Did y'all miss me? I've been kinda busy moving into my new place and settling into my new job, but I haven't forgotten about the mixtapes. I figured while I was busy I would build three separate mixtapes (one for each week) and post them together. The only thing I think I really know enough to talk about in that much detail is emo music, that said this is a vast genre and I simply don't have time to cover every important artist, in fact, if you see a gaping hole in my coverage, I encourage you to fill it. So without further ado, here are my tapes for the last two weeks... and this week.

EMO EDITION

Emo music is probably the single genre that is nearest and dearest to my hear. A group of kids screaming their hearts out in a world that tells you to sit downlike you're not supposed to have emotions. Emo music first came out of the DC hardcore scene as a response the growing violence. It was led initially by bands like Minor Threat and Black Flag that turned their lyrics from external focused to internal focused. It was more emotional. Not that Hardcore wasn't emotional, it just tended to be one emotion: rage. However, I'm not going to be focusing on the first wave today. I'm going to be focusing on when Emo became a huge commercial success in the early aughts.

When I was younger I had a lot of suicidal ideation. I don't anymore; I have a much stronger hold over my mental health than I did when I was kid and I've got many years of therapy to thank for that one. But when I was younger, I felt lost. I felt unwanted. I was angry and sad and I didn't know what to do about it. I never really wanted to kill myself, but I thought about it a lot. This song was the first emo song I ever heard and it helped me feel so much less alone. I learned that I wasn't the only person who constantly thought about killing themselves. It took a few years from first hearing this song to really get into Emo music as a whole, but this was my first taste of it.

"Car Underwater" - Armor For Sleep

Commercially successful emo started as a particularly emotional and uncool brand of Pop Punk, more than anything else. Saves the Day was one of the first bands to that scene with their album Through Being Cool. It was all music being made by uncool people that felt emotionally distressed for people that were uncool and emotionally distressed. But the whole uncool part would only last so long.

"Third Engine" - Saves the Day

If I'm being perfectly honest, I could write a mixtape just from all of Brand New's material. They've become kind of a core pillar of who I am as a person over the last 8 years or so. But for the sake of brevity, I'm just going to include one of their songs for this one. Riding the success of their first album, Deja Entendu tried to satiate their audience with a familiar sound, while still reinventing themselves a bit. That first album was very simple, straight-forward Pop Punk (even it was one of the first commercially successful Emo albums too). The second time around was a bit more complex and I think this song is a good representation of that duality within this album. Very Pop Punk-y while still being pretty different (especially the last two minutes or so). That bass breakdown that starts at ~4:23 is absolutely fantastic.

"Okay I Believe You, But My Tommy Gun Don't" - Brand New

Anyone that's particularly passionate about Brand New or Taking Back Sunday is familiar with the biggest feud in Emo history. Jesse Lacey (Brand New) and John Nolan (TBS) used to be best friends and at some point they had a falling out. I think it was over a girl or something. Eventually they made up, but not before they really truly shat on each other in the form of prominent songs on their first albums (see "There's No 'I' in Team" by TBS and Seventy Times Seven by Brand New). Some how that feud between two of the biggest names in emo only helped propel them farther. Perhaps it was just the fact that Adam Lazzarro and Jesse Lacey are both fucking beautiful, they really did make Emo cool somehow. Oh forgot about the actual song. I'm including this one, because Flavor Flav is in it. Also it's a good song, but also Flavor Flav.

"You're So Last Summer" - Taking Back Sunday

Emo music saw a wave of really young people getting involved and becoming ridiculously successful. I think the two big examples I can think of are Senses Fail (Buddy Nielsen was 19 when Let It Enfold You came out) and Panic! at the Disco (Brendon Urie was 18 when A Fever You Can't Sweat Out was released). I don't really know to much about Panic! But I do know they're important to the genre and I like their singles a lot so I'm including them. Senses Fail on the other hand I think was my first gateway into Emo music. I think they were just able to harness that mixture of rage, sadness, loneliness, and fear into a palatable format for me probably because I was a big metal head before I got into Emo and they're definitely on the heavier side of Emo. It was listening to

"I Write Sins Not Tragedies" - Panic! at the Disco

"Calling All Cars" - Senses Fail

While reading the liner notes of Let It Enfold You I came across wide selection of bands that Senses Fail was thanking in one capacity or another. In my desire to find something similar to what they were doing I looked through every single one of those bands they were thanking. Most of them I didn't care about or already knew about, but Northstar stuck out to me. They were the only album that I really enjoyed off that list. I'm not really certain if I could classify them as emo outside of their related acts and general sound, because nothing they ever wrote made any sense to me lyrically. I could really only grasp at straws as to what individual lyrics meant. Maybe y'all can make more sense of any of it than I ever could. They only have one album on Spotify, but they have one album prior to that and one compilation of b-sides, covers and acoustic versions that came out after the band broke up. I highly recommend checking both of those out if you get the time.

