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[blanktom]

dagnabit!

it really is totally impossible to find some of these bands on torrent websites. whoever it was that recommended minus the bear to me gets kudos, i already like them!

does anybody have any hey mercedes they can upload? i would honestly buy this stuff except i dont have the money, i am but a student.

thanks for all the recommendations anyway.

is anyone into any british bands that they would class as emo? i dont really think there are many, i love Hundred Reasons but theyre in the more screamo/post-hardcore section.

[Jackie Blue]

They had an entirely original sound around the time of Pony Express Record.

It doesn't sound like any other band I can think of.

Yes, they discovered an entirely original way to suck.  GG, Shudder to Think!

[a pack of wolves]

is anyone into any british bands that they would class as emo? i dont really think there are many, i love Hundred Reasons but theyre in the more screamo/post-hardcore section.

There's been quite a few over the years but we've never had the numbers to come out of the US. I still slisten to Bob Tilton, Spy Versus Spy, Jupiter Lander and Baby Harp Seal on a regular basis and there have been a lot of others I still have plenty of time for. There are a fair few bands still active now though, like Carraway, Shittalker, Mock Heroic (I think they're still together anyway, not seen them do anything in forever though), Kids Return, Feint and What Price Wonderland? (just gone on hiatus but they're insisting it's actually a proper hiatus and not one of those lame break-ups where they just don't admit it).

[Jackie Blue]

Pony Express Record is a really neat album.

If only for the weirdo guitar parts.

If weirdo guitar parts are a reason to call an album good, that would imply that Frank Zappa is worth listening to.

Oh yeah, I went there.

[bbqrocks]

The fact that Mika's big single involved lines about wanting to be like Freddie Mercury may have added to it.  Doesn't make him any less dreadful though.

And if you listened to the rest of the lyrics the entire song is about how record companies are asking him to "be like" someone else to sell records. But yeah, for random listening I'm sure that fueled the media frenzy around him. I hate it when hype prevents people from listening to artists.


I adore Mika. It's rare to find an artist these days that can actually sing and not just talk or ramble or cry. This world needs more falsetto.

I honestly did not expect to find another Mika fan on this forum. Although, IMO, the worst songs are 'grace kelly', 'Lollipop',  'big girl', and 'love today'. 'Relax,' and 'stuck in the middle' are absolutely awesome though.

[a pack of wolves]

They had an entirely original sound around the time of Pony Express Record.

It doesn't sound like any other band I can think of.

I'm terrible with the chronology of a lot of music unless I was listening to a band at the time which isn't the case with Shudder To Think, so I'm perfectly willing to believe they stood apart when that came out. However, listening to a song like X-French T-Shirt (the only one I'm really familiar with on Pony Express Record) to me it sounds like an average rock song which would appear on MTV in the nineties. I can't think of any examples of specific other bands since that's not really a sound I was ever into so it might not be a good comparison at all, but it's nonetheless the connotations it has in my head.

[De_El]

If weirdo guitar parts are a reason to call an album good, that would imply that Frank Zappa is worth listening to.

Oh yeah, I went there.

Is this when I threaten to cut you? And stab you and such, with various sharp implements? I'm not yet totally familiar with the customs of this forum.

[Jackie Blue]

I'm a big fan of tipping sacred cows, what can I say.

[imapiratearg]

:[

I kind of like Zappa.

[Jackie Blue]

Eh, I don't mind people who "kind of" like Zappa.  While I think that Zoogz Rift and Captain Beefheart basically did everything he did, only much better, I don't think Zappa is really horrible.  But God do I hate his fans who talk about how he was a "genius".

[Chad K.]

Eh, I don't mind people who "kind of" like Zappa.  While I think that Zoogz Rift and Captain Beefheart basically did everything he did, only much better, I don't think Zappa is really horrible.  But God do I hate his fans who talk about how he was a "genius".

FACT- Frank Zappa is a genius.  He could and did write in ANY style he chose in a virtuoustic fashion- from  classical to jazz to radio jingle.  The intracacies of his portions of compositions for percussion (specifically tympani, vibes and xylophone) are pretty much unparalleled.  And the complexity of the rest of his non-percussive compositions are also capable of being incredibly complex.

FACT- Frank Zappa's musical genius in no way makes him listenable.  It's sort of a "Wow! It's so cool you can do that; now please stop" kind of a thing.

[Jackie Blue]

Well, yeah.  Steve Vai is technically a fantastic guitar player but that in no way means I ever want to listen to him, ever.

