Way before what teens today think of as emo, the term was shorthand for emotional hardcore. It was not a dirty word that referred to the lifestyle that gets so much negative press these days. Originating in the Washington, DC music scene of the mid-1980’s, some so-called “first-wave” emo or emocore bands included Rites of Spring, Embrace, and Moss Icon. Then came Fugazi (featuring ex-members of Rites of Spring and Embrace), Jawbox, and so on from there…
This is (according to me) a brief history of emo in music only. Yes, it will be incomplete in some areas and too inclusive in others depending on who you ask, but that’s life. And while I could have written about my feelings for all the bands, all the factual stuff has already been said and I’d just be rehashing much of what you can find here, here, or even here. Anyhow, much of this music is out of print, so dig in, enjoy, and let the hate mail begin.
MP3 | Rites Of Spring – For Want Of
MP3 | The Hated – Words Come Back
MP3 | Embrace – Give Me Back
MP3 | Moss Icon – Guatemala
MP3 | Fugazi – Repeater
MP3 | Jawbreaker – Want
MP3 | Nation Of Ulysses – Today I met The Girl…
MP3 | Samiam – Clean
MP3 | Jawbox – Static
MP3 | Hoover – Two Down
MP3 | Still Life – Truth
MP3 | Cap N Jazz – In The Clear
MP3 | Friction – Squelch
MP3 | Gauge – 38 Cinder
MP3 | Policy Of Three – Drone
MP3 | Portraits Of Past – Implications Of A Sinkhole Personal
MP3 | Sunny Day Real Estate – In Circles
MP3 | Knapsack – Cellophane
MP3 | Lifetime – Ostrichsized
MP3 | Shotmaker – Shortwave Radio
MP3 | Swing Kids – Forty Three Seconds
MP3 | Texas Is The Reason – If Its Here When We Get Back…
MP3 | Gameface – Everything I Do Is Wrong
MP3 | Mineral – Five, Eight, And Ten
MP3 | Alkaline Trio – 97
MP3 | Braid – Forever Got Shorter
MP3 | Christie Front Drive – Bag
MP3 | Get Up Kids – Second Place
MP3 | Hot Water Music – Just Don’t Say You Lost It
MP3 | The Promise Ring – Red And Blue Jeans
MP3 | Very Secretary – Best Possible Souvenir
MP3 | At The Drive-In – Napoleon Solo
MP3 | Boxer – Georgia
MP3 | God’s Reflex – The Summer In Between
MP3 | Jejune – The Early Stars
MP3 | Jimmy Eat World – What I Would Say To You Now
MP3 | American Football – Never meant
MP3 | Cursive – The Martyr
MP3 | Elliott – Drive On To Me
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Do I need to say how AWESOME this post is…??
Krist
thepunkguy
Best post I’ve read (anywhere) in 2007. Gauge and Friction bring me back to…… that VFW in Elmhurst in early 90s I think?
this is one of my favorite posts that you’ve done!
Hell yes!!!!
Great post my friend.
What a great, nostalgic post…do you by chance have the Promise Ring song off of the ‘Ground Rule Double’ comp.? Out of print, so hard to find.
Well, itseems it’s more a of love mail than a hate mail you get! And how deserved! There are so many great memories you bring back. Everyone has his favourites and mine are ‘For want of’ and ‘If it’s here when when we get back…’. They are everything. Thank you.
drone!
oh man, the memories… “back sleeping or fucking or something”…
geeze
i have a still life record and a TITR/Promise Ring split 7″…
so good…
The Hoover track link is broken, btw…
AMAZING. thanks for that, it’s awesome to revisit the good times when emo wasn’t all about black tees, eyeliner and ‘My Chemical Romance’. (pfft)
braid, mineral, sunny day, texas is the reason. ahhh.
Thank you for this. Always good to educate myself with bands I don’t know. This is gonna make my weekend
wow! a Gauge track from the “43″ ten-inch. makes me a proud ‘dad’ to see the Gauge given some love. thanks! awesome post! – billy (Actionboy Records)
Great post! Nice to see Knapsack in the mix of bands up there. Always liked them a lot.
Gauge was my very first punk rock show, ever – it was in the basement of a house in Elmhurst(I think the kid that lived there was named Ryan Efgen (sp?). Anyway, after that I saw Friction, Cap’n Jazz, Indian Summer, 8 Bark, Angel Hair etc and my life was changed forever. Great post!
This post is like the soundtrack to my life. every song/band is awesome
oh god. I think i might implode with the champaign/urbana of it all. thank lord.
i wish i could download them…all the links are broken..can you post it up again.. great thanks!
nothing short of amazing . . but the files dont exist or maybe the bandwith expired? if you can fix that thatd be cool
Wow, I thought I was the only one who cared enough anymore to explain to tweeked-out 15 year old myspace kids that “emo” used to mean a COMPLETELY different type of music not even 10 years ago.
Go you. I’m gonna go dig up my old Dischord Records LPs
God I feel old and I’m only 30.
kulba kau mga bandaha dah bisan karaan na kua..
karon pa nako cla nailhan pero maka ingon jd ko nga THE BEST! sila..
i’m on a bit of a reminiscence kick after seeing the Portraits of Past reunion shows over the weekend. Awesome post!