Emo revival

Emo revival
Other names	Fourth wave emo
Stylistic origins	Midwest emo screamo indie rock math rock post-hardcore pop punk
Cultural origins	Late 2000s-early 2010s, United States
Typical instruments	Vocals guitar bass drums
Derivative forms	Emo rap soft grunge
Regional scenes
West Virginia
Local scenes
Philadelphia Chicago Willimantic, Connecticut
Other topics
Post-rock slowcore indie electronic

Theemo revival,orfourth wave emo,was an undergroundemomovement which began in the late 2000s and flourished until the mid-to-late 2010s. The movement began towards the end of the 2000sthird-wave emo,withPennsylvania-based groups such asTigers Jaw,Algernon CadwalladerandSnowingeschewing that era's mainstream sensibilities in favor of influence from 1990sMidwest emo(i.e., second wave emo). Acts likeTouché Amoré,La DisputeandDefeaterdrew from 1990s emo and especially its heavier counterparts, such asscreamoandpost-hardcore.

The movement had become prominent in underground music by the mid-2010s, with influential releases from era-defining groups likeModern Baseball,the HotelierandJoyce Manor.It also expanded in scope and sonic diversity during this period.Soft grungewas pioneered by such groups asTitle Fight,Basement,CitizenandTurnover,whileState Faults,Birds in RowandPortrayal of Guiltpushed the boundaries of screamo. Fourth-wave emo entered a decline toward the decade's end, as influential bands disbanded or entered periods of hiatus. A fifth-wave of bands began pushing the genre into more experimental territory, often embracingpost-rock;examples includePool Kids,Glass BeachandAwakebutstillinbed.

Characteristics

Bands of the emo revival are predominately influenced by acts from theMidwest emoscene of the 1990s and early 2000s; according toUltimate Guitarstaff writer Maria Pro, the terms second-wave emo and Midwest emo are used interchangeably to describe that time period's scene.Revival bands often display a "DIY sound" and lyrical themes ranging from nostalgia to adulthood.Pro, however, further writes that the revival only borrowed from the second wave in terms of aesthetics; sonically, it featured a distinct fusion ofmath rock,post-hardcoreandpop punk.

History

Midwest emo revival

Philadelphia'sModern Baseballwere one of the bigger players in the emo revival

Whilethird wave emowas reaching its commercial peak in the mid-to late 2000s by embracing the sounds of mainstream radio music, fourth-wave emo's forerunners began taking influence from the second-waveMidwest emoscene.The fourth wave was spearheaded by thePennsylvania-based groupsTigers Jaw,Glocca Morra,SnowingandAlgernon Cadwalladerand the English bandTTNG.A 2018Stereogumarticle cited Algernon Cadwallader's 2008 LPSome Kind Of Cadwalladeras the emo revival's watershed release,while a 2020 article byJunkeecalled Tigers Jaw's 2008self-titled second album"a true landmark release for the era".These bands embraced aDIY ethosand reintroducedbasement showsto the emo scene. Under their influence, underground emo scenes formed across the United States in such localities asWest Virginia,Willimantic, ConnecticutandChicago.Notable fourth-wave acts from the Chicago scene includedInto It. Over It.,CSTVT,Pet Symmetry,Joie de Vivre,Their / They're / There,Lifted Bells,andDowsing.Fourth-wave emo had become a fully-realised movement by 2011.Philadelphia's scene remained prominent throughout the wave, contributing bands such asEveryone Everywhere,Modern Baseball,Hop Along,Jank,Balance and Composure,andmewithoutYou.

By 2013, the emo revival had become a dominant force in underground music. The year saw high profile by Balance and Composure,Brave Bird,Crash of Rhinos,Fo xing,the Front Bottoms,Little Big Leagueandthe World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die.The same year,Huntsville-basedCamping in Alaskareleased their debut album,please be nice,which became acult classicwith the success of "c u in da ballpit" online.Spinnamedthe Hotelier's second albumHome, Like Noplace Is There(2014) as the best album of fourth wave emo, opining that it "made it undeniably clear that the most thoughtful, the most progressive and the most exciting thing in indie right now was happening right here".

During the movement, various emo bands from the 1990s and early 2000s have reunited for reunion tours or permanent reunionsAmerican Footballandthe Get-Up Kids.Furthermore, through this era, contemporary emo bands maintained a close associated with the hardcore scene and pop punk's ongoingDefend Pop Punk Era,which bore the influence of both hardcore and Midwest emo.In particular,the Wonder Years,Jeff Rosenstock,Charly BlissandPUPwere prominent acts during the emo's fourth wave, who sonically were closer to pop punk.

The Wave and screamo revival

Touché Amoréwere one of the most prominent acts in the Wave

Beginning to form in the late 2000s, "the Wave" was a movement of bands reviving 1990s emo, screamo and post-hardcore sounds.The name was originally coined to refer to onlyTouché Amoré,La Dispute,Defeater,Pianos Become the TeethandMake Do and Mend,however by 2014 had expanded to also include groups Balance and Composure, Into It. Over It. andTitle Fight.In 2011Alternative Pressnoted thatLa Disputeis "at the forefront of a traditional-screamo revival" for their critically acclaimed releaseWildlife,while a 2014 article byTreblecalled Touché Amoré "the one band carrying the sound forward in the most interesting ways".Outside of the Wave, bands furthering the sound of screamo in the early 2010s includedCaravels,ComadreandState Faults.By 2015, many of the original acts in the movement had either gone on hiatus or entered periods of inactivity.

