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Emo is a subgenre of hardcore punk music. Since its inception, emo has come to describe several independent variations, linked loosely but with common ancestry. As such, use of the term has been the subject of much debate.

In its original incarnation, the term emo was used to describe the music of the mid-1980s Washington, 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 strongly 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 style of emo, more melodic and less chaotic in nature than its predecessor. The so-called "indie emo" scene survived until the late 1990s, as many of the bands either disbanded or shifted to mainstream styles.

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.

Emotional What?

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 Circle Takes The Square 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 80’s, 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. Go read the Mall Emo section for more on the subject.

MTVmo

If you consider Mall Emo a genre, Sunny Day Real Estate would probably be the equivalent of Rites Of Spring. They’re widely considered the first band to be called Emo. Why? No clue.

The false term had pretty much died until bands like Taking Back Sunday, Fall Out Boy, and My Chemical Romance hit the scene. Suddenly, everybody donned tight jeans and started cutting themselves, for no apparent reason, and began listening to what they considered “Emo”, because the bands had written songs that they could apparently relate to. Songs not to get married to, if you will. Thanks to Reggie And The Full Effect for the great title. Now, the term applies to band from At The Drive-In to Coheed & Cambria to Panic At The Disco.

The burning question is why people call these bands Emo. The obvious reason would probably be because Spin, Alternative Press, and MTV call them Emo. But why do they call them Emo? If you think about it, it doesn’t make much sense. The term has been around since the mid-80’s, and the music-related media didn’t begin using it until around 15 years later, give or take, for music that sounds nothing like the actual genre. So why did they hijack the term? If anyone has any insight on the subject, feel free to share with us.

A lot of the time, people ask us why bands like Blood Brothers, Underoath, and Norma Jean aren’t Emo? That’s quite simple: They don’t have the same sound as Emo. They aren’t nearly as hard as modern Emo bands, so how can they be part of the same genre? And never mind the fact that Blood Brothers are Post-Hardcore anyway. But these bands aren’t DIY. As mentioned in the Emo page, a band must be DIY to be part of the Emo genre. If they don’t have that, they aren’t in. It’s odd, but true. Also, Underoath is a Jesus band, anyway. Same with Norma Jean.

Something I hear a lot is that “everyone has their own opinion, and if their opinion is that (Insert Band Here) is Emo, that’s their choice.” Well, yes, it is their right, but that doesn’t make them right, does it? This is not something that’s based on opinions. Emo is a genre of music, and because of this, the band has to be certain things to be part of that genre. This is something that is based on fact. And the fact is, these people are wrong about what they think. If someone thought Iron Maiden was Rap, would you tell them they were wrong? Of course you would, because they aren’t right about what they’re talking about. So why should you let them go on thinking that? Of course not. So you shouldn’t condemn us for telling people that what they think is Emo really isn’t.

Different Subgenres

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. You may have been to Fourfa, and heard terms such as Emocore and Emo Violence. Well, I'm here to tell you that the creator of this site (Fourfa, I mean) simply did not know what he was talking about. There is no Post Emo Indie Rock. Just good ol' Emo. Post-Emo Indie can't be a genre because there is no Post Emo. It's still alive and kicking. Post-Hardcore works because Hardcore as a genre has all but died.

Also, the phrase "Post-Emo" 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?

EMO Bands

1905

A Case Of Grenada Amanda Woodward Ampere Angel Hair

Antioch Arrow Arse Moreira

Assfactor 4 Aussitôt 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

Mall Emo Bands

AFI ...And you Will Know us by the Trail of the Dead Alexisonfire Alkaline Trio As I Lay Dying (I like The Sound and the Fury better) At the Drive-In (How in fuck's name can they be considered Emo?!) Atreyu Bleed the Dream Blink 182 Blood Brothers Brand New Bright Eyes Coheed & Cambria (believe it or not!)

Cursive Dashboard Confessional Death Cab for Cutie Emery Fall Out Boy Finch From Autumn to Ashes From First to Last Funeral for a Friend (I prefer Candle in the Wind) Good Charlotte Green Day Hawthorne Heights Hellogoodbye Jimmy Eat World Juliana Theory Kill Hannah Linkin Park Mae Matchbook Romance mewithoutyou My Chemical Romance New Found Glory Norma Jean Panic! At The Disco (The supreme evil)

Promise Ring Reliant K

Saves the Day Senses Fail Silverstein Simple Plan Something Corporate Sparta

Spitafield Straylight Run Story of the Year Sunny Day Real Estate (they're the Mall Emo equivalent of Rites of Spring) Taking Back Sunday The Cure The Format The Get-Up Kids The Mars Volta (Same with them!) The Postal Service The Starting Line The Used Thrice Thursday Weezer (AND THEM!) Yellowcard Almost ANY band who has ever been on any Warped Tour

Bibliography

• Radin, Andy. "What the heck *is* emo, anyway?". Retrieved July 17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
• Andersen, Mark (2001). Dance Of Days, Two Decades of Punk In The Nations Capitol. Soft Skull Press. ISBN 1-887128-49-2.
• Greenwald, Andy (2003). Nothing Feels Good. St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 0-312-30863-9.

External links

• Emo
• Hardcore punk
• Punk
• Punk genres
• Music of Washington, D.C.