On the tin
December 10, 2014 8:46 AM   Subscribe

Is this band emo? A website that answers your biggest question. Try some names like Journey, Fugazi, or Fallout Boy.
posted by josher71 (69 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
I can't find the quote but Ian Mackaye said in an interview something along the lines of all music being EMOtional, therefore the term "emo" was meaningless.
posted by cazoo at 8:56 AM on December 10, 2014


Embrace is an emo band.
Rites Of Spring is an emo band.
I'll let it pass.
posted by Lazlo Hollyfeld at 8:57 AM on December 10, 2014 [1 favorite]


Wasn't it originally a shortened name for "emotional hardcore"? So, not just emotional music, but a specific subset of a specific genre.
posted by ocherdraco at 8:57 AM on December 10, 2014


"Hüsker Dü is not in our system." (With or without umlauts.) Kids today.
posted by waraw at 8:58 AM on December 10, 2014 [19 favorites]


Simon and Garfunkel is not an emo band.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 9:00 AM on December 10, 2014 [2 favorites]


I thought this might settle an argument I started with my sixteen-year-old daughter. Now that I've sent the link, I can see that I've only expanded it.
posted by putzface_dickman at 9:01 AM on December 10, 2014 [1 favorite]


Muse is not in our system.
Coldplay is not in our system.
posted by sparklemotion at 9:01 AM on December 10, 2014


Ted Nugent is not in our system. New Pornographers is not in our system.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 9:03 AM on December 10, 2014


Most Of The Bands You Listen To is not in our system.
posted by Foosnark at 9:04 AM on December 10, 2014 [14 favorites]


System Of A Down is not in our system.
posted by belarius at 9:05 AM on December 10, 2014 [3 favorites]


I can't find the quote but Ian Mackaye said in an interview something along the lines of all music being EMOtional, therefore the term "emo" was meaningless.

Yes, because all names for musical genres should be taken 100% literally, not as convenient shorthand for complex artistic phenomena.

I'm sure it's just my grumpy-old-man, Kids-These-Days side showing, but the original emo bands (e.g., the stuff that emerged from the 80s DC hardcore scene, like Rites of Spring) always seemed infinitely more interesting to me than the corporate haircut-based boy bands that get called "emo" today. I'm still not sure whether this is a joke or not (especially the cheeseball dance-pop breakdown—what the actual fuck?).
posted by escape from the potato planet at 9:05 AM on December 10, 2014 [3 favorites]


Out of ten bands i input. Input only two of them were in the database as "no". I may not be the right customer for this app. While I can see that for Pantera, you'd think Metric and The Killers would at least be listed.
posted by happyroach at 9:06 AM on December 10, 2014


Sex Pistols is not emo.
Public Image Limited is not in our system.
Public Image Ltd is not in our system.
PIL is not in our system.
Debbie Gibson is not in our system.

I was hoping there was some kind of music analysis data shaping thingy going on behind the scenes but it seems to just be some guy indexing band names he's heard of. Which will be a hell of a lot of manual labor just to clear the names of acts that any random American independent music fan would know.
posted by ardgedee at 9:07 AM on December 10, 2014


Beyoncé is not in our system.
posted by jeffamaphone at 9:10 AM on December 10, 2014 [1 favorite]


This is poorly implemented even for a jokey novelty site.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 9:12 AM on December 10, 2014 [16 favorites]


It's like a pat-on-the-back-machine for people who were around for the Clinton years. "My Chemical Romance isn't real emo, Texas is the Reason is real emo!"
posted by Oxydude at 9:12 AM on December 10, 2014 [3 favorites]


Emerson Lake And Palmer is not in our system.
We will check with the emo council and get an answer for you.
Tweet to expedite their ruling.

Begging for a tweet is so so emo.
posted by sammyo at 9:16 AM on December 10, 2014 [4 favorites]


It's like a pat-on-the-back-machine for people who were around for the Clinton years.

