EMO LORE: BROKEN DOWN SO EVEN AN 11 YEAR OLD CAN UNDERSTAND IT EASILY.

1st and 2nd wave: 1985-1991, washington dc is the birthplace to emotional hardcore/emocore, a music genre created after some punks wanted to give a more melodic and emotional aspect to hardcore punk. the term emocore first appeared mid-1985 in a magazine about the surgence of the genre and used after as an insult by people who disliked the washington dc scene, and because of that it was WILDLY REJECTED by bands of the time. anyway, bands like rites of spring and embrace were precursors to the genre! but not only emocore was present at that time, more genres were also born from the need of making punk stuff more emotional: screamo (aka skramz, a joke term for the style), emoviolence and midwest emo were also a thing. more notable bands of the time are saetia, moss icon, orchid, cap n' jazz, american football and pageninetynine. emos at that time were way more punk looking considering where the genre came from, and the people that strictly follow it are known as either the classics, or DIY. theyre still active, but underground. they dont really like myspace emos though!

(IMPORTANT NOTE: unlike many people think, the term emo did not come from the word "emotional", but actually from emotional hardcore/emocore. yes, the entire subculture is named after the music genre. ok continuing)

start of the 3rd wave: it remained a bit underground until bands inspired by the movement in the late late 1990s like taking back sunday, brand new and jimmy eat world started booming, making the scene more mainstream. the punkier look to emo fashion begins its shift here.

3rd wave: metalcore and post hardcore began making their appearances in the community from 2001-2008; stuff like alexisonfire, chiodos, saosin, alesana and the devil wears prada were just popping up like pimples on a 15 year olds face. its from THIS TIMESTAMP that the fashion begins fully shifting: straightened swooped hair w sidebangs covering half your face, extremely tight fitting clothing and a whole lot of band merch were THE NEW FACE of emo (thanks eighteen visions!). the people that follow this kind of fashion, (aka the most known one) are known as myspace emos, since it got popularized exactly there. hot topic was one of the first stores to capitalize on the emo craze and its still known today for STILL selling emo stuff besides the hot topic, modern stuff. get it. its also from this point that SCENE was starting to become a thing, where some kids wanted to give a more dramatic spin on fashioncore – the movement created by the previously mentioned band eighteen visions, which created myspace emo fashion and subsequently scene fashion as well – those were the ones who started the movement, and were considered posers by the people in the emo community. it eventually got so big it became its own thing, and is not considered a "poser sub" anymore. SCENE LORE BREAKDOWN OUT NOW BY THE WAY!! CHECK IT OUT IF YOU WANT SOME JUICY INFO ABT THE SCENE... SCENE.

then pop punk and pop rock started also getting WAY TOO FAMOUS in the community more into the late 2000s, panic! at the disco, fall out boy, all time low and paramore are great examples of bands that barely have anything to do with the og emocore but were still rocking their shit and getting very present in the scene. 

4th wave: emo revival. starting from 2008-2017... 2018? bros ditched the 3rd wave signature sound and sticked to 2nd waves instead. bands previously mentioned, cap n' jazz and american football were precursors and the biggest influences for how this wave sounded. notable bands of the time were the hotelier, snowing, joyce manor and the brave little abacus.

5th wave: 2018-nowadays. highly similar to 4th wave, not straight up copying the 2nd wave sound but still being highly influenced by it, plus MYSPACE DEATHCORE AND ELECTRONICORE REVIVAL!!!! notable bands are home is where, hey ily, as we fall and ashes at last.

all these waves still are up to debate, SPECIALLY ONLINE. never seen so many fights about what should be considered emo or not, what IS emo and what isnt, why pierce the veil and my chemical romance should be considered poser bands and whatever whatever. emo is finally having its revival after years of being considered "dead" because of events like warped tour coming back w/ cooler stuff and less preds, when we were young fests and emofests in general getting more and more present, new bands, the classic ones making their comebacks and getting active again, etc. theres obviously also influence from tiktok and instagram, though its sad that the version of emo people are mostly getting to see through those apps is so watered down, cheesy and weak. buuuut on a side note its good to know that at least majority of those who are ACTUALLY interested on the subculture are doing their research and getting their stuff right, otherwise DIE POSERS DIE!!!! /s

ok. this was a lot and i do have to thank rae intricate (xx.built4blame.xx) on insta and sematarypolka on reddit THOROUGHLY for a lot of simplified info so SHOUT OUT TO THEM IM A BIG FAN. anyway, thank you SO much for reading!! i hope this "little" rant of mine will be able to help you understand emo lore a bit more. not everyone can work with huge album family trees and timelines, so i REALLY do hope this was helpful or at least a fun read for you. lemme know if i got anything wrong, or if you want me to break down warped tour lore so even an 11 year old can understand as well!! kisses <3