jacklikejuno

[jacklikejuno]

HAAAAUUUGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[jacklikejuno]

state of emo - 29th april 2025

what happened to pop punk is happening to midwest emo.

there has been an influx of "midwest emo" bands that are only inspired by other and usually popular bands that are typically of the second wave of midwest emo like modern baseball, mom jeans., maybe mccafferty and then there is definitely american football even if they don't realise their exaggerated math rock influence. this is creating a "type" of midwest emo that is inspired by other midwest emo much like how there was a "type" of pop punk inspired by other pop punk instead of by other punk rock acts and other genres that appeared during the 2000s and 2010s.

the artists that are associated with the original scenes were not deliberately trying to create what we have now began to call "midwest emo" or "[emo-]pop punk" and neither were the original 90s midwest bands or were the "emotional hardcore" bands that came before them. they were inspired by the music of the scenes that they existed within and their own personal preferences and taste whether that be musical, literary, political, academic and/or others. a lot of 90s midwest can be said to have taken inspiration from the british post-punk scene with bands like the smiths and the smiths definitely sounded nothing like rites of spring.

this label of midwest emo for the 90s band was more of a regional matter rather than one of sound like we would consider it to be now and what these types of midwest emo bands cite to be their defining characteristic. the 90s bands mixed with the indie scene (think "pinkerton" by weezer) and existed at the birth of web1.0 when music was not yet accessible at the click of a mouse on various music sharing platforms or social media websites. bands still had a regional flair to them and this still existed going into the 2000s but quite a few would argue was killed off by sites like myspace.

we of course now have access to an overwhelming amount of information and are fed data by algorithms. it is easier than ever to discover a lot of music in a specific genre that you like! however it seems that many of these new midwest bands have little to no musical input outside of the other currently popular "midwest emo" bands right now. this has fans of the genre expressing that these newer bands claiming to be midwest emo sound soulless and overproduced for which i can't really blame them once you hear some of this music.

a huge part of the subculture is the little to no barrier that exists between "artist" and "fan". i would say that this is because it came from hardcore where the same principle applies. there is little difference and distance between you and your favourite band when you're both packed into a crowded basement and are within two feet of one another. when you manage to rid your band of this connection then it's going to feel as if you have rid yourself of what fits your band into the "emo" label in the first place. this little to no other musical influence and what feels like a lack of raw musicality has these bands sounding like they have no spirit and are lab-manufactured. when midwest emo inspired by midwest emo is starting to sound just as soulless as some of the pop punk inspired by pop punk then you know emo history is repeating itself LMAO.

happy forty years of emo ! -> [ 1985-2025 ] <3

<<<

(and a disclaimer that i'm not dogpiling either midwest emo inspired by midwest emo or pop punk inspired by pop punk and that this is just my observations and thoughts based off of music that i've heard from bands or how ppl are reacting to everything online. one of my favourite bands is an emo-pop punk band like the ones i've been talking about :D)

[jacklikejuno]

slayyyter on trisha paytas' podcast is so funny. it runs for over 2 hours and for every second of those 2 hours they do not stop yapping

[jacklikejuno]

[jacklikejuno]

my fav movie in the entire world i love archie

[jacklikejuno]

rewatching series 3 of his dark materials just to feel something

[jacklikejuno]

I forgot how much of an asshole Lord Asriel is right from the beginning

His opening scene consists of nearly breaking Lyra's arm and then threatening to "make you with you were dead" if she gets caught spying! And this is right after she saved his life!

[jacklikejuno]

watching his dark materials is crazy because wdym lyra's father loves her enough to die for her but not to raise her

[jacklikejuno]

Thursday's White Bikes has us writhing on the floor and crying

Post-hardcore’s beloved Thursday once again remind us with a surprise release “White Bikes” why, to this day, they remain a cornerstone for the genre. Whether you were active in the scene when they first started out or if you’re a teenager getting into it now, this band is essential listening.

Following up their previous release Application for Release from the Dream, which was their first in thirteen years, this song is just as symbolic. Unveiled on December 6th, twenty-five years after the reveal of their first song, it’s another cathartic record they put out without a record label, shedding themselves free from “25 years of legal disputes and public blowouts”.

They teamed up again in recording with Norman Brannon (Texas Is The Reason, New End Original, and more recently Thursday) who gives White Bikes its warm blood flowing through its veins - with a similar liveliness you could find in Texas Is The Reason’s music. This beautiful 4-minute song hatched out of an idea he had.

Geoff Rickly’s vocals are sweeping, guiding you through the cinematic whirlpool of this song with both firmness and fluidity. It’s the gripping expressiveness of his vocal performances that often draws people to Thursday, and he only gets better and better. The heartrending lyrics talk about the loss of a friend very dear to him, “one of the first people he ever played music with — who disappeared one day on his bike”.

