi
* The Kodan Armada
* La Quiete
* Lee Marvin Computer Arm
* Life at These Speeds
* Light the Fuse and Run
* Louise Cyphre
* Love Like... Electrocution
* Love Lost But Not Forgotten
* Make Me
* Malady
* Mannequin
* Mary Reilly
* Mass Movement of the Moth
* Mayans
* Maxamillian Colby
* Memento Mori
* Moss Icon
* Neil Perry
* Off Minor
* Orchid
* Palatka
* Pg.99
* Phoenix Bodies
* Please Inform the Captain This is a Hijack
* Plunger
* Policy of Three
* Portrait
* Portraits of Past
* Pretty Faces
* Raein
* Rites of Spring
* Ruhaeda
* Saetia
* Sakita Sarra
* Shikari
* Shotmaker
* Sinkthefucker
* Sl's3
* Sophora
* Stop It!
* Suis la Lune
* Systral
* Tafkata
* Takaru
* Ten Grand/The Vidablue
* The Apoplexy Twist Orchestra
* The Avenging Disco Godfathers of Soul
* The Disease
* The Holy Shroud
* The Infarto, Scheisse!
* The Spirit Of Versailles
* The State Secedes
* To Dreamo of Autumn
* Towers
* Transistor Transistor
* Turn Around Norman
* Twelve Hour Turn
* Uranus
* Usurp Synapse
* We Fly Our Kites at Night
* Whenallelsefails
* Wolves
* Wow, Owls!
* Yage
* Yaphet Kotto
* You and I
* Zegota
In the summer of 2005, I was talking to a friend about the state of music. Of course, the subject of Emo came up. This was a friend who actually knew what Emo was, and we eventually got pissed off beyond all reason. So, I said those fateful words: "I'm going to make a website about this." Unfortunately, I was 14 at the time, so, of course, I wasn't exactly mature. Regardless, what was written worked well. I think the semi-retarded approach to the subject kept people coming in. However, that bullshit isn't going to cut it anymore. So, we (Brian, Marissa, and I [Holly]) decided it was about time to re-write everything. After all, if we're going to be getting this shit out to a larger audience, it would be better to present as mature.
Contrary to popular belief, Emo is not short for Emotional, at least not really. It is not a style, either. It has nothing to do with cutting yourself, or boys with swooping haircuts taking pictures of themselves. Emo is not about whining about your problems. It's got nothing to do with your girlfriend breaking up with you. If you believe that, you're exercising your right to do so. This does not, however, make you correct.
Emo is short for Emotional, sort of. It's short for Emotional Hardcore. Say it with me, folks. And repeat it several times to yourself. The thing I've never gotten is how people can even begin to believe that it�s short for "Emotional", because, well, the theme song for Fraggle Rock is emotional, for christ's sakes.
One response I usually get, when I say that it's short for Emotional Hardcore, is "Well, if all music is emotional, wouldn't it just be Hardcore?" I respond with telling them what the word "Emotional" means, when talking about Emo. The emotional aspect of Emo comes from the lyrics. They are, of course, emotionally driven, but usually actually about one emotion or another. It's usually about anger towards something, or whatever you want. Its instrumentals are brutal and loud, and seemingly random. They are the instrumental equivalent of screaming your lungs out.
Another question I get a lot is, "What if an Emo band got popular? Would it stop being Emo?" The answer is: No, it wouldn't. In the recent months, Circle Takes The Square has gotten somewhat popular, thank god.
However, people need to understand that Emo is essentially DIY punk. It cannot be mainstream. It can be as popular as it can possibly get. But it's still not mainstream. When we say DIY, we mean it gets where it gets without corporate promotion, and it's produced independently. What happens if you happen to see a Yage album at Wal-Mart? You stop taking drugs. This wouldn't happen. You're probably only going to find their album at, say, an independent record store. Even those don't always carry what you want. It's usually best to go with a distribution (or 'distro') website. You'll notice that those sites rarely charge very much for music, and they usually carry vinyl as well. They're always worth a look, and I have yet to find a distro that I wouldn't use again.
When I think about the songs I've heard, only one song comes to mind that's Emo and about a break-up: Venus & Bacchus by Saetia. But, take note: It isn't a "boo hoo, my girlfriend broke up with me, I'm gonna whine about it" song. It's about how much the guy hates what the girl did.