[De_El]

I must confess that I probably have the Halo 2 theme with Steve Vai guitar-playing somewhere on my computer. But that is an unrelated problem.
Also, a lot of your posts are made better by imagining a little speech bubble by Bob's head that says "Zing!"

[SevenPinkerton]

bbq rocks, I agree, Grace Kelly is definitely not the best of Mika's songs. For some reason, that always seems to be the way with singles, unfortunately.

It's really fun to watch grown men karaoke it, though.

[a pack of wolves]

Singles are seldom representative of records at large. Nathan Larson has a really interesting technique. I also like the way this record sounds. It's clearly reasonably high production but it still sounds really off kilter. It's hard to explain I guess. It's a singular album you have to spend quite a lot of time with. I like this song called 'Gang of $'. From a compositional perspective I think it's quite distinct. The instruments are all independent of each other rather than following one specific chord pattern. I like the way no particular instrument is carrying the song. I know Gang of Four and Mission of Burma were doing this a long time before but STT were a different kettle of fish because they were distinctly un-funky. The tempo is a lot slower than most Post-Punk bands.

Incidentally, the first Shudder to Think record is very different. It's much like Rites of Spring crossed with early REM. I would have thought anyone who was into Emo could dig that one.

You're right about singles not being representative, that almost sounds like a different band to the one who made X-French T-Shirt. I looked them up on youtube as well and found a video for Red House which had the same effect on me as X-French T-Shirt but I did also find one for Hit Liquor which was much more similar to Gang of $. Both of those songs were much more interesting than the others I'd heard and I could see a lot of routes from that to a lot of bands I like a whole lot, like the Dismemberment Plan. It still didn't thrill me but there is something there, I'm starting to think it might be worthwhile to get a copy of Pony Express if only to get a handle on how it connects to other things.

I never heard the first album. I've got that Funeral At The Movies/Ten Spot cd but it never did a lot for me, it has been years since I played it though. The way you describe it that might be worth my time as well, that could just as well be someone talking about The Hated and I really like that band.

[valley_parade]

Kite-Flying Society

I would listen to this band on name alone.

[a pack of wolves]

Don't force yourself if you don't like them. It's not that great an album.

I assume you're already familiar with Jawbox? When they moved to a major, they made two of their best records.

It's always interesting to get a handle on how music develops though, and I can see now how Shudder To Think have been influential on a lot of bands I like. Besides, my taste isn't very static. I absolutely despised Hate by the Delgados for years, I'd give it a spin every now and then because I loved their earlier material and kept thinking I'd maybe see something in it. I was right, after something daft like five years it completely clicked with me. So just because I don't like it now doesn't mean it isn't worth giving it a shot. Besides, they were on Dischord. The only other band on that label I can think of that I actually dislike is Hoover.

I always found the vocal delivery in Jawbox really interesting. There's something about the way he uses his voice which makes it very much part of the choppy rhythms, like another instrument, but without sacrificing anything lyrically or in terms of the ability to understand what he's singing like many vocalists do.

[a pack of wolves]

I love basically all the early hardcore stuff and I own a Dag Nasty t-shirt. Admittedly they were just Brian Baker trying to cash in on emo but hell, at least when he was being a dick for some reason he still wrote some good music. The rest of those bands somewhat passed me by, much like Hoover would have done. But then they reformed, toured and I got to see one of the most disappointing gigs I've ever been to this side of Q And Not U. French Toast were a bit of a letdown as well. I'm with you on The Evens though, and my feelings about Black Eyes are probably quite obvious.

As for consistent labels, Ebullition has always impressed me. They've kept very true to their take on DIY and politics (which I've respected even when I completely disagreed) and released very little bad music. Admittedly they started up around fifteen years ago (I think) and have been much less active over the past few years whereas Dischord kept up a pretty busy release schedule and has been around far longer, but I still think they're pretty impressive. SuperFi is a much more recent label that's hugely impressed me over the past few years. A busy release schedule, they work with well-known international acts like Melt-Banana and Boris as well as obscure UK screamo bands like Mock Heroic, the packaging is always well-designed but varied and they just release what they're interested in regardless of genre, so long as it's all done DIY. I literally cannot think of a single bad record they've done.

[Johnny C]

Start backpedaling, Tommy. That puts the ratio of good shows to bad at a mere 3:1.

[a pack of wolves]

Q And Not U are the most disappointing band I've ever seen in my life. I was never their hugest fan but I liked No Kill No Beep Beep well enough (like everyone else in the world) and I reckoned they'd probably be much better live anyway. I think this was around the release of the second record which I didn't like so much as No Kill No Beep Beep but still, it was alright. Curiously enough they weren't just going through the motions as sometimes happens with bands (everybody has their off nights, particularly if they're doing an international tour), they were making an effort but they just came across as flat and lifeless. There was something strangely joyless about that band, at least that night. I've not listened to their records much since.