Jellyfish is not in our system.....
posted by thelonius at 9:16 AM on December 10, 2014


"Hüsker Dü is not in our system." (With or without umlauts.) Kids today.

Kids! Why don't they know about Hüsker Dü?
Kids! Why don't they do what us old folks do?
How come they don't like good stuff?
Why do they like this crap?
What's the matter with kids todap?
posted by Sys Rq at 9:16 AM on December 10, 2014 [9 favorites]


This is poorly implemented even for a jokey novelty site.


Yes. Why didn't they just put together a comprehensive list of all emo bands and then every single other thing you entered could return a "not an emo band" reply?

Is that not EMO enough?
posted by orme at 9:17 AM on December 10, 2014 [3 favorites]


Metafilter: is not in our system
posted by lumpenprole at 9:24 AM on December 10, 2014 [4 favorites]


Metafilter: What's the matter with kids todap?
posted by spoobnooble II: electric bugaboo at 9:26 AM on December 10, 2014 [5 favorites]


I input every band I could name that I thought might qualify as emo, and not a single one came up positive.

Apparently I don't know any emo bands.
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:30 AM on December 10, 2014


ELO is not in our system
posted by thelonius at 9:31 AM on December 10, 2014 [1 favorite]


Points for confirming that Braid was/is emo, but demerits for using that as a chance to upsell me Hey, Mercedes.
posted by drezdn at 9:39 AM on December 10, 2014 [1 favorite]


We'll have to agree to disagree about Burning Airlines, emo website.
posted by drezdn at 9:41 AM on December 10, 2014 [2 favorites]


We are aware of the existence of literally, like, eight bands. We therefore decided the best thing we could do with our time was make a goofy web site to joke about bands.
posted by Naberius at 9:42 AM on December 10, 2014 [3 favorites]


I did learn something from this site... Totally did not know one of the Get Up Kids had joined Spoon.
posted by drezdn at 9:45 AM on December 10, 2014 [1 favorite]


Sugar is not in our system.

(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻
posted by drezdn at 9:46 AM on December 10, 2014 [1 favorite]


Cap'n Jazz is an emo band.
You spelled it right, 25 points to Gryffindor!

posted by drezdn at 9:48 AM on December 10, 2014 [4 favorites]


This site is taxing the part of my brain where information from 1999-2004 is stored.
posted by drezdn at 9:51 AM on December 10, 2014 [2 favorites]


It says Dag Nasty is not an emo band. But Dag Nasty was the first band I ever heard anyone use the "emo" label for (granted, in those early days, "emo" seemed to mean something completely different than it came to mean in the 90s), so now I'm all confused...
posted by saulgoodman at 9:54 AM on December 10, 2014


Up, nope, I'm not crazy and imagining things. Even Dag Nasty's Wikipedia page calls 'em "Emo."
posted by saulgoodman at 9:55 AM on December 10, 2014


Kids! Why don't they do what us old folks do?

On that note:
Folk Implosion is not in our system
Slint is not in our system
Sebadoh is not an emo band

Things don't look good for this website here.
posted by LionIndex at 10:29 AM on December 10, 2014


Radiohead is not in our system.

Your system is broken
posted by Green Winnebago at 10:29 AM on December 10, 2014 [1 favorite]


It has the bends.
posted by riverlife at 10:36 AM on December 10, 2014 [1 favorite]


The Smiths is not an emo band. Regardless of your ironic t-shirt, still not emo

I LUMB'd.

laughed under my breath which should be a thing
posted by rouftop at 10:40 AM on December 10, 2014 [3 favorites]


I tried American Football and Rainer Maria, and got positive results for both.
posted by ocherdraco at 10:42 AM on December 10, 2014


Not the Cure?
posted by Ogre Lawless at 11:03 AM on December 10, 2014 [1 favorite]


Gg Allin is not in our system.
We will check with the emo council and get an answer for you.

