Melodic mirth, history of emo
.... This first type of emo (late 1980’s) cannot be easily compared with the emo of today. The early emo was punk with more poetic lyrics that usually focused on love, hatred, or heartbreak. Known as emocore at the time, this new phenomenon swept the local D.C. music underground, manifesting itself all over east coast. Soon bands like the Rites of Spring, bands that were once only recognized enough for local venues, were playing sold out shows around the country. Strangely though, their popularity came from word of mouth, rather than albums and singles. At this time, the world of emo was not to be well known. Emo bands released their albums on vinyl, and were very hard to get a hold of. To truly embody the essence of emocore, one had to attend the shows. The sounds of emocore could not be confined to the local amps of Washington D.C. Just as the grunge movement did; the emocore movement spawned an underground fashion. “This style of music has spawned a subculture of and scene that has been continually growing since the early nineties. Most of the kids look like nerds; wear dark rimmed glasses, Chuck Taylor high tops, and thrift store clothes. It is pretty easy to stereotype an “emo” kid, which is ironic because no can seem to define “emo” music” (www.angelfire.com/emo/orgin/). Although many of these “well thought out” fashion tips remained steadfast for many years, it was not long until the sounds of emocore would evolve in to something more sophisticated and later cause a split in the emo scene. Only a few years after the detonation of the cornucopia known as emocore, the underground emo scene got more emotional. As before the lyrics focused on mostly love. However the range of vocals increased greatly. “The vocal style is usually much more intense than emocore, ranging from normal singing in the quiet parts to a kind of pleading howl to gut-wrenching screams to actual sobbing and crying”(www.fourfa.com) Some bands of this category would perform marathon length songs, with the goal to bring the audience to tears. With the scene changing, the name emo (shortened from emocore) was chosen for this new category of music. On the other end of the emo spectrum, there was still the sound of the original emocore. Holding true to their style, and often disgusted with this new emo, in 1990 bands like Antioch Arrow, and End of the Line brought a strident element into their music, bringing about the first hardcore emo. The vocal ranges were mostly similar to the era of emocore. Conversely the Vocals seemed familiar to the days of punk; their vocal chords were stretched more than an Olympic “healthy” gymnast. With the existence of Kurt Cobain, and rest of the grunge movement, the listening public had no qualm to the intense sound. With the growing taste for aggressive music, hardcore emo still stood apart from grunge by including the same heart-breaking lyrics that their musical ancestors did. As both types of the new emo were thriving in their own environments, a change was about to take place. The world of emo was about to experience their own subtle Black Tuesday. As with any type of music, emo was about to see its end. 1995 is the year that many people believe is when emo sang its requiem. Many bands broke up, and emo bands stopped forming. (www.fourfa.com) The ideas of emocore, emo, and hardcore emo, seemed to be lost. With the exception of bands like Sunny Day Real Estate and the Promise Ring, emo’s only memento seemed to be a tombstone. However, as soon as critics thought the punk offspring known, as emo was dead, signs of life shined. The music that we know as today’s emo was about to make a break out of the underground and into the mainstream. Record labels like Vagrant, Fat Wreck Chords, and Equal Vision, s created stables for aspiring punk, ska, and emo ...