This opened the door to Modern Baseball, which has been in my top three favorite bands since I could remember. "Dirty Ickes" was the first alternative song I ever listened to and I instantly fell in love. Mom Jeans, Sorority Noise and Modern Baseball: the holy trinity of the emo revival of the 2010s.
But, reading through the lyrics, I can't be surprised that someone was concerned for a twelve-year-old's wellbeing because of them. I remember being confused, wondering how listening to slightly-edgier music could apparently say so much about a person. In seventh grade, I showed my best friend a song by Modern Baseball on New Year’s Eve and she told me that I was going down the wrong path in life. Looking back, it's incredible to see how these bands shaped my personality and music taste today. Welcome to, as I personally see it, the absolute golden age of midwest emo. It's heavy stuff, and it's only normal to want a song that helps you forget your problems, not wallow in them. It's the kind of music that weighs on your soul, that both understand your pain but still makes it a bit worse at the same time. In all honesty, I don't blame the kids for wanting to stop listening to American Football. While this album has been meme-d to death by music commentary Instagram accounts, it has stood the test of time in the music community.Īfter the late ‘90s, pop-punk began to take over the alternative teen crowd that midwest emo had so momentarily captivated. They took what Cap'n Jazz created, mellowed it out, added some more emotionally-charged lyrics, and set the indie rock world ablaze. It would be illegal for me to talk about midwest emo without discussing the most well-known album to come from this genre: American Football's self-titled debut into the music world. But, considering their third most-listened-to song is a rock cover of “Take On Me” by A-Ha, I kind of understand why the hype isn't completely there. With only 42,000 monthly Spotify listeners, the fathers of modern emo are barely even known by name. Bass-boosted guitars, throat-piercing vocals, and lyrics to match, this four-piece is probably the most unrecognizable and simultaneously influential indie band in history. It all began in 1989 Illinois, midwest emo was born to its parents: Cap'n Jazz. Now that that moment has passed, I wanted to take a look at what this genre did for teenage-targeted music if anything at all. Midwest emo, just like other fleeting music trends (bedroom pop, anyone?), had its moment. Other midwest emo stars like The Front Bottoms, Salvia Plath, and Teen Suicide are a little kitsch to me the unvaried themes kind of blend together until they're no longer as unique as they were in 2013. But, when I'm in the mood, the therapeutic complaints-set-to-music of Modern Baseball can really hit the spot. Being primarily male-dominated, midwest emo can feel a bit repetitive, which is my biggest gripe with it. Tropes of the girl that doesn't like you back, living in a small town with big dreams (or no dreams at all), and your parents not understanding you are just a few of the emo undertones that pervade this math-rock-heavy genre. If you're not currently getting over a breakup, nearing the end of your high school experience, and are less-than-satisfied, or are just depressed, it may seem unrelatable and juvenilely dramatic. It's depressing, niche, and generally emotionally taxing to listen to. While that can be taken as satire, it can also be used as a definitive, all-encompassing statement for this lesser-known, slowly dying sub-genre. The words “midwest emo” can mean either everything or nothing to you depending on if you had a social life in high school or not.
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