| Midwest emo | |
|---|---|
| Other names | Midwestern emo |
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | 1990s,Midwestern United States |
| Typical instruments |
|
| Derivative forms | Emo revival |
| Other topics | |
Midwest emo (orMidwestern emo[1]) is a subgenre[2] and scene ofemo music that emerged in the Midwestern United States during the 1990s. Employing unconventional vocal stylings, distinct guitar riffs andarpeggiated melodies,[3] Midwest emo bands shifted away from the genre'shardcore punk roots and drew onindie rock andmath rock approaches.[4] According to the author and criticAndy Greenwald, "this was the period when emo earned many, if not all, of the stereotypes that have lasted to this day: boy-driven, glasses-wearing, overly sensitive, overly brainy, chiming-guitar-driven college music."[5] Midwest emo is sometimes used interchangeably withsecond-wave emo,[6] and when referenced as a genre is often conflated withindie emo[7] orpost-emo indie rock.[8] While Midwest emo was initially associated to be music by the region, its sound and aesthetic gradually spread beyond the region. The style was adopted by artists across the United States and internationally.[9]
According toThe Chicago Reader critic Leor Galil, the second-wave bands of the Midwest emo scene "transformed the angular fury of D.C. emo into something malleable, melodic, and cathartic—its common features included cycling guitar parts, chugging bass lines, and unconventional singing that sounded like a sweet neighbor kid with no vocal training but plenty of heart."[10] According toLoudwire, midwest emo is sometimes incorrectly believed to be the sound of emo's first wave: "Depending on who you ask, we are currently on either our fourth or fifth wave of emo music. [...] Midwest emo is widely considered to be the second wave of emo. The first wave of emo music had a punk lean."[11]
Incorporating elements fromindie rock, the genre also features "gloomy chord progressions"[12] and arpeggiated guitar melodies,[3] which according toThe Post, results in "a much less intense version of emo." Midwest emo is also commonly associated with the use ofmath rock elements, which were utilized by 1990s bands such asSunny Day Real Estate andAmerican Football to "create the backbone" of the subgenre.[13]Texas Is the Reason guitarist Norman Brannon has stated that the 1993 albumsThe Problem with Me bySeam,In on the Kill Taker byFugazi, andOn the Mouth bySuperchunk were particularly influential, having been "name-checked by every second-wave emo band I knew."[14]Post-hardcore bandJawbox also impacted the sound of Midwest emo, being cited as an influence by such bands asBraid,[15][16]Elliott,[17]the Jazz June,[18] andBoys Life.[19]
The definable traits of the Midwest emo have proven to be easily fused with other genres of undergroundindependent music.Revival bands includingThe World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die mixed the Midwestern emo sound with genres such aspost-rock and orchestral music.[8] Other outfits, including Patterns Make Sunrise, The Pennikurvers, andEveryone Asked About You, introduced elements oftwee pop andindie pop into the sound of Midwest emo.[20] This proved influential to the aforementionedemo revival scene, with groups likeDowsing andEmpire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate) taking a similar approach.Midwest emo has also been described as a "whole band potluck"[21] with several bands bringing in experimental sounds to develop the genre. The result is "a musical casserole of introspective lyrics, DIY sprinkles, and heartfelt garnishes that cooked up the signature Midwest Emo scene, where everyone brought their own instruments to the party".[21] This style of shared sound and experimentation in the scene helped to develop the scene in the Midwest, where many alternative people[who?] feel there is a lack of culture.[22]
As early as 1983Squirrel Bait fromLouisville, Kentucky, were creating whatPunkNews called "early Midwestern emotional hardcore" noting "their influence can be heard in many contemporary pop-punk and emo bands".[23]AllMusic writer Steve Huey credited their music as "foreshadow[ing] the intense prog-punk that would become one wing of the emo movement".[24] The same year, Honor Role were formed inIndiana,[25] the band played a major part in the establishing of theChicago hardcore and emo scene.[26] The band was later based inRichmond, Virginia, in reference to whichSpin writer Andrew Beaujon noted the band "happened a little too early and a little too far south", to enter into traditional emo canon.[27]
Articles of Faith's posthumously releasedIn This Life (1987) was Chicago's first emo record.[28] Previously playing a conventional hardcore punk sound, the album saw the band experimenting with introspective lyrics and elements ofindie rock,[29] and would go on to influence the rise of emo and indie rock in the city.[29][28]AllMusic credited it as "kick-starting the emocore sound".[30]
Louisville bandSlint created experimental music thatSpin called "King Crimson gone emo",[31] they left an influence upon the subsequent fusion of emo and math rock.[32]