Plz hurry this is really important
posted by mcmile at 11:07 AM on December 10, 2014 [6 favorites]


The Meatmen is not in your system? You suck!
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 11:14 AM on December 10, 2014


I'm sure it's just my grumpy-old-man, Kids-These-Days side showing, but the original emo bands (e.g., the stuff that emerged from the 80s DC hardcore scene, like Rites of Spring)

I'm convinced Sunny Day Real Estate invented emo in 1994 with "Seven".
posted by four panels at 11:17 AM on December 10, 2014 [1 favorite]


Nazareth is not in our system.

Sorry, but if this is not the face of all emo-that-came-after, then emo is not a thing.
posted by Joey Michaels at 11:32 AM on December 10, 2014


Yes, because all names for musical genres should be taken 100% literally, not as convenient shorthand for complex artistic phenomena.

Dude, it's Ian MacKaye
posted by Hoopo at 11:56 AM on December 10, 2014 [1 favorite]


escape from the potato planet: "I'm still not sure whether this [Youtube link] is a joke or not (especially the cheeseball dance-pop breakdown—what the actual fuck?)."

Man, how good is it to be the drummer in that band? Everyone else, including the keyboard guy, got talked into doing some awkward split-legged guitar/air humping thing, and you're just sitting there, banging away on your drums and not looking like a total knob.
posted by I Havent Killed Anybody Since 1984 at 12:22 PM on December 10, 2014 [2 favorites]


I win the fucking hipster award. I fed it the next three band names from iTunes Indie Rock Mix play list and all three were unknown.

Seriously. They were all the free singles of the week, too.

Weak sauce.
posted by clvrmnky at 12:40 PM on December 10, 2014


No Brandston either?

I'm convinced Sunny Day Real Estate invented emo in 1994 with "Seven".

Dag Nasty's "Can I Say" came out in 1986 and we all called it emo back then, so as much as I like Jeremy Enigk, I don't think you are correct.
posted by saulgoodman at 12:55 PM on December 10, 2014


Jeremy Enigk is not emo.

But his band Sunny Day Real Estate is.
posted by LizBoBiz at 1:32 PM on December 10, 2014


Is this band Elmo?
posted by Miss Otis' Egrets at 2:28 PM on December 10, 2014


Even though I listen to a ton of music I have never really figured out what "Emo" is. I think I heard people using the term in the late 90s maybe? I went and googled Sunny Day Real Estate and had a listen ... soo ... it's what was previously just called indie rock apparently. The track I heard was like "sensitive soft spoken singer backed by punky metal guys rocking harder to make up for the singer". I kid, it was fine.

The linked site is mostly empty of bands though it seems. Emo is such a specific genre - I have a better idea. Be MORE specific. Here's my joke site:

"Is this band Led Zeppelin?"

Sunny Day Real Estate. This band is not Led Zeppelin.
Spoon. This band is not Led Zeppelin.
St. Vincent. This band is not Led Zeppelin.
Led Zeppelin. This band is Led Zeppelin!
Mastodon. This band is not Led Zeppelin.

Fun for hours!!
posted by freecellwizard at 2:31 PM on December 10, 2014 [3 favorites]


I went back and read most of the lengthy Wikipedia Emo article. I feel much better informed now.
posted by freecellwizard at 2:44 PM on December 10, 2014 [1 favorite]


"Is this band Led Zeppelin?"

The Yardbirds. This band is Led Zeppelin!
posted by robocop is bleeding at 2:47 PM on December 10, 2014 [6 favorites]


Black Heart Procession is not in our system.
Luna is not in our system.
Thirty Seconds To Mars is not in our system.

The Dismemberment Plan is not an emo band. (!!! -ed)


You are fired.
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 3:07 PM on December 10, 2014 [2 favorites]


"The Postal Service is an emo band."

