Midwest emo

Midwest emo (or Midwestern emo) is a subgenre and scene of emo music that emerged in the Midwestern United States during the 1990s. Employing unconventional vocal stylings, distinct guitar riffs and arpeggiated melodies, Midwest emo bands shifted away from the genre's hardcore punk roots and drew on indie rock and math rock approaches. According to the author and critic Andy Greenwald, "this was the period when emo earned many, if not all, of the stereotypes that have lasted to this day: boy-driven, glasses-wearing, overly sensitive, overly brainy, chiming-guitar-driven college music." Midwest emo is sometimes used interchangeably with second-wave emo, and when referenced as a genre is often conflated with indie emo or post-emo indie rock. While Midwest emo was initially associated specifically within the region, its sound and aesthetic gradually spread beyond that boundary. The style was adopted by artists across the United States and internationally.

Characteristics

According to The Chicago Reader critic Leor Galil, the second-wave bands of the Midwest emo scene "transformed the angular fury of D.C. emo into something malleable, melodic, and cathartic—its common features included cycling guitar parts, chugging bass lines, and unconventional singing that sounded like a sweet neighbor kid with no vocal training but plenty of heart." According to Loudwire, midwest emo is sometimes incorrectly believed to be the sound of emo's first wave: "Depending on who you ask, we are currently on either our fourth or fifth wave of emo music. [...] Midwest emo is widely considered to be the second wave of emo. The first wave of emo music had a punk lean."

Incorporating elements from indie rock, the genre also features "gloomy chord progressions" and arpeggiated guitar melodies, which according to The Post, results in "a much less intense version of emo." Midwest emo is also commonly associated with the use of math rock elements, which were utilized by 1990s bands such as Sunny Day Real Estate and American Football to "create the backbone" of the subgenre. Texas Is the Reason guitarist Norman Brannon has stated that the 1993 albums The Problem with Me by Seam, In on the Kill Taker by Fugazi, and On the Mouth by Superchunk were particularly influential, having been "name-checked by every second-wave emo band I knew." Post-hardcore band Jawbox also impacted the sound of Midwest emo, being cited as an influence by such bands as Braid, Elliott, the Jazz June, and Boys Life.

The definable traits of the Midwest emo have proven to be easily fused with other genres of underground independent music.