[Chad K.]

I assume you're already familiar with Jawbox? When they moved to a major, they made two of their best records.

Listen to the man.  This band is superb. Also, check out Shiner.  Ooh, and Mock Orange's albums "9's and 6's".

[Norsefisherman]

Hey so I think it's great that here people can talk about emo, but I'm so very tired of rooting through the mediafire thread to find the posts of emo music. Can we please either put mediafire links on this thread or put quotes from the mediafire thread in this thread. (I'll do some of it if no-one else takes the initiative) (also I'll add some of my own since I've uploaded some of my record collection which is primarily screamo: Alot of orchid, pg. 99, reversal of man, palatka, The End of the Century Party and more)

[blanktom]

holy crap man did you even read the rules on necro-posting

[pinkpiche]

Well this is good. Emo is good. Thread is good.

I've spent the day listening to Lyburnum by Moss icon, hoping that someday I can write as brilliantly as they did.

[Thrillho]

I am going to continue my uneven policy as far as neco-posting by saying this:

I've recently got into the music of Rival Schools and Glassjaw, and have become somewhat obsessed. I like Glassjaw so much at this point that I think I'm listening to each of their albums front-to-back, every day, and have done for the last three weeks. It's not entirely healthy.

I also don't care if this doesn't count as the 'emo' either side of the argument are referring to, call it post-hardcore or screamo, or whatever - although admittedly the second Glassjaw album is a bit more metal than most emo tends to get.

[a pack of wolves]

Hey so I think it's great that here people can talk about emo, but I'm so very tired of rooting through the mediaf!re thread to find the posts of emo music. Can we please either put mediaf!re links on this thread or put quotes from the mediaf!re thread in this thread. (I'll do some of it if no-one else takes the initiative) (also I'll add some of my own since I've uploaded some of my record collection which is primarily screamo: Alot of orchid, pg. 99, reversal of man, palatka, The End of the Century Party and more)

Thing is, this thread is old. I can't bothered to go through the mediafire thread and find all my emo posts to link them here. You can just search within the mediafire thread for band names or emo/screamo/hardcore and you should get what you're wanting.

I'm glad this thread's back though, since I do love the emo. And there is some odd news, Envy are to release a split LP with Thursday. I did not see that one coming. Hell, I didn't even realise Thursday were still doing the rounds.

In other news, the terribly monikered but really excellent Violent Breakfast are touring the UK and hopefully the Feint tape will be out soonish. Well excited about that.

I've spent the day listening to Lyburnum by Moss icon, hoping that someday I can write as brilliantly as they did.

I too have this dream. I think I might make it my mission this summer to get a new emo band on the go, I really miss playing this music.

[20 jazz funk greats]

I've just thrown on the Angel Hair discography Pregnant With The Senior Class. My word, I'd forgotten just how amazing this record is. The dense, thick riffing coupled with those on-the-edge vocals where you can almost hear the blood coming up as he rips his voice to shreds really works.

have you listened to swing kids?

[a pack of wolves]

I love Swing Kids. The discography is devastating, a pretty much perfect example of the style. They do the best Joy Division cover I've ever heard as well, I actually prefer their take on Warsaw to the original.

[20 jazz funk greats]

agree completely.
i think they're my favorite emo band ever.

this thread needs more swing kids love and less debating about mcr.

[pinkpiche]

And there is some odd news, Envy are to release a split LP with Thursday. I did not see that one coming. Hell, I didn't even realise Thursday were still doing the rounds.

In other news, the terribly monikered but really excellent Violent Breakfast are touring the UK and hopefully the Feint tape will be out soonish. Well excited about that.

I've spent the day listening to Lyburnum by Moss icon, hoping that someday I can write as brilliantly as they did.

I too have this dream. I think I might make it my mission this summer to get a new emo band on the go, I really miss playing this music.

Totally ODD news, I still can't get my head quite around it, but since Envy is getting exceedingly softer it had to happen sometime I guess. Thursday aren't bad, the singer is just a little too much for my taste. And definitely not emo.. Haha.

You should. It's great to be a part of the scene again..

In other news everybody on this forum who likes Envy and post-rockish stuff in general should start listening to Cease Upon the Capitol. Now.

