Emo is a music genre characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of hardcore punk and post-hardcore from the mid-1980s Washington, D.C. hardcore scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore. The bands Rites of Spring and Embrace, among others, pioneered the genre. In the early-to-mid 1990s, emo was adopted and reinvented by alternative rock, indie rock, punk rock, and pop-punk bands, including Sunny Day Real Estate, Jawbreaker, Cap'n Jazz, and Jimmy Eat World. By the mid-1990s, Braid, the Promise Ring, and the Get Up Kids emerged from Midwest emo, and several independent record labels began to specialize in the genre. Meanwhile, screamo, a more aggressive style of emo using screamed vocals, also emerged, pioneered by the San Diego bands Heroin and Antioch Arrow. Screamo achieved mainstream success in the 2000s with bands like Hawthorne Heights, Silverstein, Story of the Year, Thursday, the Used, and Underoath.
Screamo is an subgenre of emo that emerged in the early 1990s and emphasizes "willfully experimental dissonance and dynamics". San Diego–based bands Heroin and Antioch Arrow pioneered the genre in the early 1990s, and it was developed in the late 1990s mainly by bands from the East Coast of the United States such as Pg. 99, Orchid, Saetia, and I Hate Myself. Screamo is strongly influenced by hardcore punk and characterized by the use of screamed vocals. Lyrical themes usually include emotional pain, death, romance, and human rights. The term "screamo" has frequently been mistaken as referring to any music with screaming.
Circle Takes the Square is an American screamo band from Savannah, Georgia. It is composed of founding members Drew Speziale and Kathleen Stubelek, as well as Caleb Collins. Their debut release was a 6-track self-titled EP released in 2001, followed by a 7" split with Pg. 99 in 2002. In 2004, they released their debut studio album As the Roots Undo on Robotic Empire, which released the CD, and HyperRealist Records, which released the gatefold LP. The album gained them considerable acclaim and the band toured extensively to promote it during the year. This included a six-week east coast tour that took the band into Canada for the first time, supported by Arkata and Raise Them And Eat Them. The band's second album, Decompositions: Volume Number One, was released after an 8-year silence on December 21, 2012, as a digital download; physical editions of the album were released in April 2013.
As the Roots Undo is the debut studio album by screamo band Circle Takes the Square in 2004. It was released on CD and vinyl by the Robotic Empire and HyperRealist labels respectively. The album would later see a repress on the LP format in 2014 through GatePost Recordings
Portraits of Past was an American post-hardcore band from the San Francisco Bay Area that existed roughly from 1994–1995. The genre of music that they helped create is often described as "screamo," though that term was not used at the time the band was active. As Kent McClard recounts on the Ebullition website, the band's popularity grew only a couple of years after their demise at the end of 1995.
Ampere is an American hardcore punk band from Amherst, Massachusetts known for their short but extremely loud and intense live shows. The band has put the importance of DIY punk ethics at the forefront of their lyrics and are known for the particular attention they bring to their vegan principles.
Pg. 99 was a hardcore punk band from Sterling, Virginia, a town on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., who are widely considered one of the pioneers of the screamo genre. The band formed as a six-piece in late 1997 and broke up as an eight-piece in 2003; at their maximum capacity they performed with two singers, three guitarists, two bassists and a drummer and were known for their intense live shows.
Panthers is an American post hardcore band from Brooklyn, New York City. The Village Voice described them as "groundbreaking dissonant HC (hardcore) with Rolling Stones swagger." Three members were previously in the screamo band Orchid. Panthers have released four records. The most recent two, The Trick and Things Are Strange were released on Vice Records. Prior to that they released via Dim Mak Records and Troubleman Unlimited.
Chaos Is Me is the debut studio album by American screamo band Orchid. It was released on June 21, 1999, through Ebullition Records. Chaos Is Me heralded the change of the guard for extreme music, and brought both Amherst, Massachusetts and Hampshire College to the forefront of the scene's attention. The album was released on black, clear yellow, green, and red vinyl in 1999, and was also included on a 2002 compilation CD that included its follow-up Dance Tonight! Revolution Tomorrow!. It has since been reissued multiple times, on magenta vinyl in 2013, lavender vinyl in 2015, yellow vinyl in 2018, and received a 20th anniversary reissue in 2019.