Stuart Richardson has done a stellar job at enhancing the nostalgic sound of this song with his production. “He had the idea to produce the track like a nostalgic, upbeat, summertime version of War All the Time”. Recorded at Hansa Studio in Berlin, which musical legends including David Bowie, Nick Cave, Iggy Pop, Depeche Mode and REM had also recorded music at; this song brings you poignant sentimentality with a sunny warmth, all in the middle of winter.

The end of the song in particular conjures up a rather poignant image of a sunset; there's something about three sliding notes that go down a scale that tends to elevate a song's outro immensely, giving it a sense of closure. My initial first thought when I listened to it was Yellowcard's Ocean Avenue, which features a more punchy riff, but here the impact is just as tangible. The mixing and overlay of the guitars makes the soundscape feel incredibly vast, and makes it sound something like a full symphonic orchestra; I would draw some comparisons to the last few pages or bars of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7, Op. 60, “Leningrad” 2: Moderato (I am an orchestra veteran, and horrifically in tune with classical music).

Of course, there's a few glaring differences between a Soviet Russian classical composer and a New Jersey hardcore band, but hear me out — Shostakovich's not the only one who uses this motif, so many other classical composers have used it, and it's interesting to see how musical ideas can transcend genre. Going from Soviet composers influenced by post-Romanticism, and seeing how the same sharp, often discomforting noises can be used in modern rock is fascinating. Shostakovich's music always has a sense of dread in it, whether you perceive that as something that only comes after knowing his context or not. Particularly in White Bikes, where you can hear elements of that dread, though it's more mixed with a sense of loss, in the instrumentation which are more in keeping with the lyrics, but it's disguised, or perhaps in harmony with, the sunny, nostalgic riffs.

Ultimately, White Bikes is mature — it's a letter about grief and history, with an expression of memorability that they’ve done perfectly. It’s something they only could’ve done being the band they are today, and we’re incredibly lucky people to be in the timeline where we still get to experience their art.

Catch the band performing their debut album “Waiting” live in New Jersey on the 6th and 7th, supporting Silverstein from January to March, My Chemical Romance in August, and Coheed and Cambria (along with loads of other bands) in November.

Written by Mio and Goose | aflowerdrops. Follow us on Instagram for updates and stuff!

[jacklikejuno]

I made more songs

[jacklikejuno]

Dancers of the Tanztheater Wuppertal in Pina Bausch’s The Rite of Spring

Performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2017

Photos by Stephanie Berger

[jacklikejuno]

An introduction

HELLO EMO LOSERS!! We're a group of music enjoyers who got together in november '24 with the goal of preserving and nurturing emo music, art and culture. We wanted to create a space where bands and people in "the scene" can use as an outlet - we want to help give them a voice, spread the word about their projects, and find their next favorite artists! We LOVE post hardcore, metalcore, emoviolence, hardcore, screamo, all that stuff.

What we're trying to do here… This started when one day, one of us (hi i'm mio) came across an old, dead blog dedicated to this type of music while trying to learn more about a band from the 90s or early 00s. I was moved by the fact that I could still find bits and pieces of information about bands that were playing, and stopped playing shows, before I even had the ability to have memories (I'm 20 at the time of writing this:)). I couldn't think of many similar channels for this new generation of bands. We have social media pages for this, but we wanted a publication that all different kinds of people could enjoy, that features art, news and "opinions", something formal enough but REAL - something a little scrapbook-y — a zine.

Our plans going forward The internet is clearly not as permanent as we once thought it was. We're losing fuck-tons of media every day, and the thought of losing, not being able to re-discover, share or pass down our favorite music is daunting. We didn't start this to be an archival project, but we hope to help make this content less easy to disappear by branching out into email newsletters and physical forms of media. Also, we're looking for bands to interview and review, guest writers and photographers who can have their work published on our blog, and even labels and record shops that would like to work together in any way. If you're interested or know someone who might be, please contact us!

We're super excited about this and we've already got a few bands on our roster. Be prepared to see some familiar names! Last but not least, we're brown, queer, and this is NOT a safe space for racists, homophobes, transphobes, misogynists, zionists, ableists and assholes.

We cant wait to show what we have in store for y'all!!

