STAFF PICKS: Emo Nite
Each week, staff members compile a themed playlist and spotlight some of their standout picks. For this week, we selected some emo tracks to kick off the month.
“My Better Half” by One Last Wish
By Lyle Byrne
While DC hardcore band Rites of Spring is often credited with pioneering what would become the modern “emo” sound; in my eyes, the spin-off band following Rites’ 1986 breakup, One Last Wish, is the true basis to what the sound would become. 3/4 of the members of Rites of Spring (Guy Picciotto, Brendan Canty, Edward Janney), alongside The Faith and Embrace guitarist Michael Hampton formed One Last Wish in May of 1986. The band was a fresh start for the members musically, while also highlighting their talent from years of experience in their previous bands– bands that single-handedly birthed the sound of emotional hardcore. The whole album, 1986, features much more layering and sonic depth than most hardcore records at the time. The group used a 16-track recorder which allowed for overlapping guitar leads, more prominent riffs, and the implementation of vocal harmonies.
The featured track, “My Better Half”, starts with an opening riff that feels like it could have been ripped straight from a pop-punk song from the late 1990s or early 2000s (very “My Own Worst Enemy” by Lit). The riff leads directly into an upbeat melodic hardcore tune that backs Piciotto’s frantic vocal delivery on the first verse. The lyrical content of this song holds a very positive tone that much of 80’s Dischord-adjacent bands had, and much of modern emo music lacks. The subjects are still undoubtedly heavy, (“It told me to risk it all / With the chance of nothing returned / Isn’t that the task of love?”), and Piciotto brings emotion and vulnerability without the depressing lyricism the ‘emo’ label may lead you to believe. The piercing note progression that begins during the chorus is what solidifies this track as an all-timer for me. I theorize that this specific fourteen-second segment of music was too raw, cathartic, and beautiful to be classified under an existing genre name– hence the birth of “emo”.
In all seriousness, the song is an awesome listen, not just to accommodate the history lesson that I have written on it, but as an emo banger that was way ahead of its time.
“Beautiful Things Are Better Left Dead” by April’s Love Affair
By Abigail Carsner
I was a Junior in high school when I first heard about April’s Love Affair, a post-hardcore/screamo band from Louisiana. I was really into the “emo holy trinity” and tumblr in middle school and had a relatively surface-level understanding of post-hardcore at the time.
So, you can probably imagine my obsession when I turned on their 2005 EP, “The Manner in Which I Scream Goodbye” and heard the opening riff.
“Beautiful Things Are Better Left Dead” is the first track on the EP and probably the band’s most known. The song, like most emo songs, is about heartbreak. There’s moments of pure hatred for the person they’re singing about; along with, hints of bittersweet adoration in vocalist’s Ryan Veuthey’s delivery and lyrics. Veuthey reminisces on this past relationship, no matter toxic, or abusive it was, and still misses her even if hates her. He finds her beautiful, yet he’d rather have her dead (not literally). His solution to this torturous memory? To drink. He tries to replicate that beauty from a bottle.
Honestly, I believe most people should listen to this whole EP. April’s Love Affair is an AMAZING 2000s screamo band and are quite easy to get into if you want to start listening to actual emo, not what every middle schooler listens to (you’re better than that). I could literally rave about this whole EP for hours and days. Go listen to April’s Love Affair so they might actually release more music.
“A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More ‘Touch Me'” by Fall Out Boy
By Julia Green
If you’re looking for a band, album, and song to experience emo music for the first time with, you’ve come to the right place. There is no band more quintessentially emo than Fall Out Boy. While the genre existed before them, they’re one of the reasons emo became the cultural mainstay it is today. From Under The Cork Tree’s 2005 release brought with it an army of eyeliner-wearing, Converse-clad fans and a handful of kooky music videos. I have to admit, one of the reasons I love “A Little Less Sixteen Candles…” so much is its music video. For those who’ve never seen it, it’s a Thriller-esque short film that features bassist-and-frontman Pete Wentz as an emo vampire and the rest of the band as his team of vampire hunters. It sounds insane, and it is, but the silliness is what makes it so endearing and memorable. Honestly, it lowkey predicted the cultural frenzy that Twilight would create three years later.
Any FOB song that has a movie reference in the title is going to be a good one. The song itself is a heavy-hitter for all things stereotypical emo. Overdramatic, sickly-sweet lyrics litter the track, like my favorite line “I don’t blame you for being you, but you can’t blame me for hating it.” Patrick Stump was still at the point in his career of doing the “pop-punk accent” and you can really hear it on this song, which is kind of what sells the over-the-top lyrics. The punchy guitar lines and fast drums are genre staples, but the main guitar hook is the real standout of the track. The hook, lyrics, and basically everything really, cement “A Little Less Sixteen Candles…” as one of the greats not just off this album, or for the band, but for the entire emo genre.
Listen to the full playlist:
Contributors: Amaris Alfonesca, Alyssa Westcoat, Lyle Byrne, Abigail Carsner, Kelsea Clarke, Maya Eberlin, Ashley Garofolo, Julia Green, Lindsay Hawes, Delaney Heckman, Chris Hetrick, Natalie Hogan, Caroline Maurer, Cara Reddington, Aya Soussi, Tate Weaver, Clara Wenk
Cover photo by Delaney Heckman
