Midwest emo (or Midwestern emo) refers to the

emo Emo is a rock music genre characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of and hardcore punk from the Washington D.C. hardcore punk scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore and pioneered b ...

scene and/or subgenre that developed in 1990s

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

. Employing unconventional vocal stylings, distinct guitar riffs and arpeggiated melodies, Midwest emo bands shifted away from the genre's

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier p ...

roots and drew on

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produ ...

and math rock approaches. According to the author and critic

Andy Greenwald Andy Greenwald (born May 19, 1977) is an American author, critic, podcaster, screenwriter, and television producer. Life and career Greenwald grew up in Philadelphia and currently lives in Los Angeles, California. He graduated from Friends' C ...

, "this was the period when emo earned many, if not all, of the stereotypes that have lasted to this day: boy-driven, glasses-wearing, overly sensitive, overly brainy, chiming-guitar-driven college music."Greenwald, pp. 34–35. Midwest emo is sometimes used interchangeably with "second-wave emo". Although not implied by the name, Midwest emo does not solely refer to bands and artists from the Midwestern United States, and the style is played by outfits internationally.

Characteristics

According to ''

The Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by a ...

'' critic Leor Galil, the second-wave bands of the Midwest emo scene "transformed the angular fury of D.C. emo into something malleable, melodic, and cathartic—its common features included cycling guitar parts, chugging bass lines, and unconventional singing that sounded like a sweet neighbor kid with no vocal training but plenty of heart." Incorporating elements from

, the genre also features "gloomy chord progressions" and arpeggiated guitar melodies. Midwest emo is also commonly associated with the use of math rock elements. The definable traits of the Midwest emo have proven to be easily fused with other genres of underground

independent music Independent music (also commonly known as indie music or simply indie) is music that is produced independently from commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, a process that may include an autonomous, do-it-yourself approach to recording a ...

. Revival bands including The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die mixed the Midwestern emo sound with genres such as

post-rock Post-rock is a form of experimental rock characterized by a focus on exploring textures and timbre over traditional rock song structures, chords, or riffs. Post-rock artists are often instrumental, typically combining rock instrumentation w ...

and orchestral music. Other outfits, including Patterns Make Sunrise, The Pennikurvers, and Everyone Asked About You, introduced elements of

twee pop Twee pop is a subgenre of indie pop that originates from the 1986 '' NME'' compilation '' C86''. Characterised by its simplicity and perceived innocence, some of its defining features are boy–girl harmonies, catchy melodies, and lyrics about lo ...

and

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

into the sound of Midwest emo. This proved influential to the aforementioned Emo revival scene, with groups like Dowsing and Empire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate) taking a similar approach.

History

The Midwest emo scene came into prominence in the mid-1990s with bands such as

American Football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

, Chamberlain,

The Promise Ring The Promise Ring was an American rock band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that is recognized as part of the second wave of emo. Among various other EPs and singles, the band released four studio albums during their initial run: '' 30° Everywhere'' ...

Cap'n Jazz Cap'n Jazz (sometimes stylised as caP'n Jazz) was an American emo band formed in Chicago in 1989 by brothers Tim and Mike Kinsella, who were joined by Sam Zurick and Victor Villarreal. After a number of name changes and the addition of guita ...

Cursive Cursive (also known as script, among other names) is any style of penmanship in which characters are written joined in a flowing manner, generally for the purpose of making writing faster, in contrast to block letters. It varies in functionali ...

Mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2 ...

and

The Get Up Kids The Get Up Kids are an American rock band from Olathe, Kansas. Formed in 1995, the band was a major player in the mid-1990s Midwest emo scene, otherwise known as the " second wave" of emo music. Their second album '' Something to Write Home Abo ...

Braid A braid (also referred to as a plait) is a complex structure or pattern formed by interlacing two or more strands of flexible material such as textile yarns, wire, or hair. The simplest and most common version is a flat, solid, three-strande ...

has been regarded as an important act to propel the Midwest emo sound across the United States. Some of the acts to practice the sound were originally not from the Midwestern United States, with

Sunny Day Real Estate Sunny Day Real Estate is an American emo/indie rock band from Seattle, formed in 1992. The band currently consists of founding members Jeremy Enigk (vocals, guitar), Dan Hoerner (guitar) and William Goldsmith (drums), alongside Greg Suran (gui ...

being from

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

and Mineral being from

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. Midwest emo saw a notable resurgence over the late 2000s with labels such as

Count Your Lucky Stars Records Count Your Lucky Stars Records is an American independent record label based in Fenton, Michigan. The label has released albums by bands such as Empire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate), Joie De Vivre (band), Joie De Vivre, Annabel, Moving Mountai ...

, as well as by bands such as CSTVT,

Oliver Houston Oliver Houston was an American emo band from Grand Rapids, Michigan. History Oliver Houston formed in 2011 as a side project for vocalist Kyle Luck and drummer Garret Cabello's band The Exploration. The band released their first EP, The Dork Ages ...

, Into It. Over It.,

Algernon Cadwallader Algernon Cadwallader is an American emo and math rock band from Yardley, Pennsylvania. They were originally active from 2005 to 2012. In 2022, the band regrouped and began touring again. ''Stereogum'' referred to the band as the "heroes of the e ...

and Snowing.

Characteristics

History

See also

References

Further reading