"American Living" - Northstar

Coming to grips with one's sexuality is really confusing. Especially as a kid in America surrounded by all this sexual imagery that exists in our society, especially so in LA (where Max Bemis grew up and formed Say Anthing). This song really delves into how confusing it can be. I could use a much more traditional emo song from Say Anything but given the nature of our community this song had to be the one I included. And if you don't get it, well... I don't really know what to do with you. Look up the lyrics.

"Wow, I Can Get Sexual Too" - Say Anything

In 2009, Max Bemis and Chris Conley (of Saves the Day) got together and formed an awesome band. They only put out the one album for a long while and it was really phenomenal. I was always upset that they didn't come out with more music. But then they did last year and wasn't very good. So maybe I shouldn't have asked for it in the first place. Anyway, I think this the only example of a Emo supergroup that I can think of. But they're pretty damn good so Check out the whole first album when you get the chance, it's genuinely fantastic.

"Tremors" - Two Tongues

Though it may look as though Emo was synonymous with loud guitars and screaming, that's not necessarily true. There's definitely a softer side to emo. And as much as I want to go into detail about all of these artists, I'm just gonna post their songs, because they're ridiculously successful and well known. I wouldn't be surprised if most of you knew them already.

"A Lack of Color" - Death Cab for Cutie

"Screaming Infidelities" - Dashboard Confessional

"Ballgame" - Kevin Devine

EMO REVIVAL EDITION

Around 2008, it seemed like Emo went away. Really it just kinda went out of fashion. But in the late aughts and early teens a new generation of Emo artists were still hard at work instilling a more DIY ethic into emo music. It just wasn't profitable anymore. You had to want it really really bad to keep making emo music, because the guarantee of financial success was just gone. I think in general it's made for much *better music.

This collection of these DIY emo bands were given the moniker, "Emo Revival". A fitting name even if Emo never really died. It just took on a new indie framework really. Smaller labels (if at all), more internet/social media focused distribution. Music by millenials for millenials y'know?*

This first band is simultaneously is and is not an Emo Revival band. They only played ten shows when they were active, but this record informs most of the Emo Revival music that exists today: heavily math rock influenced, but still incredibly emotional and raw. Somehow, 15 years after album dropped, 14 years after they stopped being a band they reunited and sold out a 10,000 seat venue. Fuckin' crazy right? I guess it just shows how prescient their music was? I really don't know, but their music is pretty freaking great.

"Never Meant" - American Football

Dads was one of the first big-ish bands in the Emo Revival and the first band of the genre that I got into along with Dowsing. Their album American Radass (This Is Important) is, to me, the definition of Emo Revival. Unfortunately their follow up album wasn't particular good and it doesn't look like they'll be back with music anytime soon as they went on hiatus in mid-2015 and there hasn't been any word from them since.

"Get to the Beach" - Dads

A lot of the earliest emo revival came out of Chicago. Likely as a result of the Kinsella brothers' (American Football) influence through their various musical projects (Owen, Joan of Arc, etc). Dowsing is an excellent example of the best bands coming out of that era/location of Emo Revival.

"Midwest Living" - Dowsing

The king of Emo Revival is none other than Evan Weiss, otherwise known as Into It. Over It. Also hailing from the Chicago DIY scene by way of New Jersey suburbs, he's been at it since Emo was still popular. His first release, 52 Weeks was this really interesting project where he wrote a song every week for a year and then published it. The amazing thing is a lot of the songs are actually really good. He's really only gotten better since then too. With every step he makes gains; evolving and growing as an artist. Every single one of his records is worth a good hearty listen, but I'm just going to leave you with the first song of his that got me hooked. Oh and as a side note, one time he liked a post of mine on tumblr, back when I had a tumblr. I lived off that for a solid week.

"A Song About Your Party" - Into It. Over It.

