Though played with the velocity and intensity of hardcore, Shmap’n Shmazz (the commonly used substitute for the phenomenally unwieldy title of their debut) shifted emo away from the self-serious and often abrasive tone of the first wave toward a more playful, melodic, and expansive sound less beholden to punk-rock strictures. The second wave is virtually synonymous with “midwestern emo” and begins with the first and only Cap’n Jazz album (see a trend with these canonical bands?). While such bands as Jawbox, Drive Like Jehu, and Jawbreaker weren’t often called “emo” at the time, and they likely rejected the term wholeheartedly, it’s impossible to imagine the trajectory of the genre without their contributions. The first wave starts in Washington, D.C., from 1983 to 1987 or so, and it slowly starts to trickle out toward other pockets of influence, places where it might have been considered post-hardcore, straight-up punk or just plain ol’ “indie rock” - like San Diego, the Pacific Northwest, the Bay Area, and, of course, D.C. We found it helpful to use the “waves” as an organizing principle, though there’s still plenty of overlap and imperfect boundaries. Yet they all emerged from the lineage of DIY shows in youth-group scenes, churches, suburban basements, and VFW halls: Chris Carrabba was a fill-in on guitar for New Found Glory and fronted Floridian melodramatists Further Seems Forever before focusing on Dashboard Confessional Jimmy Eat World was making splits with Jebediah and Christie Front Drive even after they were on a major label and Pete Wentz came up in suburban Chicago’s hardcore scene, playing in bands with names like Arma Angelus and Racetraitor. No one would confuse Dashboard Confessional or Jimmy Eat World or Fall Out Boy with Dag Nasty or really any other hardcore band. Go to your average Emo Night and you might wonder why Linkin Park or Evanescence are missing.Īs we set out to define the parameters for this list, one guiding principle we agreed upon was to go back to the original definition whenever in doubt.

Spend any time in the trenches where the battle for “real emo” is fought and you’ll be convinced that Rites of Spring and maybe Cap’n Jazz are the only bands that belong on this list. But unlike with grunge or goth or any other subgenre that evolved from a defined set of sonic characteristics to a fashion phenomenon, the definition of “emo music” is either too narrow or too vague to the point of being almost completely useless.

On the one hand, the genre has long been denied serious critical assessment, often dismissed as music for teens but never subject to the generous leeway or empathy given to pop music specifically designed for adolescents. Anyone or anything can be emo, and yet almost nobody claims making it.Īll of which makes the creation of a “100 Greatest Emo Songs” list feel both necessary and nigh impossible to do correctly. What could better appeal to teenagers than a genre accused of being overly serious and painfully self-aware at the same time? Minor Threat’s Ian MacKaye, who eventually became best known for his work in Fugazi, was viewed as an ethical barometer when he claimed emo was “the stupidest fucking thing I’ve heard in my life,” and since then, the line has been repeated by just about every emo band to warrant the distinction. It’s now a fixed concept within popular culture and a resilient mode of expression. Drake is emo, Game of Thrones is emo, the Beach Boys and Shakespeare are emo, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese is emo. In the past 35 years, the meaning of emo has become almost completely inverted - it’s more likely to mean “hard-core emotional” in the public discourse, extending beyond punk or even music itself as shorthand for anything defined by a kind of hyperbolic and demonstrative sadness. Among them were Rites of Spring and Embrace, which each released one self-titled album before breaking up, setting both the sonic and career template for emo bands going forward (and, judging by the above statements, also the prevailing attitude bands should have toward the term “emo” itself). What they had in common: a greater emphasis on melody, dynamics, and, yes, lyrics about feelings. punk during the so-called Revolution Summer. The first known usage of emo dates back to the mid-1980s, when “emo-core” served as shorthand for “emotional hardcore,” a label applied to a wave of bands that deviated from the macho aggression of D.C. Let’s just blame it all on Washington, D.C. “The stupidest fucking thing I’ve heard in my entire life.” Musician-activist Jenni Toomey, speaking on behalf of perhaps the first emo band in Andy Greenwald’s Nothing Feels Good “Rites of Spring existed well before the term did, and they hated it.” Photo-Illustration: Vulture and photos by Getty Images and Shutterstock

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