› What is Emo
Picture it: the Washington DC music scene of the mid-1980s. Hardcore music is the prevalent genre of any real import: Bad Brains, Teen Idles, Minor Threat et all are tearing up venues with hedonistic abandon, and a small minority is getting sick of it. Sick of the drugs, the drink, the vapidity of hardcore music in its increasing popularity. Things had to change. With this realization on the part of the likes of Rites of Spring and Embrace, the genre which would later be mockingly referred to as 'emocore' was born in DC in the late '80s. The music was softer, slower and more technical, with lyrics on the personal rather than political scale. Distorted guitars strumming octave chords and strained vocals were the order in this new genre soon to evolve into the genre of 'emo'.
The sound of classic emo was more brutal than its predecessor emocore: there was a lot of play on quiet-loud, soft-harsh dynamic shifts in the music; songs became movements rather than mere songs. Once again, octave chords were used to drive the music along with a certain sense of desperation and urgency. Vocals ranged from a whisper to a howl to mere talking, all in keeping with the mood of songs and emotion of the vocalist. Performances were often honest and earnest, with vocalists often breaking down into tears from this emotional outpouring that was their music. The lyrics tended to be abstract, difficult to decipher and, invariably, difficult to hear; all of which added to the mystique of the genre's music.
The mid-1990s brought with them a new generation of bands influenced by the work of Fugazi, such as Sunny Day Real Estate, Mineral and Texas is the Reason. In the fledgling era of the World Wide Web, internet discussion on these bands and other bands belonging to their scene led to their being tagged 'emo', even if Fugazi had had nothing to do with the First Wave of emo. The '90s period saw the first 'emo' mainstream record release in the form of Jimmy Eat World's Static Prevails. This genre of what is called 'post-emo indie' continued to rise in success up until the early 2000's, where it then met its end of mainstream popularity.
However, all of this is very much in the past: the modern definition of the term 'emo' has very little to do with the original '80s hardcore definition, or even the '90s indie definition. Jimmy Eat World 's shift from post-emo indie influences to a more poppy feel to their music led to the term still being applied to them, inexorably changing its meaning. 2003 saw the success of singer-songwriters such as Chris Carrabba (of Dashboard Confessional), who himself was seen to be at the forefront of a new movement of artists with (supposedly) overtly emotional music. MTV had to come up with a tag to market this movement at adolescents in a catchy manner, so the tag 'emo ' was chosen. This misnomer was expanded to many other bands with very little, if anything at all, in common: it is, therefore, pretty much impossible to define emo in the current musical climate, other than the assumption that it 's anything being marketed to teenagers. The term 'screamo' (which will be discussed later) was used to describe bands with a heavier sound, producing a similar cathartic-esque music. Current examples of 'emo'/'screamo' include:
- My Chemical Romance
- Fall Out Boy
- Dashboard Confessional
- Cursive
- Avenged Sevenfold
- Bring me The Horizon
- Panic(!) at the Disco
- From First to Last
- Senses Fail
- Taking Back Sunday
- Bright Eyes
- Coheed and Cambria
- Thursday
- and more�
The MTV generation of the term turned into more than just a genre of music: a subculture of sorts was born from it. Fashion and behavioural trends have been born from this: tight jeans, tight t-shirts, hair with bangs over eyes, studded belts, skate shoes and horn-rimmed glasses are all the order of the day to this subgenre of people. There 's a certain observed predilection to pseudo-depressive and histrionic behaviour with the 'emos': probably no more than a side effect of puberty in the eyes of a cynic.
Emo purists see the MTV generation to be a scourge upon the genre, making the definition between new and old emo clear: they use the term 'screamo' (or 'skramz' as a humorous way to differentiate between screamo and MTV screamo) to describe the (mostly European) bands sticking to the original emo formula. Internet terrorism has even been undertaken by these groups to make well-known faux screamo bands change any details which make them out to be screamo: they've made a lexical error into a political cause. Bands considered to be true screamo include Stella Dawes, Daitro, I Would Set Myself On Fire for You, Circle Takes the Square, Hot Cross, Saetia, Envy and Neil Perry.
› Emo Punk, Punk Emo Music
There are many subcultures across society, which are often identified most easily by the related music and fashion, and these include punks, goths and emos. Because these subcultures often evolved from similar beginnings there are bound to be some crossovers, and that's why you can get smaller groups within each one, such as emo punks. To put the word punk to anything means literally to be louder, brasher and more aggressive about everything, so emo punk represents the more rebellious, hardcore side to the emo culture.
