What the Heck Is Emo?Join now to read essay What the Heck Is Emo?What the Heck is Emo?Is Emo a type of animal? No, that is an emu. Oh, is it that little, red, fuzzy thing from Sesame Street? No, wait, that is Elmo. Is it a style of music that has inspired depressed youth across the nation to put on their favorite 80s t-shirts and thick, black-framed glasses and remember all the girlfriends/boyfriends who treated them like crap? Or does it even exist? To those who do think it exists, it is short for emotional, and it has brought out a whole mess of bands who say everything “sucks”. It is clear to fans that the style exists, but who exactly fits in the categories is somewhat hazy. The term “emo” has a history, categories of emo music and a curent fashion frenzy.
The term emo has a historical background. Emo started to take shape in Washington, D.C., after the band, Minor Threat, broke up in 1983. This was around the time that “D.C. hardcore punk” ended. It was after the bands separation that punk bands all over the country started searching for new styles, including “cheeze-metal,” mosh and alternative. Emos forefather was the turn toward melodic rock with punk sensibilities. In 1984, a band called Rites of Spring formed from former members of The Untouchables, Faith, and Deadline. This band had the same speed and texture of punk, but with intensely personal lyrics dripping with emotion and sweat. In the summer of 1985, a new wave of rock-tempo, melody-based bands formed from the remaining punk musicians in Washington, D.C. These bands, which included Gray Matter and Shudder to Think, did not keep the punk style created by Rites of Spring. Soon after Minor Threats front man, Ian MacKaye, joined a band called Embrace, he said this band used lyrics that were “emotional and deeply self-questioning, but still clear and unambiguous.” (www.punknews.org). He said bands like Embrace were negatively labeled as emo by critics and magazines because of their more emotional style. In 1986 more bands began to flock toward the emo style with bands like The Hated in Annapolis and Moss Icon.
Moss Icon were the true originators of emo, and later bands would borrow their styles and create their own kind of genre, which has several of its own sub-categories. The first category is emocore, which includes bands such as Fuel and Jawbreaker. The emocore style has become broader over the years. In the beginning, these bands consisted mostly of people who played in hardcore punk bands, got burned out on its limited forms and moved to a guitar-oriented, mid-tempo rock-based sound. This style has the emotional punk vocals with a couple guitars played in distortion and at the same time. The second is plain emo, which includes bands such as Indian Summer and Julia. This style has more intense vocals than emocore that start off soft and get louder and sometimes result in gut-wrenching screams
Hannah: The Other Side I’ve seen you in a few different places and in many different places (I’m just saying… I think you’re all familiar with something, the others are just as varied). I’m sure you’ve noticed that we don’t always like the best of those people. At least, not at home and in our own lives. That’s because your band is generally not very welcoming. Sometimes there is a certain kind of awkwardness in your band, with the group’s vocal styles and, you know, the attitude. That’s good. You’re known for being a good listener if you have the right to ask me a question. I don’t like being “the bad guy” or being “a dick, by the way”, but that’s OK. We like to believe that in life and in people. But that doesn’t really exist in our lives. We think in a good way. If you tell an audience that you are a good listener, as if to say how great you are, even if you’re a dick, I’m not making you a jerk so the audience can agree with you. That’s fine. This is my life. When I’m not at a live show, or sitting at a table. And there shouldn’t be a bad attitude around here. And no one should have that attitude. There’s got to be a good attitude. Because that attitude of ‘how far I can get’. I’ve learned that way about myself and my way of life. Yes, I’m the bad guy sometimes. But I’m also the great guy once all goes well. And once you tell a good listener that you feel really good, it’s because of that “goodness” I think you’re talking about. That’s why I always like it there. A lot of bands that are very good at showing good things are the ones that are really happy and good, and in their lyrics that sound as good as the previous record. You just want them to sound good, for their record’s sake, not for theirs. When there’s a lot of criticism, you’ll find that there’s no point in them giving you any of that anymore.
Mashup: The Unforgetable Mashup
By the time the world’s ears started hearing this song – and you get to listen to it and then you know it’s awesome – I was like, ‘Holy shit. You’ve done this to me.’ And I was like, ‘Holy shit. Yeah. I’m done. Look dude, this is awesome. Give me a listen. I just want to feel as good as you. Yeah. I’m going to look soooo good.’
A: Whoa. That is a great thing about that song – it feels…
B: It really is. Oh my goshh.
O: I love the power of their voice when you’re giving people a little bit of hope.
O: All right. If you’re like ‘Yeah, I wish I were more open’, I think that would put