What is Emocore?

Emocore, an abbreviation of emotional hardcore, is a genre of music originating in Washington D.C.’s hardcore punk music scene. The genre has its roots in the 1980s with bands such as Rites of Spring, One Last Wish, and Beefeater, who combined emotional lyrics with hardcore punk. The genre splintered in the mid-1990s, when many bands shifted to a gentler, more melodic style with more popular appeal, and many of the hardcore bands disbanded. This gave rise to the mainstream emo genre.

The divisions between waves of emocore and the terminology to describe its splits and subgenres are inconsistent and heavily argued. Many musicians and fans claim that the terms “emo” and “emocore” have no meaning. These critics say determining genre on the basis of a band’s emotional content is inaccurate and inanely arbitrary. Still, the terms are widely used and accepted, if not fully understood.

The first wave of emocore is closely associated with the Washington D.C. music scene and musicians Guy Picciotto and Ian Mackaye. Guy Picciotto is credited with starting the first emocore, or post hardcore band with Rites of Spring in the mid-1980s. Picciotto and his band revolutionized the hardcore punk genre by discarding the aggressive lyrics in favor of more personally expressive and emotionally open lyrics. Rites of Spring kept the hardcore sound, however, and often smashed their instruments at the end of their concerts.

Picciotto and his drummer, Brendan Canty, went on to join Ian Mackaye in his band Fugazi, which greatly influenced the emocore sound. Previously, Mackaye led Minor Threat, a prominent early 1980s hardcore punk band. He also shaped the straight-edge philosophy that discouraged casual sex and drug use and supported all ages shows. In 1987, Mackaye founded Fugazi, which experimented with funk, reggae, and classic rock sounds, usually with emotional, passionate vocals. They are also known for deliberately keeping concert prices affordable and discouraging fighting or moshing in their audiences. The band has been on hiatus since 2002.

Influenced by Fugazi, the early 1990s ushered in many new bands that were starting to get popular recognition, such as Sunny Day Real Estate and Jimmy Eat World. Some call this the second wave of emocore, others argue that was the end of emocore and the beginning of the emo genre, which discarded the hardcore sound in favor of a gentler melodic style. The band Weezer’s release of the album “Pinkerton” in 1996 brought the emo movement to a new popular high.

Mainstream emo arguably began in 2001 when Jimmy Eat World released the album “Bleed American,” which shifted the band’s sound to a pop feel. Many other more melodic and hook driven bands started to be lumped into the emo category, such as Dashboard Confessional, Further Seems Forever, Fallout Boy, My Chemical Romance, and Panic At the Disco. The more aggressive screamo genre also ramped up during this period, with the rise of bands such as Glassjaw. Emo is stereotypically associated with fashion trends that sport studded belts, eyeliner, side bangs, and unisex skinny jeans.