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Emo is the New Emo

Posted at 2:18 PM on June 5, 2007 by Jacquie Fuller (5 Comments)

This post is going to make me relatively unpopular, but it's all in good fun. So, we all despise those rock music classifications, but for a moment, let's pretend they're not so bad. We're definitely in agreement about the term "emo," particularly--its inherent awfulness. Did we hate it because it was limiting? Did we hate it because, like "grrrl," it seemed to get co-opted by something completely antithetical to what it began as? The first time I heard the word "emo," it was associated with bands like Rites of Spring, who seemed a far cry from say, The Promise Ring. Before that, I thought it was just a club in Austin, TX.

Anyway--speaking of Austin, TX--last night I heard the latest single from Okkervil River. That band had me at their first tortured cry, but this latest song is somethin' else. And it gets me thinking ... is this the New Emo? (Remember, I said, "just for fun," ... please don't hit me, Mommy.) And if it is, I'm down with it. It doesn't seem to have the angry emotion of the early D.C. punk emo stuff, nor the whiney, heartbroken sound of bands that later gave emo a bad name. It's raw--and it runs the gamut from pain to joy. It veers, sometimes, on sentimentality, but it never feels trite. I'm thinking not only of Okkervil River, but Arcade Fire. It's rip-yer-guts-out honest. So, let's pretend this is the New Emo. What other bands should it include? And who should it not include? Does, say, Conor Oberst pull off that sincerity that Win Butler and Will Sheff have? Or is he just a holdover from the Old Emo?

Will you still be my friend if I say things like "old emo" and "new emo?"

Comments (5)

Now I'm soooooooo confused! I just don't know whether I prefer "Old Emo" or "New Emo".

J/K. Emo is NOT all bad, but unfortunately when it is bad, it's very bad. Like, bad to the nth power, bad.

Posted by Auntie | June 5, 2007 3:00 PM

Here's what I never got:

How in the h-e-double-hockey-sticks did Weezer ever end up in that camp? I never saw it, myself.

To me, Sunny Day Real Estate and Rites Of Spring were always one of the better, if not best, examples of that label.

Posted by Kevin | June 5, 2007 3:11 PM

Steve Seel is emo.

Posted by Mac Wilson | June 5, 2007 4:25 PM

I meant that in a good way.

Emo is one of those "sounds" that has morphed in so many ways over the years, I can't even figure out what to categorize as emo. Give me some time to think about this one.

Posted by Mac Wilson | June 5, 2007 4:31 PM

i think once we see little web ads saying "are you emo? take this survey to find out!" we can officially sound the death knell for ever again being able to use said descriptor in a useful way. make up a new word so that it can be co-opted shortly. because labeling is soooo punk rock.

Posted by meg | June 6, 2007 5:46 PM

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