Emo started in the 80s, with a little band by the name of Rites Of Spring. While this is arguable, as the Husker Du album Zen Arcade, which is said to have started the style, came out before Rites Of Spring's End On End album. But I digress. Rites Of Spring were only together from the spring of 1984 through the winter of 1986, but in that span of time, they set the stage for the shape of punk to come. The term Emo started when people at Rites Of Spring concerts started yelling "You're emo!" at them. This is part of why people say Rites Of Spring started Emo. I tend to go with this, partially because I don't like the thought that an album started the genre. It makes more sense that the band themselves did.
Emo sparked and faded a bit, until the legendary band Moss Icon came along. In my personal opinion, while Rites Of Spring started the genre, Moss Icon perfected it. Their album Lyburnum is widely considered one of the best Emo albums around, as it's the ideal album. In my experience, the music on the album is perfect for beginners, as it's not too loud, but it's not quiet, either.
Other bands like Embrace (the US version), Faith, Void, and so on ruled the scene, blazing the trail for the new subgenre of hardcore.
After awhile, the sub-movement of Screamo began. Bands like Palatka and Swing Kids were the new norm. It was loud, fast, and it could easily kill you, if you weren't careful. This kind of music has become the new norm for Emo bands, but the unfortunate thing is that, nine times our of ten, it sounds like random syllables being screamed.
One thing that I don't like is that people talk about "the waves of emo" This doesn't work, because it usually includes what's considered Emo today. Yes, genres do change as the years go by. Rock has stopped being about sex and drugs, and started being more about that and more about relationships. Rockers have started talking about "making love". But genres do not become the polar opposite. Does it really make sense that a bunch of guys screaming could really evolve into one guy with an acoustic guitar? I don't think so. Sure, Pg. 99 is a vastly different band than, say, Moss Icon, but the two are in the same genre because of their sound and their content. Sure, Pg. 99 was a band with songs that make your vocal chords bleed just listen to them. Sure, Moss Icon sounds more like one of today's louder Indie bands, at times. But the two are, inherently, the same, because of their sound and their content. Go read the Mall Emo section for more on the subject.
ON THE SUBJECT OF SCREAMO:
Screamo is the only subcategory of Emo. It is categorized by much more screaming than the average Emo band (and it shows, if you listen to Rites of Spring and then Orchid), but there really isn't much else that separates an Emo band from a Screamo band. However, Screamo is STILL Emo, and still must follow the rules of Emo.
The phrase "Post-Emo" (which has been kicking around for awhile) seems to imply that, not only is Emo a dead genre, but it shares a lot of the traits that Emo has. Now, compare a band like, say, A Fine Boat, That Coffin! and, say, Taking Back Sunday. Do they sound anything alike, besides the fact that Taking Back Sunday can be a bit loud at times? Not really. Or, how about Moss Icon and Dashboard Confessional? Do they share any major traits? I'm excluding style and such, I mean lyrics and such. Do they share anything? Not really. So how can Dashboard be Post-Emo Indie, whey aren't Post-anything?
In addition, Emo is a sub-genre. Punk, then hardcore, then Emo. So, then, Post-Emo Indie would be a sub-genre of Emo. So, how can those bands be Post-Emo Indie, when they don't truly share any traits with Punk, Hardcore, or Emo?
I agree that these bands, and the title, have been exploited. But is the best way to cope with that exploitation, to create a new title that exploits not only Emo, but Indie as well?
It's a pickle.
LABELS
Dischord Records was born in 1980. The first of their many almost unknown but brilliant albums was Teen Idles' Minor Disturbance 7". They went on to release albums by Minor Threat, (the afore mentioned) Rites of Spring, The Untouchables, and Government Issue. While Discord is not an Emo label, they don't need to be, as they released the first Emo band's music.
In the nervous morning light of 1990, Ebullition Records rose from the ground, in Goleta, California. Starting with Downcast's 7" , they started their legacy. Today, they are one of the most important labels, with bands such as Yage, Yaphet Kotto, Ampere, and Orchid.
1996 brought forth Magic Bullet Records, with the release of Boy Sets Fire's This Crying, This Screaming, My Voice is Being Born, and while Boy Sets Fire may not be Emo, Magic Bullet has produced some great Emo, such as Kodan Armada, Majority Rule, and To Dream of Autumn.
1997 marks the release of Saetias first record (a 7"), and the debut of Level-Plane Records, which is probably the most prominent Emo label out there, with bands such as Hot Cross (though they have moved to Equal Vision Records) Amanda Woodward, Gospel, Envy, City of Caterpillar, and Pg.99, and is still going strong today. It has released many influential albums, and is a huge part of todays Emo scene.
