Emo: Teen Angst or Stylised Punk?

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Emo: Teen Angst or Stylised Punk?

April 7th 2006 05:50

Maybe if I scream loud enough, my ex-girlfriend will come back...

In light of my recent reviews of "The Academy Is" and "Panic! at the Disco," I thought it was the right time to address the issue of what exactly "emo" is. Is it a style of clothing, music, or simply some form of expression of teenage angst? What I'm about to say is based on my perspective of what "emo" is, and is in no way the concrete definition of the term. Check out the end of the blog for links to bigger and (slightly) better definitions of the term.

Emoboy

Emogirl

So what is emo? Today, the style of music is popularised in teenage culture through bands like Good Charlotte and Dashboard Confessional on the other side of the spectrum. What do they have in common? Nothing musically. However, they do both express their angst through music, so maybe this is the bare definition of emo as a musical genre. Emo as a musical style started with the introduction of screamo bands in the late 80s, thus Rite of Spring is generally though of as the first emo band, though in my opinion, Fugazi holds that title. Move through the lack of screamo during the mid 90s and we reach the 21st century, when emo ranges from the teenage crowd-tempters Good Charlotte and Dashboard (who I have to admit loved for more than a day), to the underground bands - Saosin and Underoath. Of the two, I have to say that I actually like Saosin - their best song has to be "Plays Pretty for Baby," ironically one of the happiest songs ever. Of course, what accompanies that is the style of clothing - for guys its the jet black hairdo, minimalistic tshirt, jeans and optional tattoos (though this can draw the chicks of course). For girls its the "Zelda" haircut, the jacket, white studded belt, Diesel Jeans and Saucony shoes (anyone else find the mix of the jeans and shoes contradictory?)

The problem I have with the common definition of emo is that its almost the exact definition for punk. So which is it? Are Blink-182 emo (ironically, they do have an earlier song called "emo")? Are Green Day, for that matter, emo? Is any other music that involves emotion emo or is it just the "whiny" stuff? Easy answer: decide for yourself. Genres are far too diluted to have any meaning anymore and its best if its simply up to the individual to decide what music they like not on the label placed on it, but for what they like. The problem that the revolutionaries of punk had in the early 1980s was that, though they were trying to make a point about their rebellion, every one followed suit and it soon become a type of conformity rather than rebellion from society. No matter how hard you try to be different, it doesn't stay that way for long. Like the music that YOU like, not the music that society likes.

Nevertheless, since this is an issue of great debate, I will visit the issue of "indie" music in a week or sos time.

Now for the fun part... LINKS:

How to Dress Emo 2.0 - I've never been sure if this site is making fun of emos or not.

What the heck is emo anyway? - As promised, a better definition of emo

People who like Emo are still people - Not my words, theirs. Mp3s for your listening pleasure.

Saosin's MySpace - Here is some more for your listening pleasure. Unfortunately it appears that "Plays Pretty for Baby" is a very rare song to come across so consult your various piracy connections (cmon, everyone has them).

Pandora - Best bet exploring the emo genre is to listen to Pandora - type in "Saosin," "Underoath," for screamo discovering, "Good Charlotte" for pop-punk emo variations, or "Dashboard Confessional" for some good old clean fun.

Saosin

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Posted By: Jimbo - Category: Genre Explanation

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Comments

14 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by Cibbuano

April 10th 2006 06:49

Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak

That first picture is fantastic... where did you get it?

So, are you emo?

Comment by Jimbo

April 10th 2006 07:45

That first picture comes from the "what the heck is emo anyway" link.

As per your second question - not in essence no. I certainly don't dress in the emo style i described, but in the past i have definitely liked or even loved certain bands that are "emo" - Saosin, Dashboard Confessional - though I've never really been into popularised emo such as Good Charlotte and affiliated bands.

Escaping image and its definite problems, what kind of music do you listen to, Cibb?

Comment by Ricardo

April 10th 2006 08:35

Emo is the worst thing to happen to music. It has corrupted the minds of youth who are subjected to songs which are about pansy breakups and crying over girls. It also surprises me that almost every emo band are made up of guys. Emo's completely contradict masculinity. TOUGHEN UP!!!!

