Screamo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Screamo | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins: | Emo, Post-hardcore, Hardcore emo |
| Cultural origins: | 1990s |
| Typical instruments: | Drums, Bass, Guitar, Vocals |
| Mainstream popularity: | Has gained much popularity in recent years |
| Other topics | |
| List of Screamo groups | |
Screamo is a musical genre which evolved from emo, post-hardcore, more specifically hardcore emo in the early 1990s. Characteristic of the genre are hardcore screaming vocals, harmonized guitars, and fast-paced riffs. Breakdowns in screamo songs are often slower and more melodic than in other genres, less of a "beatdown" and more of an opportunity for introspection (and rest for the musicians). Other than that, it is fairly hard to classify (particularly since the rule about screaming vocals is bent fairly often). Though highly contested by the media, bloggers and music critics, Screamo is not actually a genre.
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[edit] History
In California in the early 1990s, Gravity Records from San Diego released many defining records of this style.Significant Emo bands from this time include Heroin, Angel Hair, Antioch Arrow, Universal Order of Armageddon, Swing Kids, and Mohinder. In the New York/New Jersey area, bands such as Native Nod, Merel, 1.6 Band, Rye Coalition and Rorschach were feeling the same impulse. The labels Gern Blandsten Records and Troubleman Records released many of the influential records from that region and era. Many of these bands were involved with the ABC No Rio club scene in New York, itself a response to the violence and stagnation in the scene and with the bands that played at CBGBs, the only other small venue for hardcore in New York at the time. In Milwaukee about the same time, bands like Fallen Race [1] and Viogression began working on a more articulate form of the genre, via the direction of drummer Jef Jaeger.
There was an explosion of bands, some who influenced this were: Indian Summer, Evergreen, Current, Shotmaker, Portraits of Past, and Julia. These bands eventually became what is known as Emo, a style which intensified the dramatic aspects of vocal performances in order to achieve a cathartic breakthrough with the audience. Their music backgrounds differ, Julia and Evergreen both produced some of the richest Emo sounds, while Shotmaker railed off hardcore punk.
In recent years, the internet has helped spread word of screamo. A major factor in the rise of screamo to a more notable genre was the creation of Napster along with the file sharing programs that came after. What once had been obscure was now available to anyone with an internet connection. Myspace, which offers free music profiles, includes screamo in its list of genres. At this writing it is actually listed on the top half of the "top genres" with a count of 46,356 artists. However, not many of these bands actually play screamo music. There is a common misconception that different styles such as metalcore are screamo, where in fact they bear little resemblance. There is also a tendency by many people to think of any screaming music as screamo, which is incorrect.
Easier access to the music through file sharing lead to an increased interest in owning the original copies of the music. With the demise of Skylab Commerce many fans of the genre have turned to eBay to expand their collections of rare and out-of-print records. This leads to very high prices on records that often cost a meager $10 or less when they were first released. Some members of bands who have broken up have expressed displeasure in these high prices and urge fans not to buy them, or buy a posthumously released discography instead. There are alternatives to eBay including vivalavinyl.org, a website dedicated to trading and selling hardcore records, and providing accurate pressing information on releases. [2] In recent years, the term screamo has been very commonly used to describe emo, post-punk, alternative rock, metalcore, or hardcore bands with emo influences.[3]
Screamo has spread from its start in North America all over the world. The European scene is now almost, if not, as big as the one in North America. Countries such as Japan and Australia have notable scenes as well and bands have even started in less likely countries such as South Africa, Chile, and the United Arab Emirates. [citation needed]
Recently, due to the widespread misuse of the term by the media and other bodies, some followers of the genre refer to it in an almost lighthearted code-word way, as "skram" as well as the lesser used "kittencore" and "kitten violence". [citation needed]
[edit] Screamo being classified as hardcore
The stylistic origins of screamo lay with North American hardcore punk. The influences that created screamo were numerous and far reaching, with the now defunct genre of emo violence being a primary factor, but also indie rock playing fundamental roles in the evolution of the genre. As screamo became more and more of an established genre, its hardcore punk roots seemed to fade further and further into the background.
Doc. #8 by Pg. 99 (Electric Human Project/Robotic Empire), has a clip in the first song stating, in essence, that punk rock is about playing whatever you want however you want as long as you have passion. However, screamo is now regarded as a distinct genre from hardcore punk—an offshoot with a distinct scene, culture, and identity. This is an important note, as Pg. 99 is one of the rare screamo bands to truly self-identify as punks. Although Louisville's Kodan Armada are still heavily identified with hardcore punk, despite being stylistically speaking, a screamo band. (There are other examples but any attempt at a list-esque explanation would be neither definitive, nor exceptionally helpful for the case of this article.)
In spite of this, for many recent years, screamo fans called screamo, such as Pg. 99 or Majority Rule hardcore, when in fact, these bands bear no serious resemblance to the hardcore that has existed and evolved for the past 20+ years. While calling it hardcore, fans of screamo began to identify less and less with hardcore's anti-materialism, DIY ethic, and overall rejection of dominant society and began to identify more and more as hipsters. Of course, virtually no hipster calls themselves a hipster, but the self-identity is an obvious one. This difference, a bit of a false dichotomy between hipsters and punks, can be broken down into philosophies of cultural preference to something other than dominant society, in the case of the former, and cultural rejection of dominant society in the case of the latter. While both ideas are bohemian concepts, in the case of punk, said bohemianism is more thorough and more angry.
The "hipsterization" of screamo began with the 2nd wave of screamo mentioned above. Suddenly, kids who listened to "hardcore" were wearing designer jeans costing at times hundreds of dollars, and spending unusual, by punk standards, amounts of time dedicated to fashion or pop culture. This second wave of screamo was called hardcore for indefinite reasons. Although it probably had to do with a desired perceived distance from emo. One should also keep in mind that screamo, for a small period of time, out-styled straight-up hardcore in the eyes of many. Screamo became the dominant form of hardcore punk (albeit a bastardized version) for quite a few years in North America. Things have changed a bit as of 2006.
Due to the repopularization of crust punk, thrash, powerviolence et al. in the last couple of years (seen poignantly with bands such as Tragedy, Modern Life Is War, and Limp Wrist), people of various subcultures have been able to see that indeed, bands such as Funeral Diner are not hardcore bands, but are rather screamo bands. Just as importantly—many of these bands never even were hardcore punk outfits. While serious aficianodos of punk music have known this since the beginning, and while screamo kids are recognizing the difference between themselves and say, anarcho-punks, it is an idea that is relatively new to many people involved in screamo, and even hardcore punk.
The "hipsterization" and "unpunkifying" of screamo preceded, and paved the way, for the same symptoms afflicting metalcore.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Cross My Heart With A Knife A webzine centered around emo, screamo and emoviolence
- Punknews.org Frequently updated news site covering both modern and seminal branches of emo
- A!E.com's Emo Guide
- Emo Scene emo community with free blogs.
- Collective Zine A webzine with many reviews of emo and screamo, and a forum community