In the western suburbs of Chicago, particularlyDowners Grove, Illinois, an emo scene formed in the early 1990s, centred around Shakefork Records, including the bands Ivy League, Friction and Manneqvin Hand. The earliest of these bands wasGauge, who created a distinct, Midwestern take upon emo that was informed byhard rock and was the beginning of the Midwest emo genre,[33] making use of elements ofmath rock in order to create tension.[34] By 1994, the Midwest emo scene had begun to gain significant attention, largely due to their influence,[35] inspiring the sounds ofBraid,Cap'n Jazz,Joan of Arc andthe Promise Ring.[36][35] That same year Gauge disbanded.[35]
Braid was as an important act to propel the Midwest emo sound across the United States.[37][38] At the same time, some first wave emo bands within the Midwest began to change their style in favor of the new Midwest emo style, includingFalling Forward, who became Elliot;[39][40] andSplit Lip who becameChamberlain.[41] According to critic Jason Heller, 1996 saw the release of a number of "influential, epochal emo albums," includingChristie Front Drive'sself-titled debut, Chamberlain'sFate's Got a Driver, and Braid'sThe Age of Octeen.[42]
The Midwest emo scene came to prominence starting in the late-1990s as notable additional bands includingCursive,[43]Rainer Maria,[44] andthe Get Up Kids,[45] released their debuts. According to Andy Greenwald, "this was the period when emo earned many, if not all, of the stereotypes that have lasted to this day: boy-driven, glasses-wearing, overly sensitive, overly brainy, chiming-guitar-driven college music."[46]
The Promise Ring's music took a slower, smoother,pop punk approach to riffs, blending them with singerDavey von Bohlen'simagist lyrics delivered in a froggy croon and pronouncedlisp and playing shows in basements andVFW halls.[47] Jade Tree released their debut album,30° Everywhere, in 1996; it sold tens of thousands of copies and was successful by independent standards.[48] The Get Up Kids sold over 15,000 copies of their debut album,Four Minute Mile (1997), before signing with Vagrant. The label promoted them aggressively, sending them on tours opening forGreen Day andWeezer.[49] Their 1999 album,Something to Write Home About, reaching number 31 onBillboard'sTop Heatseekers chart.[50]
American Football were one of the most defining bands of the late 1990s Midwest emo scene and subgenre.[10][51][52] The band created a distinct sound by merging emo with jaggling guitars and elements of jazz, pop,[53] math rock and slowcore.[4] One distinct technique of their music was the use of "twinkly" guitar, an element which has led to genre label "twinkle emo" or "twinkle daddies".[54][55] Some other Midwest emo bands began embracing elements ofpost-rock andnoise rock, in the case ofKarate,the Van Pelt, Joan of Arc and the Shyness Clinic.[56]
Starting in 1999, Midwest emo experienced a brief brush with notoriety as publications such asSpin released articles on the scene.Guitar World ranJim DeRogatis' article "Emo (The Genre That Dare Not Speak Its Name)," which featured quotes from the Promise Ring's Jason Gnewikow, Braid'sBob Nanna,Jimmy Eat World'sJim Adkins, andBurning Airlines'J. Robbins,[57] whileSpin Magazine included the Promise Ring'sVery Emergency and Rainer Maria'sLook Now Look Again on their list of the twenty best albums of 1999.[58] That same year,K-tel releasedNowcore! The Punk Rock Evolution, a CD compilation which included tracks by the likes of the Promise Ring, Burning Airlines,the Dismemberment Plan,Seaweed, andUnwound.[59]
According to scholar Peter Trigg, second wave emo ended in the year 2000.[60]
In the mid-to late 2000s, a revival of the Midwest emo sound was spearheaded by thePennsylvania-based groupsTigers Jaw,[61]Glocca Morra,[62]Snowing andAlgernon Cadwallader and the English bandTTNG.[63] Under their influence, underground emo scenes formed across the United States in such localities asWest Virginia,Willimantic, Connecticut andChicago.[62] Notable fourth-wave acts from the Chicago scene includedInto It. Over It.,CSTVT,Pet Symmetry,Joie de Vivre,Their / They're / There,Lifted Bells,[64]Camping in Alaska,[65]Oliver Houston,[66] andDowsing.[67] Fourth-wave emo had become a fully-realised movement by 2011.[61] Philadelphia's scene remained prominent throughout the wave, contributing bands such asEveryone Everywhere,Modern Baseball,[68]Hop Along,[62]Jank,[69]Balance and Composure, andmewithoutYou.[70]
By 2013, the Midwest emo revival had become a dominant force in underground music. The year saw high profile by Balance and Composure,Brave Bird,Crash of Rhinos,Foxing,the Front Bottoms,Little Big League andthe World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die.[71] During the movement, various emo bands from the 1990s and early 2000s have reunited for reunion tours or permanent reunionsAmerican Football andthe Get-Up Kids.[72]
In the 2020s, Midwest emo became ameme onTikTok with videos parodying the genre's stylings. This includes the use of long naming schemes, relationships, and poor singing quality.[73]
The Promise Ring, Braid, Elliott, Bright Eyes, Cursive, The Get Up Kids. Назвать эти группы «эмо-кором» уже было нельзя – слишком далеко их звучание ушло от хардкора начала восьмидесятых. Некоторые любители углубиться в терминологию даже придумали разделение на хардкор-эмо – группы первой волны – и инди-эмо – вторая волна.[The Promise Ring, Braid, Elliott, Bright Eyes, Cursive, The Get Up Kids. Calling these groups "emo-core" is not possible - it is far too socially removed from the hardcore of the early eighties. Some who delve into the terminology even invented division into emo (first wave groups) and indie emo (second wave).]