[a pack of wolves]

I really should, I miss playing gigs and that's the style my vocals are best suited to (in other words, I can't sing for toffee) and my emo band is the only one I've ever done where I felt I managed to make music that really had something to it as opposed to just being fun. I've got something else in the works but I think a guy I'm moving in with soon can be easily persuaded into some emo action.

Fully backed on the Cease Upon The Capitol. I really like their name too.

[sean]

Holy shit I was just reading though this thread again last night. This is weird.

Totally ODD news, I still can't get my head quite around it, but since Envy is getting exceedingly softer it had to happen sometime I guess.

In other news everybody on this forum who likes Envy and post-rockish stuff in general should start listening to Cease Upon the Capitol. Now.

Envy isn't getting softer as much as they are getting "post rock". Plus, I think Abyssal was reasonably heavy. Also, I'll check out that group cause I am all about post rock/scremo mixes.

Also pack of wolves DO EET

[Chad K.]

I've recently got into the music of Rival Schools and Glassjaw, and have become somewhat obsessed. I like Glassjaw so much at this point that I think I'm listening to each of their albums front-to-back, every day, and have done for the last three weeks. It's not entirely healthy.

Have you checked out Quicksand?  Some of the some members as Rival Schools.  Great stuff.  Also, Shiner.  Seriously, "Lula Divinia" is where it's at.

[Thrillho]

I have heard of Quicksand yeah, but at the moment I'm trying to re-acquaint myself with the neglected albums in my catalogue before I buy any new stuff, and that includes the Schools album first.

[suitupletsgo]

god I love that album.

[Thrillho]

Rival Schools, or Quicksand? Because 'Used For Glue' is one of the defining songs of my early musical life; back when we'd only had the music channel a couple of years and Linkin Park were my favourite band, and I was still too dumb to download by myself (not that I knew who the song was by).

[suitupletsgo]

Rival Schools. though I'm a big fan of the Quicksand album Manic Compression.

[a pack of wolves]

Can we not derail this thread into talking about MCR again? The only thing they have to do with emo is that it's one of the many words that has been used to market them, and there have been so many of them you could bring them up into any thread. I can understand the urge to vent your spleen over a band you hate but it would be nice if we didn't rehash the whole thing.

What separates pop from emo? Well, there are some pop groups that are marketed with the use of the word emo, just like plenty of bands that don't fit have been marketed through the use of genres like punk and metal. The difference between them and a band like Swing Kids is pretty clear cut. www.fourfa.com explains better than I ever could. As for a new name for those pop bands who sometimes get marketed with the term emo, I've actually always found it odd that those bands never got their own genre. They seem to have a distinct sound, odd nobody ever coined one that stuck.

Anyway, the guys from Guyana Punch Line are back with a new singer calling themselves Thank God and there seems to be a much stronger screamo influence to what they're doing this time around, but with plenty of batshit insane hardcore chaos in there as well. Just listening to some tracks on their myspace and they're reminding me a little of Racebannon in the vocals, definitely a good thing and I'm hoping they play Leeds on the UK leg of their tour, I think they're doing mainland Europe too. Possibly more fitting in the ranks of people like The Avenging Disco Godfathers of Soul and, well, Guyana Punch Line than your average screamo band but there does seem to be a very big influence coming from there, they're just taking it to some odd places. I need to get a record, I want to find out if the lyrics are as mental as GPL's used to be.
http://www.myspace.com/thnkgod

[Christophe]

Does Vitreous Humor count as being "emo"? I've seen them described as such in a few places, they did a split with Boys Life, etc. etc. Either way, they're one of my all-time favorite bands.

[20 jazz funk greats]

Can we not derail this thread into talking about MCR again? The only thing they have to do with emo is that it's one of the many words that has been used to market them, and there have been so many of them you could bring them up into any thread. I can understand the urge to vent your spleen over a band you hate but it would be nice if we didn't rehash the whole thing.

What separates pop from emo? Well, there are some pop groups that are marketed with the use of the word emo, just like plenty of bands that don't fit have been marketed through the use of genres like punk and metal. The difference between them and a band like Swing Kids is pretty clear cut. www.fourfa.com explains better than I ever could. As for a new name for those pop bands who sometimes get marketed with the term emo, I've actually always found it odd that those bands never got their own genre. They seem to have a distinct sound, odd nobody ever coined one that stuck.

i call fake emo whinecore.
not incredibly creative, but it works.

and seriously, more people posting in this thread need to listen to swing kids.
and moss icon. and antioch arrow.
mmmmm fourfa-tastic.