As central as Chicago has been to the Emo Revival, it no longer holds the crown for best city for Emo Revival music and if you're a regular reader, I'm sure you know exactly what city I'm going to say it is. That's right, Philadelphia. Philly is producing some of the best Emo Revival music out there. The former Kings would be Glocca Morra. Their record Just Married is, in my opinion, the single greatest Emo Revival album on the market. Unfortunately, they no longer make music anymore. But I did get to see their last show ever in Philly back in 2015. I had just graduated from Uni and took a trip up with some friends and it was fantastic. So many people packed into this church basement (the epicenter of much of the DIY music scene in Philly) all their to celebrate and grieve all at the same time for this band they love. The drummer's girlfriend proposed to him on stage, that was really beautiful. Sad to see them go, but if they've got nothing left in em, why bother.

"Irrevocable, Motherfucker" - Glocca Morra

This next band I have a bit of a personal connection to and I'm just gonna leave it at that. They come from DC and are now making music in Philly. They make fantastic music to be honest. I don't really know what else to say outside of that. Give them a listen. I'm sure I've posted a song or two of theirs before.

"Camping" - The Obsessives

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of this band. I saw them live once and I literally had to leave in the middle of the show because the bass was waaaaaay up and the songs were blasting me to the point of me having difficulty breathing. That said I would say they are incredibly central to the genre and would be remiss to not include them on this list and I do actually like a few of their songs a lot. For example, the following song.

"Heart Beat in the Brain" - The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die

If you like Bob's Burgers, you'll probably like this song even if it's only for the first 20 seconds or so. Mom Jeans. put out one of the best Emo Revival albums in a long while last year and I think this particular track is a fantastic example, though I would also recommend you check out this song too

"Edward 40hands" - Mom Jeans.

Now according to the only list I could find, this next album is the best Emo Revival album full stop. And I don't personally agree with that, but that's simply because I have a deeper personal connection to most of the other songs on this list. That said, this is a fantastic and deeply-moving song. There's definitely a good reason for that album being at the top of that list. Y'all should check it out.

"Your Deep Rest" - The Hotelier

POST-EMO EDITION

"Post-Emo, what is this shit?" I'm certain you're asking. I'd say it's still emo at heart, but they've taken the sound in a pretty different direction. I would say the biggest delineation between Emo and Emo Revival is a tendency for the guitar to be far more heavily math-rock influenced in Emo Revival. However in Post-Emo you have these artists that have emo roots in one way or another, but have pretty distinctly different sounds from mainstream Emo and Emo Revival.

Now I know for sure, I've featured this song before but this is exactly where this song belongs. This noisey, complicated soundscape covered with the spoken word of post-breakup anxiety. It's practically the definition of Post-Emo, it's almost not music, but it still is. And there's something so deeply beautiful about it. I remember when I first heard the song, it stopped me dead in my tracks and this was all I listened to for a solid two weeks.

"How to Never Stop Being Sad" - Dandelion Hands

I think this song fits into a similar mold as the previous song, but it's far more dramatic than the last song. It's just intense. Just like they are. Foxing's live performances are breathtaking and just generally amazing. I don't really think you'll ever see a show like them. I don't talk about it too much, because I saw them open for Brand New (which was hands down the best show I've ever seen in my entire life) so they just couldn't compete, but that's not their fault. They still make some amazing music. So check out the song.

"Rory" - Foxing

Going in the opposite direction, there are quite a few bands now that are kinda folk-y, but still definitely emo. The Front Bottoms are probably the single biggest example of this and I do think this song is a pretty amazing example of just that. Oh and if you ever get the chance to check out their live shows, do that for sure. They're so much fun.

"Twin Size Mattress" - The Front Bottoms

Another one of those folk-y bands, Pinegrove perfectly nails post-emo folk-punk with this song about the passing of a friend and the significance of others in one's life.

"Old Friends" - Pinegrove

And I think the single most successful example of Post-Emo comes from a little lass named Julien Baker. She came so out of left field, it blows my mind. But she's a testament to the power of intimacy and genuine expression; proof that what people of our generation want is to feel real. Her raw, heart-wrenching lyrics combined with fantastic looping melodies and a beautiful voice rocketed her to popularity within a few months of her first albums release. She should have a new album coming out in the next year or so, but until then enjoy her first release.

"Something" - Julien Baker