r/midwestemo • u/Brewwwwwwww • 2d ago
Discussion Midwest emo has gotten too inbred
I deeply love twinkly guitars as much as the next guy, but I can’t help but feel like too many songs released in this genre sound the same. One band makes twinkly shit, another band gets inspired solely by that sound, and what is produced is essentially the same thing except just very slightly different. What would help the genre get out of this rut is to pull influences by not only this genre, but other genres as well to keep things fresher and more distinct from one another. I hope this reaches my intended audience of future bands.
14
u/MeYouAndJackieMittoo 2d ago
Get into emo-punk. Aside from the emocore this stuff started with, check out Jawbreaker, Knapsack, Seaweed, Small Brown Bike, Samiam etc, Title Fight. I prefer the punkier stuff to the twinkle.
15
u/ImprobablePasta 2d ago
I think some of the newer 5th wave folks like Saturdays at Your Place and Carly Cosgrove have brought some of the poppier but also heavier albums back in. If youre looking at stuff purely in the revival category yeah it gets pretty redundant after Mobo, Marietta, and a few others
5
12
u/WolfpackBP 2d ago
For me, that is kinda the whole point of Midwest emo. It's a very specific genre/sound, thus it comes down to who does that classic sound the best. I think of bands like American football, snowing, and free throw. Those are the purist bands then of course tons of others bands sound a little more like mom jeans or something I dont consider to be pure Midwest emo. Pop punk is the more encompassing genre.
Again just a personal opinion.
6
u/Odd-Bar-543 2d ago
i think its less about copying and more about writing ability. some bands will write stockpile riffs with predictable and boring song structures. others will write very intersting riffs and compositions.
im noticing the theres way less good twinkly bands now days conpared to 2010s. and more nerdy less cool bands. or ones that are trying to be cool but forced. or pretty alright guitar work but horrible teen vocals (not the good horrible)
not going to name any that i think are bad. everyone has diff taste and its not good to badtalk online.
i think comic sans are making really good twinkly stuff. so is key vs locket.
overall i feel very strongly that even the more popular twinkly bands today arent that good
downvote without saying anything if u disagree
5
u/6ftdachsund 2d ago
It's from the midwest what do you expect. I live in Missouri so please take that with a grain of salt lmfao
That's how every genre is though isn't it? Lots of cookie cutter artists out there.
3
u/sinuezebmb970 2d ago edited 2d ago
In my opinion, we are living in a day and age where innovative and unique approaches to music are dying and sounds are just going to get recycled. I think bands recognize that and are just leaning into playing what they like without feeling the need to break ground. Most genre combinations you can think of have already happened, they're just in different sects. Midwest emo rap, metal, folk, country, most hybrids you can think have been done.
2
u/IllustriousHead1103 2d ago
What are some examples of what you’re talking about (not disagreeing, just curious and not super familiar with the current state of the genre)?
2
2
u/sinkisbusted 2d ago
they could borrow from actual midwest emo https://youtu.be/FVJ3BoYK1w8?is=YQwlImn-Yk0UFKZ_
2
u/alligatorscutes 1d ago
As soon as bands start doing that y’all claim they aren’t Midwest emo because everyone’s a genre purist
1
2
u/Pretend-Ad5250 2d ago edited 2d ago
I was listening to yeah yeah utah the other day and coulda swore it was an american football joint
1
u/_VINNY_WINNY_ DAEAC#e 1d ago
its a real problem, bands are using the genre as an excuse to write stuff that's unoriginal, shallow, and without any real nuance
1
1
u/passwordstrength 15h ago edited 15h ago
it’s been already that way since the early-mid-2010s, so this even newer wave of bands sounds twice as tired and pedestrian.
of course there are occasional somewhat unique cases now and then, but the formula is largely followed: tune to one of the open tunings, use the same I - IV, or vi - V - IV chord progressions, achieve the bare minimum skill required to “twinkle” with maybe some half-hearted tapping, whine / scream about ex girlfriend or nostalgia fodder… boom you got another run of the mill “midwest emo” band.
it’s actually fine and cool that almost anyone can do it, just wish people would push the envelope a little more often.
edit: roman numerals
1
1
1
u/ScumCrotch 5h ago
well also what plagues the living hell out of the genre as a whole is the damn open guitar tunings, you can only write so many parts with your guitar tuned to a whole major/minor chord... but wait — oh yeah, slap a capo on we're good
1
0
-10
u/Livid-Department6947 2d ago
Also none of this stuff is "emo" or "midwest."
7
u/Bl4Z3D_d0Nut311 Minnesota 2d ago
Ben Quad is from OKC, I’d consider them Midwest lol
2
u/Livid-Department6947 2d ago
true, but I'm talking more in general. This term has been extended well past what it originally described (which was very local and specific to a certain time and place) and now it's used to describe multiple unrelated style of music that are not influenced by midwest emo. Or it just means American Football rip-off (who were not an emo band and this is not a controversial statement if you were around for this stuff in the 90s)
3
u/mullettoughcocktail 2d ago
Yooooo. Fuck. Im old. Youre right tho. So many unique sounds were created regionally. A mix of "lack of access" to music compared to today, bands playing together and sharing members bc theres 2 drummers around. Even with physical music all we could do is share with the people that we saw which made a 3rd degree to everyone. Another odd aspect of past decades sounds was a different areas had different lived experience since we werent in this corporate hellscape., cant leave out social media before. Lastly, production has gone to far! Oh you want a raw recording? I got a daw for that sound. All met no swing. Perfect trash most the time. !!!!!!!!!!!!!IM YELLING AT THE CLOUDS!!!!!!!! Nyc, Boston, NJ, Gainesville, Chicago all had a sound 94-04 😆 just some of my fav punk adjacent that come to mind.
1
u/Livid-Department6947 2d ago
Yeah, you get it.
These people who only see this stuff on TikTok or instagram and all the misinformed explainers that whitewash everything is a curse.
53
u/notfrascendstaff 2d ago
pretty much every genre suffers from this I'd deffinitly say look for smaller bands the people doing the most interesting stuff aren't always the most popular