In August 2018,Noiseywriter Dan Ozzi declared that it was the "Summer of Screamo" in a month-long series documenting screamo acts pushing the genre forward as well as the reunions of seminal bands such asPg. 99,Majority Rule,City of Caterpillar,andJeromes Dream.Groups highlighted in this coverage, including Respire,Ostraca,Portrayal of Guilt,Soul Glo,I Hate Sex,andInfant Island,had generally received positive press from large publications, but were not as widely successful as their predecessors.Noiseyalso documented that, despite its loss of mainstream popularity and continued hold in North American scenes, particularlyRichmond, Virginia,screamo had become a more international movement; notably spreading to Japan, France, and Sweden with groups includingHeaven in Her Arms,Birds in RowandSuis La Lune,respectively.Also in 2018,Veinreleased their debut albumErrorzoneto critical acclaim and commercial success, bringing together elements of screamo, hardcore andnu metal.

Soft grunge

Title Fightwere one of the forefront acts in soft grunge

Main article:soft grunge music

One notable segment within fourth wave emo was the sound of soft grunge.Merging elements ofemo,shoegaze,pop punk,alternative rockandpost-hardcore,the genre originated with bands from thehardcore punkscene who began making music inspired by 1990s emo and post-hardcore as well as early 1990s alternative rock groups like theSmashing Pumpkins,SoundgardenandAlice in Chains.The first wave of bands emerged in the early 2010s, includingAdventures,Balance and Composure,Basement,Citizen,Pity Sex,SuperheavenandTurnover.The majority of these bands were signed toRun for Cover Records,made use of fuzz pedals and filmed their music videos using8 mm film.Title Fightstood at the forefront of the genre with the success of their 2012 albumFloral Green.

Decline

By the middle of the decade many bands had begun experimenting considerably with their sound, creating music less indebted to the 1990s emo bands that defined the fourth wave's early years and instead morphing the style towards what many critics began to call post-emo. As early as 2015,Vicewriter Ian Cohen referenced the end of the emo revival and the beginning of the post-emo era with the release ofthe World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die's second albumHarmlessness,whileBrooklynVeganwriter Andrew Sacher recalled the same sentiment retrospectively in 2021 aboutFo xing's 2018 third albumNearer My God.

By the end of the decade many of the most influential bands in fourth wave emo had disbanded: Modern Baseball in 2017, Title Fight in 2018 and Balance and Composure in 2019.mewithoutYou originally announced their break in 2019, after a final 2020 tour, however this tour was postponed due toCOVID-19 pandemicand the band eventually broke up in 2022.Meanwhile other bands who had previously been prolific, such asDefeaterandLa Dispute,entered periods of inactivity.

Influence and fifth-wave emo

Fourth wave emo bandFo xing's albumNearer My God(2014) helped pioneer the sound of fifth wave emo

The underground success of fourth wave emo influenced the rise of theemo rapgenre, which received significant mainstream success in the late 2010s with artists likeLil Peep,Lil Uzi VertandJuice Wrld.One of the earliest pioneers of this sound was former Tigers Jaw guitarist and vocalist Adam McIlwee, who began the solo projectWicca Phase Springs Eternaland formed the influential emo rap collectiveGothBoiClique.

Following the revival era in the early 2010s, a number of new bands emerged in the emo genre which have often been grouped into a distinct wave starting from the late 2010s to the early 2020s.The Ringerwriter Ian Cohen as beginning as early as 2017 when emo bands of the fourth wave likeCryingandthe Brave Little Abacusbegan moving into post-emo.This fifth wave of emo maintained many of the stylistic elements of the revival era, but also began to incorporate sounds from other genres such as jazz and electronic music.The fifth wave of emo has also been noted for its focus on inclusivity of bands with transgender, queer, female and black artists as well as other artists of color.Notable fifth-wave artists includeHome Is Where,Dogleg,Glass Beach,Origami Angel,Pool KidsandAwakebutstillinbed.

By 2023, remaining fourth waves emo bands like Citizen, the Hotelier, Fo xing and the Wonder Year began touring for the tenth anniversaries of their most influential records and receiving renewed critical acclaim.

Criticism

The term "emo revival" has been the cause of controversy. Numerous artists and journalists have stated that it is not a revival at all and that, as a result of increasing usage of the Internet to discover music, people have stopped paying attention to locale-based underground emo.In 2013, Evan Weiss stated, "It's funny that people are only noticing it now because I feel like that revival has been happening for the last six years [...] It doesn't seem new to me, but if it's new to them, let them enjoy it."

During the emo revival, music scholars began to consider emo music's relationship to misogyny and sexism.The emo revival was also notable for revelations of sexual harassment and assault committed by members of emo bands, such asBrand New,leading to a wider conversation about sexism within emo scenes.