From Her to Eternity

I've noticed something weird lately. First of all, I want to say that while I think they are a necessary evil, I don't like the idea of placing music in to categories. It just isn't fair. However, it makes things easy sometimes.

This is what I've noticed: bands and acts that could be called "Post-Emo." I know, I know, people mostly cringe when they hear the word 'emo', but I'm totally serious here. Some of them are obvious like the Firebird Band which includes Chris Broach from Braid (emo pioneers who probably should have never been called emo), or the Postal Service (Ben Gibbard from Death Cab for Cutie and Jimmy Tamborello from Dntel). Both bands use keyboards and drum machines in their 'emotional' music. But, they also use real instrumentation as well. Another similar example would be The Faint, who were making records as far back as 1999. The Faint actually sound more like Duran Duran than the Get Up Kids. And it's a good sound. These are just a few of the current post-emo bands who happen to use electronic elements in their sound. Chris Broach from the Firebird Band is not only a helluva nice guy, but he's also the owner and operator of Lucid Records, who happen to be at the forefront of this genre. Not all of the bands have electronic elements, but the ghost of emo lingers on in all of them.

On the flip side of things, there are some older bands re-gaining interest in these post-emo days. A great example would be Murder City Devils. The Devils are no longer together, but their influence is felt all throughout hard indie-rock and punk or whatever you want to call it. Locally, that influence can be heard in the Whisky Diaries (website forthcoming when I have time - no, I'm not in the band). Another relevant band finding popularity posthumously is Brainiac. Their fame is literally posthumous since the singer Tim Taylor died in a car wreck in Ohio in 1997. Since then, the members have gone on to numerous other projects including Enon. Brainiac and Enon definitely fit into the electro-punk-wave side of things. Oh, another good one is The Exploding Hearts. Also posthumous because 3/4 of the band died in a van wreck while touring last summer. These guys sounded like the Cars crossed with the Buzzcocks. They would've been huge stars. This brings me to another point: the progression past emo seems to be new wave. Almost all of these bands can be related to new wave. Even the aggression of the Murder City Devils has the new wave sound thanks to the Farfisa organ that runs throughout all of their records (courtesy of Detroit native Leslie Hardy). I don't know where I'm going with all of this, it was just something interesting that I wanted to point out. That's all. If yr interested in any more bands like these that I haven't listed, let me know. Post a comment. Get involved.

*NOTE: It seems that I've irked a few people with this post. You've merely misinterpreted my words. I'm not saying that the Murder City Devils, Firebird Band, The Faint, The Buzzocks, the Exploding Hearts, or Enon are emo bands. I was merely stating that they are relevant and influential in these days of post-emo punk and rock 'n' roll.

guitar romantic