My obsession continues! Marilyn Manson dissing My Chemical Romance in NME's list of 'the most vicious put-downs in music EVER' provoked me to reassess once again what emo really means. Putting aside all idealogies of emo that involve barfy neon accents, the skinny jeans + skate shoes combo, and the pierced low angle selfie pout, we can move into a new era where describing things as being "emo" could be positive.
The first step in remedying this scene/emo confusion (see "scene" def.) is revealing the roots of emo music and pinpointing when exactly the "emo" genre changed its image completely. Originating in the 80s, "emotional" alternative music with confessional lyrics could be exemplified by independant bands such as Rites of Spring and even the Smiths. In the 90s, introverted alternative bands like Sunny Day Real Estate and even Nirvana helped to define the sound that this emo subculture stood for.
The Hipster Handbook also brought up this idea that what you wear is a direct reflection of what you listen to. According to this book, "many hipsters shape their wardrobe, and often their personalities, to match the music they like." Keeping in mind that it's not only hipsters who shape their appearance on what music they listen to, we can concur that defining an emo look really depends on whether said emo listens to the appropriate music.
[Emo re-imagined: Androgynous clothes, limited colour (think grayscale), deep side part/hair obscuring face, spikes, thug toques, vans, cats]
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