Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 02:02, 20 July 2011

Emo (/ˈiːmoʊ/) is a style of rock music typically characterized by melodic musicianship and expressive, often confessional lyrics. It originated in the mid-1980s hardcore punk movement of Washington, D.C., where it was known as "emotional hardcore" or "emocore" and pioneered by bands such as Rites of Spring and Embrace. As the style was echoed by contemporary American punk rock bands, its sound and meaning shifted and changed, blending with pop punk and indie rock and encapsulated in the early 1990s by groups such as Jawbreaker and Sunny Day Real Estate. By the mid 1990s numerous emo acts emerged from the Midwestern and Central United States, and several independent record labels began to specialize in the style.

Emo broke into mainstream culture in the early 2000s with the platinum-selling success of Jimmy Eat World and Dashboard Confessional and the emergence of the subgenre "screamo". In recent years the term "emo" has been applied by critics and journalists to a variety of artists, including multiplatinum acts and groups with disparate styles and sounds.

In addition to music, "emo" is often used more generally to signify a particular relationship between fans and artists, and to describe related aspects of fashion, culture, and behavior.

Offshoots

Screamo

The term "screamo" was initially applied to a more aggressive offshoot of emo that developed in San Diego in 1991, which used short songs that grafted "spastic intensity to willfully experimental dissonance and dynamics." Screamo is a particularly dissonant style of emo influenced by hardcore punk and uses typical rock instrumentation, but is noted for its brief compositions, chaotic execution, and screaming vocals. The genre is "generally based in the aggressive side of the overarching punk-revival scene." The style began in 1991, in San Diego, at the Ché Café, with groups such as Heroin, Antioch Arrow, Angel Hair, Mohinder, Swing Kids, and Portraits of Past. These groups were influenced by Washington D.C. post-hardcore (particularly Fugazi and Nation of Ulysses), straight edge, the Chicago group Articles of Faith, hardcore punk band Die Kreuzen and post-punk, such as Joy Division and Bauhaus.

Some bands that formed in the United States during the late 1990s and remained active throughout the 2000s, such as Thursday, Thrice, and Poison the Well made screamo much more popular. Many of these bands took influence from the likes of Refused and At the Drive-In. By the mid-2000s, the over-saturation of the screamo scene caused many bands to purposefully expand past the genre’s trademarks and incorporate more experimental elements. Even bands that weren’t necessarily screamo would often use the style's characteristic guttural vocal style. Derek Miller, guitarist for the post-hardcore band Poison the Well, claimed that the term screamo "describes a thousand different genres." According to Jeff Mitchell of Iowa State Daily, "there is no set definition of what screamo sounds like but screaming over once deafeningly loud rocking noise and suddenly quiet, melodic guitar lines is a theme commonly affiliated with the genre." Juan Gabe, vocalist for the band Comadre, alleged that the term "has been kind of tainted in a way, especially in the States."

Emo pop

"Emo pop," also called "emo pop punk," emerged as an offshoot from emo that also embraces pop music influences, such as more concise songs and hook filled choruses. Allmusic describes the style as blending "youthful angst" with "slick production" and mainstream appeal, using "high-pitched melodies, rhythmic guitars, and lyrics concerning adolescence, relationships, and heartbreak." Britain's The Guardian described the style as a cross between "saccharine boy-band pop" and emo. Modern emo pop bands have toned down extremities in loud/soft variations to provide a more widespread appeal.

As emo became more successful in the mid-1990s due to the rise of grunge, emo pop was developed by bands such as The Wrens, which pioneered a form of emo-pop on 1996's Secaucus, and Weezer, which in 1996 released the definitive emo pop album Pinkerton. Other bands which put out emo pop releases in the 90s included Sense Field, Jejune, Alkaline Trio, and The Get Up Kids. As emo became commercially successful in the early 2000s, the emo pop movement was birthed by Jimmy Eat World's 2001 release Bleed American and the success of that album's single "The Middle". Genre pioneers Weezer and The Wrens both saw great success in this new movement, the former with its release The Green Album and the latter with Meadowlands, which "reinvented punk-pop for the new generation". As the genre coalesced, the record label Fueled by Ramen became a center of the movement, releasing platinum selling albums from bands like Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the Disco, and Paramore. Two main regional scenes developed; in Florida the scene was created by the label Fueled by Ramen and the band Dashboard Confessional, and in the Midwest emo-pop was promoted by Pete Wentz, whose band Fallout Boy rose to the front of the style in the mid-2000s. In 2008, the band Cash Cash released Take It to the Floor, which Allmusic stated could be "the definitive statement of airheaded, glittery, and content-free emo-pop. Allmusic further stated that with this release "the transformation of emo from the expression of intensely felt, ripped-from-the-throat feelings played by bands directly influenced by post-punk and hardcore to mall-friendly Day-Glo pop played by kids who look about as authentic as the "punks" on an old episode of Quincy did back in the '70s was made pretty much complete with the release of Cash Cash's Take It to the Floor album."

