by: dal

With every new decade comes a new style of music that everyone loves or loves to hate. In the 70s it was disco, in the 80s it was Journey (even though everyone secretly listened to them), in the early 90s it was hip hop and in the late 90s it was the resurgence of boy/girl bands. And like clockwork the ball dropped once again, but this time into the millennium. We found out that Miles Dicen didn’t fuck us over as once predicted, and our computers didn’t crash. While we were distracted with these thoughts, “emo” or “emotional” snuck onto the radio waves like a ninja, and finally since it’s inception circa 1984, it became a commercial success.

At first no one questioned it. Ever since Dave Matthew’s Band had captured the ears of every high school and college kid in America , a band like Dashboard Confessional seemed logical, almost predictable. I say that, because DMB influenced many kids to unplug their electric guitars and sit with their acoustics. We as listeners were merely seeing the results or effects that a band like DMB had created. Now I’m not saying that DMB created emo, because many will argue that Rites of Spring (1st generation emo) or Weezer (2nd generation emo) was responsible for that, but I will say that DMB was a catalyst for its modern success that many overlook or fail to recognize.

Without having to fully explain what emo’s all about, I will instead run you through a typical emo song (the way I see it). “The boy next door” has a crush on the girl, next door. This can be read all about in his diary…that’s right he keeps a diary. This girl though, is completely unattainable, for three key reasons. One, she’s already involved with someone, and that someone is probably the dreamy quarterback who also happens to be the dopest guy in B.N.Door’s shitty little suburban town. Two, she’s really popular and the only time she’s ever noticed B.N.Door was that time in gym class, where he was the only kid who couldn’t do a pull-up. Three, the B.N.Door spends way too much time inside, claiming to observe the stars at night, OR observe G.N.Door through her window while he compares her to the stars, that he conscientiously observed for approximately 2 seconds through his crappy telescope he won on Double-Dare. He’s sad, nothings new…the end. By the way if you want to start an emo band it is best to have a day of the week or name of a month with anything meaningless attached. I’ll provide two examples of this formula using my current paragraph, Double-Dare Tuesday’s or Quarterback Named October. If you want to write lyrics or come up with catchy song titles for your emo band, just watch every movie directed by John Hughes. Moving on…

It is not entirely unlikely that within the next few years we will start to see the repercussions of emo, I’m calling it the anti-emo. It would only be natural that an emo sounding band will murder the genre, or make it bigger than ever by drastically changing the content and principles of its songs. One band in particular that is poised to accomplish this is Brand New. In my opinion Brand New has more talent and potential after three full length albums than any of their predecessors ever had. Their songs range from arrogant and selfish to sexual and paranoid. For example, the track “Jude Law and a Semester Abroad” has front-man Jesse Lacey passionately expressing his disdain for his ex, for cheating on him. The line “even if her plane crashes tonight she’ll find some way to disappoint me, by not burning in the wreckage, or drowning at the bottom of the sea” pretty much sums it all up.

To conclude my point, in order for emo to gain more listeners and a little self respect, more artists need to take more chances. It’s alright to write about the opposite sex but it’s also alright to let everyone know you don’t always have the best intentions. After all, isn’t genuine honesty when we can admit that every now and then we listen to the one side of our conscience without the halo?