[a pack of wolves]

Damn, have we gone this long without mentioning Antioch Arrow? How the hell did that happen? They were a brilliant band, a lot of their songs feel to me like they wander off on tangents which really adds to the feeling of confusion and urgency. And those vocals, they keep pulling you about and refuse to let you rest even more than the rest of the instruments, everything winding up and then going off like a coiled spring. The post-punk influence they seemed to have was really cool as well. Gravity is such an amazing label, and not just for that San Diego emo sound.

Does Vitreous Humor count as being "emo"? I've seen them described as such in a few places, they did a split with Boys Life, etc. etc. Either way, they're one of my all-time favorite bands.

I don't know really, maybe more math rock than emo but that tends to be where I get confused about what's what. They're not exactly a million miles away from emo however you cut it though, and they were a quality outfit.

[20 jazz funk greats]

suprisingly we've also gone this long without mentioning indian summer.

[a pack of wolves]

Shit. I think this means the scene police will be dispatched to confiscate my oop vinyl for emo failure. I love the old blues samples they used, and the way Your Train Is Leaving starts all subdued for ages until bursting into life is excellent. They never sound like they can keep up the frantic sections for long, I like the way the songs shoot into them and then it all comes crashing down again into something slower and quieter.

[pinkpiche]

Totally ODD news, I still can't get my head quite around it, but since Envy is getting exceedingly softer it had to happen sometime I guess.

In other news everybody on this forum who likes Envy and post-rockish stuff in general should start listening to Cease Upon the Capitol. Now.

Envy isn't getting softer as much as they are getting "post rock". Plus, I think Abyssal was reasonably heavy. Also, I'll check out that group cause I am all about post rock/scremo mixes.

Both the production and the songs are getting softer and softer.. If you compare Scene and Chain Wandering Deeply you'll know what I'm talking about.

[dalconnsuch]

i don't get emo music, i really don't, can someone explain it to me intelligently without the cliche "men singing about their feelings" argument?


cuz i don't fuckin get it, i missed that boat off the island

i've had people make alot of arguments about emo talkin to me through th enight but by the end of the night is till said "fuckin don't get it"

[pinkpiche]

There's nothing to get. Plus you're just being a schmuck. Like always.

[Tehz]

I didn't read through the whole thread because I'm lazy so I'm not sure if Cursive was mentioned, so yeah...I'd definitely recommend them.

And I know that SDRE was mentioned several times, but I think they're worth bringing up again. I love them so hard.

[MadassAlex]

I think the point of the original "emo" (post-hardcore) was to actually be less accessible to the over-moshing public or something. Wasn't the idea to write lyrics about emotions rather than politics and hope that all the assholes went away or something? So you'd still draw in the crowd that genuinely liked hardcore but got rid of the dumb assholes who were there to look tough.

Oh and I guess the musicians were getting sick of bitching about politics too.

Don't quote me on that, though, there is every chance that I am dead fucking wrong.

[Chad K.]

I think the point of the original "emo" (post-hardcore) was to actually be less accessible to the over-moshing public or something. Wasn't the idea to write lyrics about emotions rather than politics and hope that all the assholes went away or something? So you'd still draw in the crowd that genuinely liked hardcore but got rid of the dumb assholes who were there to look tough.

Oh and I guess the musicians were getting sick of bitching about politics too.

Don't quote me on that, though, there is every chance that I am dead fucking wrong.

I think you're dead right.  Emo was originally a reaction to that "tough guy" posture that hardcore punk eventually took.  Originally, hardcore attempted to cultivate a sense of community through a shared rejection of establishment, hence the DIY ethic where traditional venues and record lables are eschewed in favor of VFW hall shows and self-printed vinyls.  Hardcore shows started seeing "crews" develop at shows that would go to literally beat the hell out of people.  A lot of the earlier bands (Minor Threat et. al.) thought it was a bastardization of the scene and so they qut playing.  Some of those musicians who left started playing music that was less overtly violent in tone, in a style that was eventually copied.  I think bands like Fugazi, Guilt and Rites of Spring probably didn't see it that way at the time, and certainly hated the emo label. 

Toward the late 80's through the mid-90's that emo style became mixed with midwestern style indie rock, the result being most of the bands referenced i this thread like Sunny Day Real Estate, Mineral, Texas is the Reason and Elliot.  I think this style has mostly gone the way of the dinosaur.

 

[a pack of wolves]

You're right about trying to distance themselves from the tough guys, but not about the politics. Guy Picciotto has said that he sees all of Rites of Spring's material as political, and Ian Mackaye's lyrics in Embrace were if anything more directly political than those he wrote for Minor Threat.