Fashion and stereotype

Today emo is commonly tied to both music and fashion as well as the emo subculture. Usually among teens, the term "emo" is stereotyped with wearing slim-fit jeans, sometimes in bright colors, and tight t-shirts (usually short-sleeved) which often bear the names of emo bands. Studded belts and black wristbands are common accessories in emo fashion. Some males also wear thick, black horn-rimmed glasses.

The emo fashion is also recognized for its hairstyles. Popular looks include long side-swept bangs, sometimes covering one or both eyes. Also popular is hair that is straightened and dyed black. Bright colors, such as blue, pink, red, or bleached blond, are also typical as highlights in emo hairstyles. Short, choppy layers of hair are also common. This fashion has at times been characterized as a fad. In the early 2000s, emo fashion was associated with a clean cut look, but as the style spread to younger teenagers, the style has become darker, with long bangs and emphasis on the color black replacing sweater vests.

Emo has been associated with a stereotype that includes being particularly emotional, sensitive, shy, introverted, or angst-ridden. It has also been associated with depression, self-injury, and suicide.

Criticism and controversy

Gender bias

Emo has been criticized for its androcentrism. Andy Greenwald notes that there are very few women in emo bands, and that even those few do not typically have an active voice in the songs' subject matter: "Though emo—and to a certain degree, punk—has always been a typically male province, the monotony of the labels' gender perspective can be overwhelming." The triumph of the "lonely boy's aesthetic" in emo, coupled with the style's popularity, has led to a litany of one-sided songs in which males vent their fury at the women who have wronged them: Some emo bands' lyrics disguise violent anti-women sentiments in a veneer of pop music. However, despite emo's frequent portrayal of women as powerless victims, fans of the style are from both genders, and some acts have even greater popularity with women than with men. One explanation for this is that the unifying appeal of emo, its expression of emotional devastation, can be appreciated equally by both sexes regardless of the songs' specific subjects.

Backlash

The genre emo inspired a backlash movement in response to its rapid growth. Several bands considered to be "emo" rejected the label for the social stigma and controversy surrounding it. Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman stated that there was a "real backlash" among bands on the tour towards emo groups, but he dismissed the hostility as "juvenile" in nature. The movement grew with intensity over time. Time reported in 2008 that "anti-emo" groups attacked teenagers in Mexico City, Querétaro, and Tijuana. In Russia, a law was presented at the Duma to regulate emo websites and forbid emo style at schools and government buildings, for fears of emo being a "dangerous teen trend" promoting anti-social behaviour, depression, social withdrawal and even suicide. In May 2010 in Saudi Arabia, the religious police in the city of Dammam arrested 10 emo girls for allegedly offensive un-Islamic behaviour and dress.

Suicide

Emo music has been blamed for the suicide by hanging of teenager Hannah Bond by both the coroner at the inquest into her death and her mother, Heather Bond, after it was claimed that emo music glamorized suicide and her apparent obsession with My Chemical Romance was said to be linked to her suicide. The inquest heard that she was part of an Internet "emo cult" and her Bebo page contained an image of an 'emo girl' with bloody wrists. It also heard that she had discussed the "glamour" of hanging online and had explained to her parents that her self harming was an "emo initiation ceremony". Heather Bond criticised emo fashion, saying: "There are 'emo' websites that show pink teddies hanging themselves." After the verdict was reported in NME, fans of emo music contacted the magazine to defend against accusations that it promotes self harm and suicide.

