How to Listen to Emo Music

Like most genres of music, emo has evolved from its hardcore roots to a blurry, indefinable list of loosely linked bands. While today's emo genre is more of a look than a sound, you can easily find emo bands to embrace.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• CD Player
• Record Player

Get in the Groove With Emo Music

1. Start at the roots of emo with bands like Embrace and Rites of Spring. These emo bands sprung from the hardcore scenes in Washington, D.C. and Southern California. While their music differs little from their hardcore predecessors, these emo bands are known for spontaneous expressions of emotion on stage and deep, intense lyrics.
2. Dig out a record player to listen to much of the early emo music. You'll find much of it on 7-inch vinyl, sometimes split with a similar band. The early music is slowly making its way to CDs.
3. Follow the progression of emo bands into the indie scene of the mid 1990s. During this time, independent labels surged, releasing bands like Sunny Day Real Estate, Texas is the Reason, Cap'N Jazz, Jejune and Sense Field. Fans often begin splitting hairs between "Emo-core" of the late 1980s and the "Indie Emo" of the day.
4. Check out Jade Tree Records, Saddle Creek and Deep Elm Records for a huge catalog of emo music from the 1990s.
5. Make your way to the present-day emo music scene. Some claim it originated with Dashboard Confessional, which started as a solo, side project from a band called Further Seems Forever. You can easily find music from this period on compilations, as well as on the radio.
6. Turn your radio on to listen to the third wave of emo music. Bands like My Chemical Romance, Taking Back Sunday, Senses Fail and Panic! at the Disco have all been labeled emo at one time or another. The wide variety of emo bands has made the genre both more accessible and less desirable as bands try to separate themselves from the name.

Tips & Warnings

• Listen to what you enjoy rather than trying to define bands. From its inception, emo music has been hard to pin down, with most bands falling into other genres of music. Even as the word fades from the mainstream, the music and the bands that once defined it will probably continue.