Listening to songs with four chords isn't music and it has destroyed the great music talented musicians strive to make.

Bring back real rock'n'roll and metal - that's the kind of rock which kids should be listening to, where musicians can play solos and have amazing singing ranges!

BRING IT ALL BACK!

Comment by Jimbo

April 10th 2006 08:39

Interesting perspective... I agree that the majority of emo has corrupted music as we know it. Then again, I prefer THAT to modern hip hop, which comprises of the same 2-3 second loop of music repeated for 3 minutes, with gibberish layed over the top.

Real rock'n'roll? I'm not really into classic rock aka Cream, AC/DC, Guns n Roses etc. I'd say "bring back 80s" but I guess its already back, which is a good thing

Comment by Ricardo

April 10th 2006 08:50

[SIZE=2]Yeh, bands like Jet and are getting there... I liked the whole Evie thing the Aussie rock artists did. I'm glad that there's a lot of hard aussie rock still goin like The Living End, Powderfinger and Spiderbait. Bands like AC/DC, Guns'n'Roses, The Stones, Metallica, Sabbath, Led Zep and the likes will last forever though... so it ain't all bad. Luckily. SIZE]

Comment by Ricardo

April 10th 2006 08:52

Hahhahahaha sorry for the html lingo out the front n end of that last comment...didn't realise i deleted the bracket!!

Comment by rachel

April 10th 2006 23:54

I think my brother put it most succinctly when he said emo is "punk without the soul". It is very "in" right now to be emo, which kinda goes against the whole "being different" thing... My niece is a 13 yr old self-professed emo though, which is alot easier to deal with than say, drugs or alcohol! So i guess it has its benefits.

Comment by Cibbuano

April 10th 2006 23:59

Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak

What do I listen to? Not emo... I used to play in a punk band, but I was the only non-punk member. Those gigs used to weird me out, with all the punks moshing and throwing shit around...

No, I'm more into funk and soul. Older hip hop - I also despise where hip hop has gone in the past several years. And I dig some French stuff, but that's because I'm Canadian, I guess.

Comment by Jimbo

April 11th 2006 00:00

Yeah i suppose if the fake try-hard side of it distracts teenagers from the real issues, then it is definitely useful.

Comment by amy

April 19th 2006 07:39

Hey thanks so much for enlightening me!! Sorry I've been so lax in stopping by your blog, but I've just remembered its here so I'll be back to expand my musicocabulary =)

Rock on!

ps. emo - definitely a new name for an old genre.

Comment by liz

April 20th 2006 00:34

hm, i kinda like the emo movement. kids thinking being emo is cool makes them more sensitive and more aware. of course they get a hell of a lot more whiney but that's a side effect that can't be helped...

having emo kids around is sure better than when kids just wanted to be jerks all the time and go around picking on other people and breaking shit.

Comment by Anonymous

June 4th 2007 01:34

Whilst your knowledge or Fugazi has impressed me, your fool hardy love of a non-Saosin (said Say-Ocean for those of us who have little to no knowledge of bands before they were big), is ridiculous. Plays Pretty For Baby is actually a song by High and Driving, Anthony Green's (the ex-singer of Saosin, current singer for Circa Survive) side project, it is him and a guy I can't recall drumming, although all songs are written and composed by Green.

After the Translating The Name EP Saosin took a nose dive, due to the fact that Green wrote the material for that EP, but none afterwards.

I accept the effort, despite the fact that none of the bands you named were emo, except for say, Fugazi.

Dave.

Comment by anna j

November 24th 2010 15:13

Look guys i was emo for a while and i hate!, the fact that ppl think that we are whinny and over emotional i just liked the style the music the people i met, all of my friends where the best friends i could have they were original, loyal, trusting and were never over emotional its just a stupid stereotype and trust me its disgusting that people think they can judge us saying we r copycats WE ARE NOT! i am now just a tomboy but the reason i dressed the way i did, listening to the music i did is because i liked it! not coz i was crying all night and whining all day! ok so before u go and judge maybe u should get to know some of us.