The emo culture originally sprang from punk roots, and in the beginning the term was used to describe a more emotionally charged subgenre of hardcore punk in 1980s, usually referred to as 'emocore' with bands like Rites of Spring, Embrace and Moss Icon. In the mid 1990s the term emo become more associated with Indie rock, with bands like Sunny Day Real Estate, which was more melodic and less frenzied than punk rock and emocore. As emo moved into the late 1990's it become more and more accessible to the mainstream, with bands like Weezer producing globally successful albums, and also Deep Elm Records releasing the first instalment in what was to be the defining emo compilation series in the world, the Emo Diaries. In the new millennium emo began to become more and more popular, and artists like Chris Carrabba led the new move towards emo punk pop, a mix of melodic, thought provoking pop and catchy, jangling modern rock tunes. Many people who supported the more independent and less mainstream emo music of the 1980's and 90's resented this new move towards popularity, resulting in a serious rift in the genre and it is generally thought by these purveyors of authentic emo that the new emo punk pop sounds are a commercial sell out, with copy cat bands generated purely to make money. Fall Out Boy and Blink 182 hover on the edge of this debate, with their roots firmly in their emocore, underground backgrounds, but with new worldwide commercial success no doubt putting pressure on their creative direction. Fall Out Boy's recent releases have followed the emo punk pop vibe firmly with thoughtful and catchy rock/pop tunes, but the wider variety of influences in their most recent work (such as collaborations with R&B stars like Kanye West) has led some to question the direction the band are heading in, which wasn't helped but a recent cover of the king of commercial music Michael Jackson's 'Beat It', that had many serious emo types frowning deeply under their stylish fringes.
So emo punk is in part a revival of the emocore vibe of the 1980s, and in general describes the more energetic and rebellious section of the youthful emo scene. Basically those emo punks are those who are not content just to sit and home and listen to records and talk about music, but who want to get out there and be an active part of culture and society.
› Emo Kid
A users guide to recognising emos
Emo kids are sad creatures of the dark. They are characterized by their dress sense and also how in touch they are with certain emotions (i.e. the negative ones). Typically emos wear lots of black and will most likely have dyed hair (mainly black or sometimes colourful streaks) and write music, lyrics, or poems about the trials and tribulations of their torturous lives. Basically emos are sort of like goths...but with a lot less darkness and a lot more Harry Potter. Spotting an emo kid online is very easy as most have their username surrounded by Xs like so: xXxTinySadBrokenKittyxXx. Usually this would indicate that the user is Straight Edge (abstains from drug and alcohol). However in the emo community, things have different meanings. Their definition of straight edge is rather vertically displaceable. Emos can also be recognized online by their typing style. There are many variations of emo typing
1) The.kind.that.hasn't.found.the.space.key.yet.
2) Theonethathasn'tfoundthespacekeyorthefullstop
3) the ones that have found the space key but unfortunately have misplaced all other punctuation keys including capital letters this kind isnt so bad at first but it can get very very very very very very very annoying over long blocks of text as your never quite sure when the sentence has ending or where the pauses go and it all sort of jams together and makes very little sense to you as a reader
4) da 1s dat tlk in txt tlk dispit da fct dare r nt actuly txtin ne1
5) (The absolute worst) tHe oNeS wHo gO tO sTuPiD aMoUnTs oF eFFoRt To mAkE tHeIr pOsT aS UnReAdEraBlE aS PoSsIbLe. iTs aNnOyInG tO tHoSe wHo ReAD iT. iTs aNnOyInG tO tHoSe wHow wRiTe iT. aNd iTs eVen aNnOyInG tO tHoSe wHo dOn'T rEaD It...iTs cRaCkInG sTuFf!
Now that you know how to recognise them, it's time to learn how to tell them apart. As emos come in many different shapes and sizes. Here are some of the most common types of emos to look out for:
Poser Emo Kid
Poser emos are usually in their pre teens. They are not actually emos but rather pretend to be sad just to fit in with the other emos. They're are looked down upon by other emos because they have no real problems or anything to angst over, and are therefore not true emos.
Plastic Emo Kid
Also known as a prefect scene emos. The plastic emos are really just hot, prefect girls in their late teens with an emo haircut. They are not usually involved in the scene, as the plastic scene is all about looks. These are slightly more acceptable than posers as they have their hair and make up to angst over, which is a trademark of the emo community.
Emo Goth Kid
Possibly the most common kind, these emos are leaning more toward the goth spectrum - fashion wise at least - but emotionally they lack the anger needed to be a goth. As a result they can usually be spotted wandering apathetically around graveyards.
Camera Whore Emo Kid
This kind is only emo in front of the camera. They take hundred of picture of themselves pouting at strange angles, pick the best ones, and then photoshop them. This kind have hundred of friends on Myspace and possibly a few friends in real life as well!
Skater Emo Kid
An emo that wears baggy clothes and possibly even skates; exactly what it says on the tin! This emo is a bit more rebellious than the other kinds and spend more time in detention than the skate park.
Congratulations! Now that you've read our users guide to recognising emos you can feel smug in the knowledge that you are now an authority on strange breed of adolescent...or you can use this knowledge to yell "OI EMO!" at any emo kids you see...it's up to you really...
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