Best Emo Records and Bands of All Time

hese are what I consider to be the essential records that define what this genre "emo" is about. Not all of these are still in print, some have been repackaged from their original form, and many are available on vinyl records only. These are simply my picks for the records that were not only great, but original and influential on the development of the emo style. You may disagree about the importance of some, and think others missing from the list.

Embrace self-titled LP/CD [Dischord Records #24, 1985]. This band just wasn't around long enough to polish all their songs. Some of the lyrics are kinda funny in their lack of subtlety, but some just cut right down to the core of the human condition.

Rites of Spring - "End on End" LP/CD [Dischord Records, 1985]. I don't even need to talk about this. This band wrote the book.

Dag Nasty - Can I Say LP/CD (CD includes later "Wig Out at Denko's) [Dischord Records, 1985]. Musically, this is fast melodic punk but the vocals are *so* heartfelt and emotive, and the lyrics *so* unrelentingly introspective and hopeful.

Fugazi - self-titled 12" EP, "Margin Walker" 12" EP / "13 Songs" CD [Dischord Records #?, ?]. They showed us that sometimes there's more depth and power in restraint and quietude than in full-power blasting punk. Sometimes you just need to all strum the same octave chord and shut up.

Fuel 7" and LP, or discography CD. If not for this band, I think the world would have been too afraid to infringe on the sound Fugazi had carved out. Fuel wasn't afraid to write great, powerful songs on the Fugazi foundation. (I gather there's a different band called Fuel on the radio these days, kinda techno?)

Jawbreaker - Unfun and Bivouac LP/CDs. Beautiful, angsty pop-punk with a huge minor-key edge, deep, incisive lyrics that cut right to your soul, and a keen sense of when to relax, when to biuld up, and when to just blast it out at full power and scream.

Samiam - untitled LP/CD [New Red Archives, 1990]. Aspired to the same thing as Jawbreaker, but somehow more sincere and honest.

Ignition CD discography [Dischord Records]. From 1984 to 1989 or so, this band covered a lot of ground under the DC guitar rock banner.

Hot Water Music - Finding the Rhythms CD (compilation of early EPs) and Fuel For The Hate Game. Takes the best of the Fuel/Fugazi twin vocal/twin guitar drive and adds a sweaty Avail pop-punk pulse, with scratchy, gruff singing that doesn't need to be beautiful to get the point across. This band positively embarrasses bands with only one singer.

1.6 Band - CD discography. Took the best of the Dag Nasty energy and catchy, corkscrewing riffs and added the best emo style 16-year-old vocals ever recorded.

Kerosene 454 - Situation At Hand [Art Monk Construction]. A temple to the DC octave-chord noisy over-distorted SG/Marshall guitar. This is the guitar sound bands dream about. These are all sweet pop songs made impossibly heavy by the crushing weight of the loudest guitars ever recorded.

Lifetime - 2nd 7" / "seveninches" CD on Glüe Records. Good God, talk about heartfelt singing, adreneline-charged bouncing energy and speed, and the sweetest melodies ever written. This band's mission was to reunite punk and hardcore and emo.

Falling Forward - Hand Me Down 12"/CD. Right in the middle of a bunch of styles - a bit of moshy east coast hardcore, a bit of emo yelling, a lot of Midwestern emocore melody. Introduced a lot of sxe kids to melodic, sensitive rock that was still powerful.

Split Lip/Chamberlain (same band) - Fate's Got a Driver. Perfectly crafted songs dripping with Midwestern melody and driving energy. Some people hear crooning bar rock, but the emo buildups and the way the singer's voice breaks in the loud parts prove otherwise.

Emo Sexuality

Criticisms of emo, often laced with anti-gay slogans and terms like "emo fag," have become common. There are many likely reasons for this, one being that the popularity of emo fashion is largely linked to metrosexuality; followers of emo fashion display clothing and style stereotypically linked to gay culture; their style also leans towards an androgynous look, e.g. boys wearing makeup, having no facial hair, and wearing clothes that accentuate a slim build.

Another reason is that many "emo girls" display a strong attraction towards gay or bisexual male activities. Though it is common in Western culture for men to find lesbianism erotic, females finding homo- or bi-sexuality erotic receive less mainstream attention but are common in many specialized interest groups including the emo sub-culture. Pages collecting pictures of emo boys making out have been created on internet sites such as MySpace (see example at Emo Boys Who Kiss).

This can be linked back to the fact that the emo "look" perpetuates andgrogyny. Emo boys are more naturally predisposed to kiss other boys who look slightly feminine. This male homoerotica is viewed far less liberally than female homo-erotic experimentation in Western culture, and therefore has created many strong anti-emo feelings amongst "retrosexuals". Female homoeroticism also exists within the emo subculture, as evidenced by Emo Girls Who Kiss.

Emo Kids and MySpace

It is the fashioncore strand of emo fashion that is most often visibile amongst those following the emo trend. The use of MySpace has become established as a staple of the fashioncore trend. People who are part of this scene are usually identifiable by their screen names, which often feature song quotes, or other stereotypically "emo" phrases, usually surrounded with "x"s (the use of which has evolved from the straight edge sub-culture).

Fashioncore

The style of dress most commonly referred to as fashioncore has now become the most widely spread archetype of emo fashion. Those who consider themselves, or are considered by others to be, "scene kids" often engage in many short-lived trends, most appropriated from other sub-cultures. These have included bandanas (which were previously associated with both hip-hop and homosexual sub-cultures), sweatbands, eyeliner (for males) and recently L.E.D. belt buckles, which display scrolling text. As the popularity of these items increases, those who are considered to be most "scene" (hip) abandon them for other trends.

The basic fashioncore style of clothing has remained constant however: tight fitting T-shirts and hooded sweatshirts, usually either black and featuring the logo of a band or a semi-ironic slogan or image (such as the logo of a 1980s cartoon series like Thundercats); tight-fitting jeans worn low (often below the buttocks — another style appropriated from hip-hop subculture), usually suspended with a studded belt; and trainers. Once the most common form of footwear amongst those conforming to fashioncore dress codes were Converse All-Stars, though their popularity has decreased, and now the most popular style of footwear amongst those considered truly "scene" are hi-top or retro trainers, usually Nikes. Messenger bags decorated or customised with band logo pin badges are also often associated with this strand of emo fashion. This style of clothing is also often seen as being metrosexual in nature.

Emo Fashion

Traditionally, the term "emo" when used in describing clothing meant clothes such as tight jeans and fitted T-shirts or polo shirts, sweaters, and "Buddy Holly" glasses. However, as the variety of music labelled "emo" has become larger and the genre has gained more mainstream popularity, there are now several distinct strands of emo fashion. Most forms of emo fashion originate from fans emulating the styles of members of their favourite groups. These styles themselves are usually derived from pre-existing fashions of the New Wave, punk, metal, indie, grunge, Goth and hardcore genres and sub-cultures.

Definition of Emo

Emo (an abbreviation of emotive hardcore) is a term now broadly used to describe almost any form of guitar-driven alternative rock that expresses emotions beyond traditional punk's limited emotional palette of alienation and rage. The abbreviation comes from the word emotive. Most recently (from 2002 to present) bands with more lyric driven songs have been mistakingly called emo because their lyrics seem to be depressing and focus on hatred, mostly dealing with relationships. Actually, these bands only take on one side of emo, not all of them. 'Emo' is also used to describe fans of this genre, most commonly teenagers. The term itself originated as a way to describe the music of the mid-1980s D.C. scene and associated bands, mainly Rites of Spring and Embrace, as well as bands such as Moss Icon, and Dag Nasty.

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