Sam Gets Emotional: Fashioncore Posuers

I hate that ‘emo’ has become a genre in itself. I also hate that it has become a mainstream movement. But there have always been bands that broke down the restrictions of mainstream while becoming so popular themselves. As an example, I'm going to take Silverchair. Silverchair is, quiet frankly, the best band I can think to explain this theory, and who were also the branch away from rock (in a strict sense of the word) that Aussies needed. But lets get something straight. I am emo. I say this freely now because I appreciate the music and the movement (even if it has become disappointingly popular for the wrong reasons). Emo, I think, as a genre, is the natural progression from the hardcore, post hardcore and post punk. Even if it started early as emotional punk, it quickly became something else. It’s disappointing to me, because I appreciate everything that came before modern emo. I'm just not going to restrict myself to listening to older stuff, in fact I embrace the new form that is emo. What’s sad about it, I find, is that it’s a genre that is being taken over by a lot of fakers and liars… in effect turning the music that is being churned out a lie basically, and it all seems so manufactured. I hate that there are some bands who and I quote, “write entire albums that’s all about relationships and girlfriends and break ups and they’ve had a girlfriends for the last seven years” (Alexisonfire). Because yes, emo is emotional, but it doesn’t mean that it’s all about the heartaches and the breakups and angst. Like Silverchair, who were and are (but I have to say anything after they released their Best of album is pretentious and dare I say it crap) able to connect to a lot of people through the simple show of dealing with tumultuous emotions, emo should be a similar movement. It’s just unfortunate that emo is now typically used to define the black clad, eye define pretty hair personification of teenage angst. It doesn’t have to be this way, and I isn't fair to apply stereotypes, especially to a new genre that has growth at such an exponential rate especially amongst the young. After all, its always been the young to define and redefine trends and genres, and if this didn’t happen the evolution of music would hit stalemate and wouldn’t have nearly the impact, across all genre’s, as it does today.

Silverchair - Tomorrow (right click,save as)
Alexisonfire - Accidents (left click)