Emo is tough to define. As Andy Greenwald wrote in Nothing Feels Good: “Emo means different things to different people. Actually that’s a massive understatement. Emo seems solely to mean different things to different people.” For the most part it’s more of an insult than a genre, and because of this, no band willingly considers themselves Emo.
However at its essence, it’s an offshoot of punk that is in touch with its more introspective feelings. Maybe the guitars twinkle, maybe the guitars smash you over the head. The key element is there needs to be emotion, sung from the very bottom of their heart. But how did it get from its original emotional hardcore guise to the music featured on The OC? What were the essential steps along the way? And why is My Chemical Romance referred to as Emo? This is How Emo Became Emo.
#emo #emomusic #musicdocumentary
Additional Writing & Fact-checking by Chad Van Wagner.
00:00 Introduction
00:53 Hardcore & The Revolution Summer
04:53 The Smiths & The Replacements
07:31 Jawbreaker & The Cult of Blake
11:06 Sunny Day Real Estate & Emo’s First Break
13:42 The Post-Nirvana Major Label Gold Rush
17:07 Lifetime & The New Jersey Scene
19:11 Texas Is The Reason & The JFK Conspiracies
21:00 Weezer, Blue & Their ‘Hideous’ Follow-Up
24:15 The Beginning of Midwest Emo
31:10 Deep Elm & The Emo Diaries
34:06 Jimmy Eat World & Being Signed to Capitol
37:10 American Football & Being Rediscovered
39:34 Vagrant Records & Capitalising on Emo
44:06 Emo From Across The States
48:14 At The Drive-In & Breaking Post-Hardcore
50:48 The Mainstream Breakthrough of Emo
56:15 The New Jersey & Long Island Scenes
1:02:45 My Chemical Romance & The Emo-Pop Takeover
Soundtrack
Luar – Citrine (https://soundcloud.com/luarbeats)
Jesse Gallagher – The Golden Present
Luar – Anchor (https://soundcloud.com/luarbeats)
You can also follow me here:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TrashTheory
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TrashTheoryYT
Or support me on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/TrashTheory
source
So what do you think? Where did you come into the Emo story and what do you feel I've missed?
EMO SPOTIFY PLAYLIST is available free via my patreon: patreon.com/trashtheory
Also Official Trash Theory playlist – Spotify: tinyurl.com/yxp32pjf Deezer: tinyurl.com/y2mdp8h2
A little fun fact – according to Frank Iero one of the main reasons My Chemical Romance chose Rob Cavallo to produce The Black Parade was because he'd done Jawbreaker's Dear You! Just a connection i was reminded of while watching. Anyways this video was super wellmade, thank you for all your work
11:54 funny because jeremy enigk was like the only emo singer of that era who COULD actually sing and in fact he’s one of the best singers of the 90s
The sequence of bands at 1:02:55 onwards sound ridiculously like the same band all over… But anw, awesome video as always
It is incredible to see how each video improves, this is an incredible document to understand the history of a genre so difficult to explain, with so many stories and contexts.
Outstanding job!
I love your vudeos a lot. You do excellent research about the bands behind the scenes. I was thinking it would be awesome to see a video about digital hardcore. kinda starting out with the proto stuff like the Prodigy and its start with Atari Teenage Riot, then to it's continuation with Machine Girl and Ho99o9. There's not enough coverage on the Digital Hardcore recordings and music scene.
I didn't think a video on the history of emo would make me emotional, but I shoulda known better. I was a teenager in the late 2000s-early 2010s, so I feel like I was right in the middle of what people would conventionally call the "emo scene;" I had a smorgasbord of bands and polished, established sounds to choose from. Seeing this, where it all came from, where it started, how it developed, and to learn I actually still listen to mostly emo music but in a totally different form. . . it really brought me full circle in a very unexpected and beautiful way. I guess I was always be an emo kid, and it really was never phase. This music was and is home for me. Thank you so much for this. Incredible work as usual. <3
One of the best music docs I've ever seen! I love how deep are your findings, the way you explain the style, and create the aura of the time. Really outstanding, like the NoClip of music documentaries
mcr sucks
you forgot hot water music, Desaparecidos, samiam, commander venus and emo summer. great video!
Duda, that was an amazing video. thx
Thanks for introducing me to Clarity. What an album, I can't believe I haven't heard it before.
Hey TrashTheory, I host an emo radio show in Austin, TX and I was wondering if I could get your permission to do a special episode using this episode as a guide? Thanks!
Amazing video, dude. Thanks.
THANK YOU!!!!
SAY ANYTHING!!!!!
I’d say the effect EMO has had on the past decade of Rap + R&B is interesting. Also, Gerard Way & Umbrella Academy. Dude’s a genius.
I cannot believe you mentioned the jazz june. get on the bus was the best song on Amped
What bothers me in emo history videos like these is the gap from 85 to 93. Its like there was rites of spring and then suddenly sdre. Here we are lucky to get a whole one minute of an hour video mentioning moss icon, indian summer and policy of 3. C’mon there were whole bunch of these bands with different sub styles, whose music led to emerge of screamo in late 90s. You can’t just ignore labels like gravity or ebullition making a video on emo history
A couple bands that come to mind from that era that I didn't see specifically mentioned: Minus the Bear and Something Corporate. Something Corporate was very pop and Minus the Bear definitely had some big inspiration from American Football both I feel fit that emo narrative of the early 2000's but with very different sounds.
52:36 is footage from an infamous show that Further seems forever played at Cornerstone festival. Chris had a beard at some point as well
This was 95% so thorough and an amazing little trip down memory lane.
That being said I do have a minor nitpick. And maybe this was only parts of the "scene" but maybe it didn't come up or maybe you didn't think it was worth talking about but among my peers and at the shows I went to one of the BIGGEST things that did eventually get a modicum of mtv play had to be "Reggie and the Full Effect." I mean with tracks like "drunk girl at a get up kids show" and " Good Times, Good Tunes, Good Buds" Showed a more light-hearted willingness of the scene to poke fun at itself because make no mistake, Reggie is and was a joke band. But a good joke band.
This could also be my own bias since seeing them live (which was next to impossible since they weren't, you know, a "real" band and just James Dewees fucking around) and still consider it one of the most electric shows I've ever seen because the crowd was so incredibly HOT for it. It was like seeing bigfoot. Mind you this was before even "under the tray" came out. so it was an incredibly rare occurrence. And I mean the crowd was INSANE for this act. A girl passed out and had to be hydrated outside by EMTs. There was a fight in the crowd. And my friend got thrown out when a Mosh pit (a semi ironic one) got a little too close to his girlfriend and he decided to show them HOW to mosh correctly.
Anyway just thought that little bit of emo history was interesting I remember late night drives to shows blasting and singing along to Promotional copies "thanks for staying" and "Dwarf invasion"
The best work as always. This is a masterclass in contemporary history telling. Keep it up bud, this was great!
What about Nick Drake?
When I think emo, I think American Football. MCR is more alt-metal/hard rock.
Omg. Great video, but fùçking WHINECORE, man… One of my least favorite genres. There's a few gems in there, though. 😣🤣
How did hipster become hipster? I know it started with the Lounge pop fad in the 90s, but what happened after that? I know before that we had the Beat generation, but…still, how did hipster become hipster?
How can you not mention karate!!!!!