The Roots of Emo Rock

             Today’s blog is about the roots of emo rock. I’m going to go over some history on the genre, such as how it got started, which genres fed into it and some of the early bands of the genre. I’m also going to cover what instruments are used as well as the vocal style and typical lyrics of this genre. I want to also go over my experience with this genre and why I chose to do a blog on it.

               Emo is short for emotional hardcore or emocore. Emo rock music is a subgenre of punk rock that was created in the mid-1980’s in Washington DC. Though that was only the first wave. The second came from America’s Midwest. Though some say that it was California then in the Midwest, and I the Midwest is where it changed. Throughout the 90’s it spread across the country. As the new millennium came in emo rock had come away from its roots, mixing with alt-rock and indie rock. Also, in the 2000’s it took a turn to pop punk and screamo. Rites of Spring and Embrace were the two bands that made the blueprint for what emo rock is to be. They weren’t around for very long, but they still influence bands today.

               Some of the bands that were influenced by Rites of Spring and Embrace like: Further Seems Forever and Dashboard Confessionals, along with many others helped to shape what emo is today. After emo rock hit the mainstream in music there were some more bands that came out under this subgenre. My Chemical Romance, Panic! At The Disco, and Paramore are some of the more well-known bands that came up during this time but there are many others.

Emo rock has also crossed paths with rap music. That started in 2015 with Lil Peep. It doesn’t surprise me that this happened as the way lyrics come out of different people would be different not to mention that emo has always been defiant of a singular definition. One article does mention at least one other artist that does an emo rap crossover. Though my first experience with this would have to be Falling in Reverse. I think there was an album where Ronnie Radke did rap in about half of his songs. I remember getting the CD via iTunes and being surprised at those songs. I was a little put off by the CD as it wasn’t something I was used to. But the more I listened to it the more I became okay with it.

               This is going to be the section that I go into what’s involved with this type of music. Such as, instruments, vocal style, and typical lyrics. There isn’t much in the way of articles that will tell you what instruments are used, but if you look at any music video where the band is in it, it will show you what instruments they use. My Chemical Romance for example has a guitar, bass guitar, and a drum set. The vocal style in emo rock isn’t talked about in any of the articles I’ve searched through, but what needs to be remembered is that emo is short for emotional. So, a lot of emotions go into this genre of music. Typical lyrics involve emotions that the songwriter is going through or situations that they are going through. Sometimes you can hear the emotions in the singer’s voice. More so you can see it on their face while watching their music videos. Especially the song “I Don’t Love You” by My Chemical Romance.

               To go more into this, I’m going to talk about the band Citizen Soldier. Most of what I know about the band does come from their website which is listed in the references. Jake Segura is the singer/songwriter for this band. “He implements intensely emotional lyrical themes on mental health into their music.” Jake also has a TikTok account in which he shares snippets of his songs, sometimes he asks his fans if he should release the song he’s working on. Letdown does much the same, with using his emotions to write songs. While Citizen Soldier came out in 2016, I didn’t find out about them until 2021/2022 when I was a truck driver via TikTok. Now Letdown. is a newer artist that I found out about the same way I found out about Citizen Soldier. They are both great bands that I’m excited that I got to see them live.

The reason I picked this genre is because I found it in my younger years when I had a lot of problems at home. I haven’t really gotten out of that phase because for so many reasons it helps me process some of my own emotions. The song from Citizen Soldier that is on this blog particularly made me feel seen and heard in a way I didn’t think was possible for a long time. Even though I am now five years removed from that situation. With that song, I was driving my semi and needed to listen to something to help keep me focused on the road, so I went onto YouTube and searched that band and started playing their playlist. I did not expect to start crying when that song came on. I had to pull off to the side of the road until I stopped because the tears were obstructing my view. Crying while driving an eighty-thousand-pound vehicle was not something that should be done. From my younger years to now I still like this genre of music much more than any other because it helps me to feel emotions, and to help process them.

               I do just want to say that if you look at the NME article, they state about the birthplace of emo rock being on the West Coast after stating that it came from the Washington D.C.’s 1980’s hardcore punk scene. I did email them to let them know that D.C. is actually located on the East Coast. So I don’t know if they’ve fixed it by the time, you read this blog.

 

Connick, Tom. “The Beginner’s Guide to the Evolution of Emo.” NME, 31 Mar. 2021, www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/emo-wave-guide-evolution-2302802.

“Emo.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 16 Sept. 2023, www.britannica.com/art/emo.

Hickie, James. “What Does Emo Really Mean? The Story of the Genre in 11 Songs.” Alternative Press Magazine, 7 June 2023, www.altpress.com/what-does-emo-mean-lil-peep-american-football/.

ICU                                                                                                                                                                                                        2023, et al. “About.” Citizen Soldier, www.citizensoldierband.com/about. Accessed 26 Oct. 2023.

Mullen, Matt. “The Secret History of Emo Music.” Interview Magazine, 8 Dec. 2017, www.interviewmagazine.com/music/secret-history-emo-music.