Lots of love, aflowerdrops — mio, rania, taro, ricky, and goose. 🖤

[jacklikejuno]

fyi punk should be diy. if any of my followers wanna dress punk but feel like they cant because its expensive, here's the secret: a good punk look can and should be made out of literal junk. old bottle caps, safety pins. i recently asked my sister if she'd give me some spare key rings so i could join them up with mine and make a longer chain (its attached to my favorite pair of pants rn). if something doesnt feel shiny and pointy and punk enough, stab it with some safety pins. make your own patches out of spare fabric scraps. cut the logos and patterns off of shirts and turn them into patches. pick up some cheap basic embroidery stuff (thread, needle, bamboo ring, thats all you need--hell you dont even need the ring its just helpful) to sew your patches on & make some of your own. or just embroider right on your clothes! it doesnt have to look good. most real punk patches are self-made with wonky lettering. you can get a good leather jacket, denim jacket, vest, etc at your local thrift store. you can try chains like savers and you can try non-chain shops. (btw thrift shops arent just for clothes, theyre lifesavers in general. i got my favorite table for $15 at savers. its old and ornate with carved designs and shit. please shop at thrift stores theyre the best thing ever.) also, when i was younger i remember i made my own spiky bracelets out of studded ribbon (cheap, get it at joanns or some other fabric or crafts store) and safety pins to hold it together. dont waste money on fucking hot topic. you can make your own shit. thats what punk is all about. i promise anyone judging you for having handmade punk clothes and accessories is a fucking poser.

[jacklikejuno]

emo history books ! (so far)

hii, i've been compiling a list of books about and related to the history of the emo subculture c:

this list covers a wide-array of genres that all should relate to the development of the subculture in some way ! i've tried to organise based on these genres, but with some books covering multiple years i would take the grouping with a grain of salt

pls feel free to suggest some others and/or correct any mistakes i may have made. as of 1st december 2024 i haven't read all of these yet so i'll probably get things wrong

uk punk - please kill me: the uncensored oral history of punk, by legs mcneil and gillian mccain - no future: punk, politics and british youth culture 1976-184, by matthew worley - ripped and torn: 1976-79 the loudest punk fanzine in the uk - burning britain: the history of uk punk 1980-1984, by ian glasper - i dreamed i was a very clean tramp, by richard hell

us punk - lipstick traces, by greil marcus - going underground: american punk 1979-1989 by george hurchalla - dance of days: two decades of punk in the nation's capital, by mark anderson and mark jenkins - see a little light: the trail of rage and melody, by bob mould note: see a little light has been described as "30 years of life cramped into 385 pages" and advised to be avoided unless ur some sort of die hard bob mould fan - songs only you know: a memoir, by sean madigan hoen - mosquitos & whiskey, by chris walter - gimme something better: the profound, progressive and occasionally pointless history of bay area punk from dead kennedys to green day, by jack boulware and silke tudor - how to ru(i)n a record label: the story of lookout records, by larry livermore - 924 gilman: the story so far..., by brian edge - on the road with the ramones, by monte a. melnick and frank meyer - just kids, by patti smith - a wailing of a town: an oral history of early san pedro punk and more 1977-1985, by craig ibarra - safety in numbers: my jounery with l.a. punk rock gangs 1982-1992, by adam wilson - 1978: crashed memories, by ger-i lewis - american hardcore: a tribal history, by steven blush - disco's out...murder's in!: the true story of frank the shank and l.a.'s deadliest punk rock gang - post: a look at the influence of post-hardcore 1985-2007, by eric grubbs

straight edge: - straight edge, by tony rettman

grunge: - everybody loves our town: a history of grunge, by mark yarm

indie: - meet me in the bathroom, lizzy goodman - our band could be your life: scenes from the american indie underground 1981-1991, by michael azerrad

commercialising punk/how the underground became mainstream - sellout, by dan ozzi - smash!: green day, the offspring, bad religion, nofx and the 90s punk explosion, by ian winwood - bodies: life and death in music, by ian winwood

2000s emo - from the basement: a history of emo music and how it changed the world, by taylor markarian - nothing feels good: punk rock, teenagers, and emo, by andy greenwald - everybody hurts: an essential guide to emo culture, by leslie simon and trevor kelly - wish you were here: an essential guide to your favourite music scenes -- from punk to indie and everything in between, by leslie simon - where are your boys tonight?: the oral history of emo's mainstream explosion 1999-2008, by chris payne - rock bottom at the renaissance: an emo kid's journey of falling in and out of love in and with new york city - top eight: how myspace changed music, by michael tedder

couldn't think of which grouping for these but alternative/underground subculture in general: - subculture by dick hebdige - sex, drugs and cocoa puffs: a low culture manifesto, by chuck klosterman

post punk - rip it up and start again, by simon reynolds

also some gunk punk - we never learn: the gunk punk undergut, 1988–2001, by eric davidson

and some ska (??? dont even think this is related, it just came up and it sounded interesting to me LMAO) - in defense of ska, by aaron carnes

[jacklikejuno]

in the closet? nah man i’m in a coffin. i’m underground. yeah bro im being buried alive but it’s okay dude my heart is still beating. yeah man there is still time

[jacklikejuno]

mark fisher and jane schoenbrun and capitalist realism and how "it's easier to imagine the end of the world than it is to imagine the end of capitalism"