It's not important, but I like diving down this rabbit hole. Categorizing stuff, seeing where genres blend and cross over one another, is fun for me. Genres are totally stupid and arbitrary, just reference points to find more things that are similar to things you currently like. But it's interesting to discuss. I've been thinking about this for a while. What's the real difference between emo and indie rock?
It’s about record labels for this thread too. Chances are if something is coming out on Count Your Lucky Stars, Double Double Whammy, Exploding In Sound, Father/Daughter, Run For Cover, Polyvinyl, Topshelf, etc. it’s probably going to be good and folks in this thread will like it. But honestly it’s all arbitrary and this thread is basically post good music if you like it and think others may like it and it’s not way off base.
That's what I am getting for sure. If a certain label puts it out, someone will post it, no matter what the "genre-tag".
I hate these convos but I always think of emo as either the genre or the “scene”. The genre can be defined and gate keeped to hell, the “scene” is a undefined grouping of bands and artists which is mostly what this thread ends up covering. The connection of indie rock to emo is mostly through the “scene”. this happened cause indie rock is no longer in vogue (or whatever the saying is) on sites like pitchfork so that style of rock was pushed to the underground / diy scene. I rest my case, back to music
As long as the conversations remain civil there is nothing wrong with it, which we are doing. The emo/indie rock "scene" is a fascinating one.
gatekeeping on sonic identifiers like “this doesn’t twinkle so not emo” is lame as hell and it’s much more rewarding to group on things less tangible which is why this thread/DIY threads can cover such a wide range of sounds.
I agree it can be fascinating and good convo but I have many a friends turned off of this scene cause of “this ain’t emo” convos in particular cause it almost always comes off unintentionally Gatekeep-y.
I do want to add that I think it’s really cool how emo has evolved to where people can talk about Sunny Day Real Estate, American Football, The Promise Ring, Mineral, etc. or The Hotelier, Snowing, Algernon Cadwallader, Prince Daddy, Glocca Morra, Tigers Jaw, etc. and in the same breath talk about bands like Diet Cig, Illuminati Hotties, Speedy Ortiz, Charly Bliss, Adult Mom, Lomelda, Japanese Breakfast, Kississippi, Florist, Beach Bunny, etc. I like how wide ranging the genre is, especially in this thread.
I just want to say that this thread is extremely overwhelming with the vast amount of music that is posted BUT it is great that there is so much great music out there that I have never heard before and I thank anyone who has dropped an album/song in this thread.
oh ya im not saying you were sorry was just on my mind. Especially with the "a brief history of emo twinkle" article that was posted. i dig the e word and enjoyed the article, but had friends who were super turned off of it and it points to more of the gatekeep-y issues with this scene.
I get it and that what's I mentioned before. It's just what people want to do: put things in neat little boxes and categorize everything into playlists based on that. But people tend to forget just because a band is X doesn't mean they only associate with X and not Y. I think we are on the same page.
Kids in high school would always say it was specific to “emotionally charged rock” so I’d tell them my favorite emo band was Michelle Branch and they’d be like “no not like that”
That's what I usually go by and spread out from there but Damn, gonna go back to only lurking and liking good music recs here. No room for fun/interesting conversation anywhere on the internet these days. Sorry if I rustled anyone's feathers! *plays emo music just to feel something*
I keep playing the Snacking release, really love it. And then the Checkmate tape plays after it and that's growing on me a lot as well.