Braid started writing songs that combined the sounds of DC with those of the Bay Area. 'We would soak up and study pretty much anything on Dischord,' [Bob Nanna] says. 'Anytime any of those bands like—Fugazi,Nation of Ulysses,Shudder to Think, orJawbox—came anywhere near Chicago, we were there.' In addition to the music, Nanna was obsessed with the energy that these bands expressed onstage.
...bands likeJawbox, Hoover, and Lincoln, that were into this challenging guitar work and personal lyrics. We were just copping that stuff from other bands, and maybe we just got it out to more people.
When I listen to the old Jazz June songs now I can hear elements from bands likeJawbox,Archers of Loaf andSuperchunk that were direct influences on us.
Well, we'd liked bands likeFugazi, Pitchfork, and DC hardcore likeJawbox. I think we wanted to put our own stamp on that, creatively, but we wanted do the Fugazi thing, where neither one of the guitars works well on its own.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)GRAVEN IMAGE appeared on 1983's searing Kicked Out Of The Scene 7" EP and on a split tape with HONOR ROLE (who began in Indiana as Battered Youth) called Your Skull Is My Bowl.
09 HONOR ROLE
Album (Merge, 1997)
Honor Role happened a little too early and a little too far south (Richmond) to be considered real emo. But the songs on this compilation show why Bob Schick's awkwardly confessional, mostly spoken vocals and Pen Rollings' fluid guitar playing still influence emo bands.
94
SLINT Spiderland
TOUCH AND GO, 1991
A mysterious little record that bub- bled up from Louisville, Kentucky (and seminal punk outfit Squirrel Bait), it sounds kinda like mid-'70s King Crimson gone emo: screeching guitar chords and gorgeous note-spinning in odd-metered instrumentals speckled with words both spoken and sung. Guitarist Dave Pajo would later help create Tortoise, whose "post-rock" is encoded here. Recently reunited for a one-shot tour, Slint found a cult in the tens of thousands. Then they broke up again, wisely letting the mystery be. W.H.
Jonathan Scott: They [Gauge] were the first band doing that kind of thing in the Midwest
Rob Roy Campbell: When Gauge came along it was kind of like a homage to the whole D.C. thing I think. Chicago didn't have any music that was in that vein...
Scott Shellman: All of us growing up were just kind of like in love with Dischord Records and they took what they were doing on the east coast and kind of like Midwestern-ized it for us.
Scott Shellman: There was a lot of pop-punk stuff, a lot of hardcore, but there wasn't really anything in the kind of like hard rock, two Marshall amps, Gibson SG sound...
Jonathan Scott: And we all started bands around the same time around the Shakeworth scene in Downers Grove... it was a really really important scene for a lot of bands and I think a lot of the way the Midwest emo scene turned out.
Bob Nanna: The western suburban scene was a pretty amazing, close knit group of people and bands, basically centred around the Shakewroth records label...
[On screen are Shakefork Records releases: Friction -Makeshift; Gauge -Blank; Ivy League -Gub; Manneqvin Hand -Jow.]
Tim Kinsella: A lot of other math rock bands that were happening at the time, seemed like the math qualities were for the sake of like 'We're gonna learn how to play our instruments', but Gauge was always twisting their songs in these complex ways towards an end of tension and release.
Jonathon Scott: They called it quits in '94, and that was right when that stuff was taking off.
Scott "Gub" Conway:Braid, Cap'n Jazz, Friction... Promised Ring, Hey Mercedes. There was all these bands that formulated out of all this scene that we were involved with and grew into this really really cool thing...
Jason Dummeldinger: They really pioneered that movement and they didn't really get to reap the benefits of what it became and see it all come to fruition.
Bob Nanna: I look to Gauge constantly and consistently all the time because they were so, so inspirational.
Tim Kinsella: Unquantifiably I think Gauge was the biggest inspiration on Cap'n Jazz, like we were just trying to sound like Gauge.
Mike Kinsella: Cap'n Jazz, Joan of Arc or like Owls was another band we were in, a lot of counting, and I think that all sort of, you can trace that all back to Gauge.
Once upon a time, there was a band called Split Lip. Everyone loved Split Lip. On the tail end of the first wave of emo, they were Midwest post-hardcore darlings and heavily influenced the second wave. Then Split Lip decided that they wanted to change their sound and their name, and so Chamberlain was born.
A band that influenced, to varying degrees, all three of the above emo titans (...) wasChristie Front Drive. The Denver group's self-titled album would be its swansong, but it joined the ranks of a slew of influential, epochal emo albums that came in '96: Chamberlain's sumptuousFate's Got A Driver; Sidekick Kato's jittery,Cap'n Jazz-like1st Class Chump; and Braid'sThe Age of Octeen...
