To understand emo, one must understand the state of punk music in the early '80s. Punk had moved underground and most of the CBGB-era punks had moved on (a lot of what made punk "punk" was the fact that the music was hasty, spur of the moment, and, honestly, not too accomplished as far as musical technique is concerned. The "downfall" of punk may have had a lot to do with the fact that, the more you play your instruments, the better you get. This is why John Lydon (Johnny Rotten) moved on to Public Image Ltd. [a band that, for my money is {at least musically} infinitely more interesting than the Sex Pistols].) However, much of the punk fanbase would not allow punk to move beyond the three-chord song formula that defined its early sound (The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, The Buzzcocks).
This is where we saw a big split between artists that wanted to take punk beyond its limited (e.g. weak) musical structure (The Fall, Gang of Four, Joy Division, Pere Ubu, and eventually Sonic Youth) and those who took punk as far as it could go--impossibly fast and inanely simple chord progression, shouted lyrics and rigid ideals--punk was an attitude defined by its song structure.
And so hardcore punk broke onto the scene, headlined by Black Flag, Bad Brains and the Dead Kennedys--bands intensely devout in remaining completely authentic as well as anti-commercial.
In my best estimation, these two ideals merged somewhere in the mid-'80s--Hüsker Dü released Zen Arcade in 1984 which saw a truly hardcore band striving not only for lyrical personal expression, but tuneful and technically-demanding songs. The credo was still there--that commercial music was far too calculated and artificial to express true emotion--but it also found a more complex and artsy musical style that hardcore lacked.
The emo scene blossomed in Washington D.C. when bands like Rites of Spring and Ian MacKaye's (former founder of hardcore bands Teen Idles and Minor Threat) anti-commercial and straight-edge Fugazi began forming a strong underground following. Some early emo began getting circulated in early-'90s alternative circuits, but the anti-commercial and deeply personal style made emocore break further and further from hardcore when some vocalists would literally weep on stage. Of course this much less machismo delivery brought much derision from the hardcore purists.
But still, emo didn't break out of the underground until alternative was already a staple. Bands like Drive Like Jehu amd Quicksand built on Fugazi's musical innovations, but much of what emo is today is due to Sunny Day Real Estate who managed to distill Fugazi's sound through a grunge filter, and even in their later days, prog-rock (see The Rising Tide). The lyrics were introspective and the melodies were dramatic.
And so the imitators began--The Promise Ring, The Get Up Kids, Jets to Brazil and even Jimmy Eat World all essentially capitalized on the work of Fugazi and Sunny Day Real Estate, but with a punk-pop and commercial sensibility that made losers winners. The importance of Weezer's Pinkerton can't be overlooked. Though the album was initially panned by almost every rock critic (Rolling Stone voted it the worst album of 1996), Weezer managed to slowly built a lovable loser demographic though turning to a much deeper aesthetic than the power-pop, alt-rock many people wrote off as one-hit-wonder.
And now it has all come full circle. A genre once defined by personal lyrics and intense anti-commercial ideology has become defined by cheap punk-pop aesthetic and simple commercial formula. Why does Taking Back Sunday, Dashboard Confessional and Story of the Year sound so phony? Perhaps some of those hardcore goons were right all along--does plastic commercial formula castrate the creative process and prevent any deep personal connection? Not necessarily. Part of the problem is that, once it becomes a simple and accessible commercial formula, bands are only in it for the money. If history teaches anything is it that we'll find our new Bob Moulds, Thurston Moores and even our new Stephen Malkmuses. It just might be a while after their times.
This is where we saw a big split between artists that wanted to take punk beyond its limited (e.g. weak) musical structure (The Fall, Gang of Four, Joy Division, Pere Ubu, and eventually Sonic Youth) and those who took punk as far as it could go--impossibly fast and inanely simple chord progression, shouted lyrics and rigid ideals--punk was an attitude defined by its song structure.
And so hardcore punk broke onto the scene, headlined by Black Flag, Bad Brains and the Dead Kennedys--bands intensely devout in remaining completely authentic as well as anti-commercial.
In my best estimation, these two ideals merged somewhere in the mid-'80s--Hüsker Dü released Zen Arcade in 1984 which saw a truly hardcore band striving not only for lyrical personal expression, but tuneful and technically-demanding songs. The credo was still there--that commercial music was far too calculated and artificial to express true emotion--but it also found a more complex and artsy musical style that hardcore lacked.
The emo scene blossomed in Washington D.C. when bands like Rites of Spring and Ian MacKaye's (former founder of hardcore bands Teen Idles and Minor Threat) anti-commercial and straight-edge Fugazi began forming a strong underground following. Some early emo began getting circulated in early-'90s alternative circuits, but the anti-commercial and deeply personal style made emocore break further and further from hardcore when some vocalists would literally weep on stage. Of course this much less machismo delivery brought much derision from the hardcore purists.
But still, emo didn't break out of the underground until alternative was already a staple. Bands like Drive Like Jehu amd Quicksand built on Fugazi's musical innovations, but much of what emo is today is due to Sunny Day Real Estate who managed to distill Fugazi's sound through a grunge filter, and even in their later days, prog-rock (see The Rising Tide). The lyrics were introspective and the melodies were dramatic.
And so the imitators began--The Promise Ring, The Get Up Kids, Jets to Brazil and even Jimmy Eat World all essentially capitalized on the work of Fugazi and Sunny Day Real Estate, but with a punk-pop and commercial sensibility that made losers winners. The importance of Weezer's Pinkerton can't be overlooked. Though the album was initially panned by almost every rock critic (Rolling Stone voted it the worst album of 1996), Weezer managed to slowly built a lovable loser demographic though turning to a much deeper aesthetic than the power-pop, alt-rock many people wrote off as one-hit-wonder.
And now it has all come full circle. A genre once defined by personal lyrics and intense anti-commercial ideology has become defined by cheap punk-pop aesthetic and simple commercial formula. Why does Taking Back Sunday, Dashboard Confessional and Story of the Year sound so phony? Perhaps some of those hardcore goons were right all along--does plastic commercial formula castrate the creative process and prevent any deep personal connection? Not necessarily. Part of the problem is that, once it becomes a simple and accessible commercial formula, bands are only in it for the money. If history teaches anything is it that we'll find our new Bob Moulds, Thurston Moores and even our new Stephen Malkmuses. It just might be a while after their times.
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