1905 was a political hardcore punk band from Washington, D.C., formed in 2000. The band featured dual male and female vocals, their music drew inspiration from a combination of early 1980s UK anarcho-punk bands such as Crass, Zounds, The Mob as well as folk and hardcore punk. The band has been cited as a major influence on several bands including Defiance, Ohio and modern screamo acts like I Would Set Myself on Fire for You and post-hardcore band Pygmylush, among others. The band broke up in 2005 after the release of their only album "Voice", released on Exotic Fever Records.
Combatwoundedveteran was a grindcore/screamo band split between Ithaca, New York and Tampa, Florida. In their 7 years of existence they managed to put out several splits, including one with heavily influential screamo band Orchid, a 10" EP, one full-length album and a posthumous release that compiles nearly all their splits and early EPs. Though the band did not tour very often or put out many records their footprint is still visible in the screamo and powerviolence underground. The band was signed to famous Florida record label No Idea Records late in their career. Guitarist Chris Norris currently does graphic design under the name Steak Mtn. and has contributed artwork for releases by groups such as Atom And His Package, Orchid and Against Me!.
Touché Amoré is an American post-hardcore band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 2007. Since 2010, the band has consisted of vocalist Jeremy Bolm, guitarists Clayton Stevens and Nick Steinhardt, bassist Tyler Kirby, and drummer Elliot Babin. To date, the band have released six studio albums: ...To the Beat of a Dead Horse in 2009, Parting the Sea Between Brightness and Me in 2011, Is Survived By in 2013, Stage Four in 2016, Lament in 2020, and Spiral in a Straight Line in 2024.
Pianos Become the Teeth are an American band from Baltimore, Maryland, formed in 2006. Their early musical style was inspired by post-rock and early screamo acts, and they were a part of the post-hardcore music movement, also represented by Touché Amoré, La Dispute, Defeater, and Make Do and Mend. The group reissued their well-received debut album Old Pride in 2010 through Topshelf Records.
Dance Tonight! Revolution Tomorrow! is the second studio album by American screamo band Orchid. It was released on 10" vinyl by Ebullition Records on December 4, 2000. The first press was limited to 5000 copies; 1000 each in red and yellow and 3000 in black. The second and third presses were limited to only 1000 clear copies and 70 blue copies. The fourth press had 1000 blue copies, 500 yellow copies, and 500 red copies. The entire album is also included on a 2002 box set, along with the album Chaos Is Me.
Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair is the debut studio album by American post-hardcore band La Dispute. Supported by three release shows, it was released on November 11, 2008, alongside Here, Hear II. through No Sleep Records on both CD and vinyl. The album's title is derived from an Asian folktale, which the album's lyrics loosely follow. The album received positive reviews by notable critics, and it remains as a legacy in the post-hardcore scene.
Short Songs is the sixth studio album by Canadian post-hardcore band Silverstein. The release has an untraditional number of songs at 22, though as its title suggests, all songs are short and mostly under 90 seconds. Only 11 of the songs are original, while the other 11 are covers of songs by notable punk, hardcore, and screamo bands that influenced Silverstein, such as Green Day, Orchid, Dead Kennedys, Gorilla Biscuits and NOFX. It is the band's second release on Hopeless Records and like their last release, it was also produced by Jordan Valeriote. It is also the band's last release with long-time guitarist Neil Boshart, who left the band in the summer of 2012.
Gatefold is the third and final album by the American screamo band Orchid. Gatefold marks the band's departure from their early grindcore-influenced sound in favor of a more sasscore/art punk sound, while still maintaining the powerviolence frenzy. The album was released in 2002 through Ebullition Records.
Jeromes Dream is an emo band formed in Connecticut and currently based in San Francisco, California, originally active from 1997 to 2001, and again from 2018 onwards.
Reversal of Man was a hardcore punk band from Tampa, Florida that formed in 1995. The band is associated with the late 1990s screamo movement and noted for bordering on powerviolence and grindcore. The group's lyrical content was often political, and the group initially formed as a reaction to the then-growing underground nazi punk scene in Florida.