In 1998, Happy Couples Never Last began it's legacy. According to Clark of Happy Couples Never Last (who was kind enough to respond promptly to my email), their first release was the Majhas self-titled (featuring members of the proto-Nineties power violence band Ice Nine and later on, the guitarist of Fax Arcana), with their first vinyl release being the Usurp Synapse/Emotion Zero split 7".
While Happy Couples Never Last may be a label that does more than Emo (as most do), it has released albums by Usurp Synapse, Pageninetynine, and Breather Resist.
A NOTE TO READERS: This is but a short label history. It is by no means complete, as there are far too many labels to mention by name, and let's face it: I'm not creative enough to give interesting information on all of the labels with Emo bands on them. I have, however, covered several fairly important labels that have released albums by fairly prominent Emo bands, as a way to give you a taste of the forces behind the release of key records of the scene.
The Long List:
* 1905
* A Case Of Grenada
* Amanda Woodward
* Ampere
* Angel Hair
* Antioch Arrow
* Arse Moreira
* Assfactor 4
* Aussit't Mort
* Balaclava
* Baron Noir
* Blacken the Skies
* Boa Narrow
* Born Dead Icons
* Breather Resist
* Bucket Full of Teeth
* Burnman
* Calvary
* Circle Takes the Square
* City of Caterpillar
* Clikatat Ikatowi
* Cobra Kai
* Conation
* Corn On Macabre
* Cost of An Arm
* Cowboys Became Folk Heroes
* Creation is Crucifixion
* Crestfallen
* Current
* Daitro
* Danse Macabre
* Dear Diary I Seem To Be Dead
* Die, Emperor Die!
* Dispensing Of False Halos
* Efra
* Embrace
* Emo Summer
* Enoch Ardon
* Envy
* Evergreen
* Flashbulb Memory
* Former Members of Alfonsin
* Funeral Diner
* Get Fucked
* Gospel
* Harriet the Spy
* Heroin
* Hot Cross
* Hugs
* I Hate Myself
* Indian Summer
* I Wrote Haikus About Cannibalism In Your Yearbook
* I Would Set Myself on Fire for You
* I, Robot
* Index for Potential Suicide
* Joan Of Arc
* Joshua Fit for Battle
* Kakistocracy
* The Khayembii Communique
* Kobayashi
* The Kodan Armada
* La Quiete
* Lee Marvin Computer Arm
* Life at These Speeds
* Light the Fuse and Run
* Louise Cyphre
* Love Like... Electrocution
* Love Lost But Not Forgotten
* Make Me
* Malady
* Mannequin
* Mary Reilly
* Mass Movement of the Moth
* Mayans
* Maxamillian Colby
* Memento Mori
* Moss Icon
* Neil Perry
* Off Minor
* Orchid
* Palatka
* Pg.99
* Phoenix Bodies
* Please Inform the Captain This is a Hijack
* Plunger
* Policy of Three
* Portrait
* Portraits of Past
* Pretty Faces
* Raein
* Rites of Spring
* Ruhaeda
* Saetia
* Sakita Sarra
* Shikari
* Shotmaker
* Sinkthefucker
* Sl's3
* Sophora
* Stop It!
* Suis la Lune
* Systral
* Tafkata
* Takaru
* Ten Grand/The Vidablue
* The Apoplexy Twist Orchestra
* The Avenging Disco Godfathers of Soul
* The Disease
* The Holy Shroud
* The Infarto, Scheisse!
* The Spirit Of Versailles
* The State Secedes
* To Dreamo of Autumn
* Towers
* Transistor Transistor
* Turn Around Norman
* Twelve Hour Turn
* Uranus
* Usurp Synapse
* We Fly Our Kites at Night
* Whenallelsefails
* Wolves
* Wow, Owls!
* Yage
* Yaphet Kotto
* You and I
* Zegota
ESTIMADOS HERMANOS:
ReplyDeleteSolicito la reanudacion de la mara EMOS para convalecer a los violadores sexuales benignos con la parafilia voyeurista y con el coito dorsal y tambien para exterminar sexualmente a los violadores sexuales malignos con la necrofilia voyeurista en el caso de los varones inescrupulosos. En el caso de las mujeres inescrupulosas, resarcirlas parafílicamente vaginal y coitalmente vaginal cuando son benignas y cuando son malignas, resacirlas necrofílicamente con las féminas verdugas.
Atentamente:
Jorge Vinicio Santos Gonzalez,
Documento de identificacion personal:
1999-01058-0101 Guatemala,
Cédula de Vecindad:
ORDEN: A-1, REGISTRO: 825,466,
Ciudadano de Guatemala de la América Central.