References

1. ^ Jason Heller, "Feast of Reason". Denver Westword, June 20, 2002. Access date: June 15, 2008
2. ^ Explore style: Screamo at Allmusic Music Guide
3. "A Day with the Locust", L.A. Weekly, September 18, 2003 Access date: June 19, 2008
4. Local Cut, Q&A with Aaron Montaigne. May 14, 2008. Access date: June 11, 2008.
5. Ebullition Catalog, Portraits of Past discography. Access date: August 9, 2008.
6. "Blood Runs Deep: 23 A hat". Alternative Press. 2008-07-07. p. 126.
7. Swing Kids covered "Warsaw"; Justin Pearson discusses Joy Division's influence in an interview on Skatepunk.net, Access date: June 13, 2008
8. http://www.jimdero.com/OtherWritings/OtherScreamoGW.htm
9. Mitchell, Jeff (July 26, 2001). "A Screamin' Scene". Iowa State Daily. Retrieved September 11, 2010.
10. Jan, "Yellow is the new pink", 18-04-07
11. ^ Grehan, Keith (25 January 2011). "An Emotional Farewell?". Trinity News. WordPress. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
12. ^ "Explore: Emo-Pop". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
13. Lester, Paul (8 December 2008). "New band of the day - No 445: Metro Station". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 June 2011. They peddle "emo-pop", a sort of cross between saccharine boy-band pop and whatever it is that bands like Panic! at the Disco and Fall Out Boy do – emo, let's be frank.
14. ^ Piero Scaruffi (2010). "The History of Rock Music: 1990-1999" (PDF).
15. SPIN Mobile (23 February 2011). "Weezer Reveal 'Pinkerton' Reissue Details". Spin Magazine. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
16. ^ Kieper, Nicole (2001). "Sense Field: Tonight and Forever - Nettwerk America". CMJ New Music Monthly. CMJ Network. Retrieved 10 June 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
17. Piero Scaruffi (2003). "The History of Rock Music. Alkaline Trio: biography, discography, reviews, links". The History of Rock Music. Piero Scaruffi. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
18. Butler, Blake (2002). "Four Minute Mile". All music guide to rock: the definitive guide to rock, pop, and soul. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 462. Retrieved 10 June 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
19. Piero Scaruffi. "Wrens: biography, discography, reviews, links". The History of Rock Music. Piero Scaruffi. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
20. Loftus, Johnny. "Fall Out Boy". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
21. Futterman, Erica. "Fall Out Boy Biography". Rolling Stone Magazine. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
22. ^ Sendra, Tim. "Take It to the Floor". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
23. Emo Culture - Why The Long Fringe?. Nightline. 3news. 2006-07-05. Event occurs at 1:17–1:22.
24. Knot Magazine – "In Defense of Emo"
25. Incendiary Magazine – "EMO: What Is It?"
26. "Label it. .. emo". gURL. iVillage Inc. Retrieved 2007-03-11. {{cite web}}: |first= missing |last= (help)
27. Poretta, JP (2007-03-03). "Cheer up Emo Kid, It's a Brand New Day". The Fairfield Mirror. Retrieved 2007-03-08.
28. Geek chic look is clean cut
29. La Gorce, Tammy (2007-08-14). "Finding Emo". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-10-20.
30. Bunning, Shane (2006-06-08). "The attack of the clones: an emo-lution in the fashion industry". Newspace, University of Queensland, School of Journalism and Communication. Retrieved 2007-10-20. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help)
31. Stiernberg, Bonnie (2007-03-13). "What is emo?". The Daily illini. Retrieved 2007-10-20. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help)
32. Sands, Sarah (August 16, 2006). "EMO cult warning for parents". The Daily Mail. Retrieved 2007-03-11.
33. Walsh, Jeremy (2007-10-18). "Bayside takes Manhattan". Queens Time Ledger. Archived from the original on 2007-10-21. Retrieved 2007-10-20. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help)
34. Greenwald, pp. 133–134.
35. ^ Greenwald, p. 133.
36. Greenwald, p. 135.
37. Greenwald, pp. 137–138.
38. Greenwald, p. 139.
39. Allmusic ((( Panic at the Disco > Biography )))
40. "Panic! At The Disco declare emo "Bullshit!" The band reject "weak" stereotype". NME. 2006-10-18. Retrieved 2008-08-10.
41. Brett Sowerby (2007-09-20). "My Chemical Romance talks to The 'Campus". "The Maine Campus". Archived from the original on 2008-06-17. Retrieved 2008-08-10.
42. Pretty. Odd. : Panic at the Disco : Review : Rolling Stone
43. Matt Diehl (2007). My So-Called Punk. Macmillan. p. 83. ISBN 9780312337810.
44. Grillo, Ioan. "Mexico's Emo-Bashing Problem." Time. Thursday March 27, 2008. Retrieved on May 12, 2009.
45. Anti-EMO Attacks in Tijuana
46. "Emo to be made illegal in Russia? New laws planned to stop 'dangerous teen trends'". NME. 2008-07-23. Retrieved 2008-09-29.
47. Sean Michaels (2008-07-21). "Russia wages war on emo kids". The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-09-29.
48. "Saudi 'emo' girls busted by religious cops: report"
49. ^ Clench, James (2008-05-08). "Suicide of Hannah, the secret 'emo'". The Sun.
50. ^ "Emo music attacked over teen suicide". NME. 2008-05-08.
51. "Emo fans defend their music against suicide claims". NME. 2008-05-08.

Further reading

• Andersen, Mark (2001). Dance of Days, Two Decades of Punk in the Nation's Capitol. Soft Skull Press. ISBN 1-887128-49-2.

External links

• Ill-formatted IPAc-en transclusions
• Emo
• Hardcore punk
• Punk genres
• Music of Washington, D.C.
• Subcultures
• Words coined in the 1980s
• 2000s in music
• Musical subcultures