Are... are you sure...
posted by naju at 3:51 PM on December 10, 2014 [2 favorites]


I'm still not sure whether this is a joke or not

That's sort of its own genre.
posted by Wolfdog at 4:00 PM on December 10, 2014


All I could come up with was Saves the Day... :(

"Three Mile Pilot" is not in our system.
posted by subdee at 4:39 PM on December 10, 2014


MetaFilter: poorly implemented even for a jokey novelty site
posted by prize bull octorok at 4:44 PM on December 10, 2014 [5 favorites]


Bands with special messages:

Noted already here:
The three noted in in the main post: Journey, Fugazi, Fallout Boy
'Fall Out Boy' also
Cap'n Jazz
Braid
Hey Mercedes
Spoon
The Smiths

Some others:
American Football
Dashboard Confessional
Rites of Spring
My Chemical Romance
Christie Front Drive
Ian MacKaye
Jeremy Enigk
Mike Kinsella

Anybody got any others?
posted by vibratory manner of working at 4:58 PM on December 10, 2014


My Bloody Valentine is not in our system.
posted by turbid dahlia at 6:45 PM on December 10, 2014


It's like a pat-on-the-back-machine for people who were around for the Clinton years. "My Chemical Romance isn't real emo, Texas is the Reason is real emo!"

You have to admit being pissy about how your favorite obscure emo band is the real thing while everybody's else favorite emo band just proves that they're posers is totally emo.

It's like, "Could this be more emo? No, there is none more emo."
posted by jonp72 at 6:55 PM on December 10, 2014


I was kind of hoping they did some kind of n-gram thing to winnow out whether you had emo-quality or not.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 7:30 PM on December 10, 2014


I too used to think emo was more connected to shoegaze and soft goth, until mefite kkokkodalk schooled me at a meetup.
posted by Herr Zebrurka at 7:35 PM on December 10, 2014


Anybody got any others?

Weezer
Hawthorne Heights
Story of the Year
Paramore
New Found Glory
Get Up Kids
Promise Ring
Alkaline Trio
Midtown
The Starting Line

Interestingly, pretty much all of the ones with captions are edge cases (except like Rites of Spring).

It seems like the point of the website isn't to tell if any band is emo or not (you already know Led Zeppelin isn't emo), but to clarify the edge cases and explain that, actually, Alkaline Trio is a punk band and not an emo band--and it sort of succeeds at that, in a limited and snobbish kind of way.
posted by Oxydude at 7:43 PM on December 10, 2014


Do goth next!
posted by mikewebkist at 5:59 AM on December 11, 2014


Even though I listen to a ton of music I have never really figured out what "Emo" is. I think I heard people using the term in the late 90s maybe?

I have no idea what "real emo" would even mean, and no desire to dictate what qualifies or doesn't. It's a made-up name for a kind of made-up thing. All I know is my own experience with the term, and it was definitely floating around long before the 90s, and the stuff it described originally (like another early emo band "Rites of Spring") often doesn't sound much like the stuff people call "emo" now.
posted by saulgoodman at 6:37 AM on December 11, 2014 [1 favorite]


I was pretty amused when I typed "Juliana Theory" and got "Juliana Theory is an emo band. It's The Juliana Theory FYI." But properly typing "The Juliana Theory" gets you the same correction response, which I imagine would be galling for someone who got it right on the first try.
posted by naoko at 7:58 AM on December 11, 2014 [1 favorite]


Emo only makes sense in terms of "waves"... first wave was stuff like Rites of Spring, 1985-1994... second wave stuff like Sunny Day Real Estate, Braid and Mineral, 1994-2000... third wave stuff like Brand New and Taking Back Sunday, 2000-2009ish?... now there's a fourth wave with bands like Modern Baseball, The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die, Dads, et al., 2013-present. Now you know.
posted by naju at 9:11 AM on December 11, 2014 [1 favorite]


Hot Water Music and Refused have little blurbs.
posted by drezdn at 10:03 AM on December 11, 2014


The problem with the "waves" history of emo is that it doesn't seem to account for later groups that take a harsher approach. Does it really make sense to put Circle Takes the Square in the same wave as Brand New/Taking Back Sunday, for example?

There's definitely waves, but they seem more granular than just "all of emo in this time period is this type of emo", more like multiple, partially overlapping waves of emo.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 11:59 AM on December 11, 2014


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