Emo Incorporated

Is it me or is the term 'Emo' thrown around far too easily these days? It seems that any band that dare wear eyeliner is tarred with the same dreaded brush over and over again. Take Paramore for example whose debut album 'Riot' I recently listened to after hearing very good things about the band. According to many critics Paramore are a 'girl fronted emo' band, however after listening to 'Riot' I was left puzzled as to what was exactly 'emo' about the record other than the stripy socks that vocalist Hayley Williams chooses to wear. In truth Paramore sound like Avril Lavigne with the gain turned up - not neccesarily a bad thing but certainly not the kind of music you'd want to listen to whilst straightening your fringe.

A few years ago mainstream 'Emo' bands were few and far between with Funeral For A Friend being the UK's biggest name in the genre whilst over the pond Taking Back Sunday were the most notable emo band that springs to mind. These days of course it's near on impossible to turn your back without another new band jumping on the wagon or reinventing themselves. The most obvious examples of this behaviour are of course Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance, both of whom have realigned their musical stylings from snotty pop punk to radio-friendly anthemic rock music which has seen their cult teen followings turn into global appreciation. How have they done this exactly? Write bigger choruses, give yourselves a bigger sound in the studio, be media-friendly, wear the right clothes and, most importantly, wrap it all up in a package and call it Emo.

'Emo' is now no longer a music genre but a marketing ploy. In the last year or so it has become a buzz word, something that will spark conversation, something that everyone has an opinion on. It has also become incredibly easy to sell; just look at the amount of "emo kids" striving to be individuals because new found celebrities such as Gerard Way has a past of being an outcast. Don't get me wrong, I think many of today's bands classed as 'emo' are doing a fantastic job and creating great music, and this article is certainly not intended to follow on from the tripe that Sarah Sands wrote in her 'Emo Cult Warning For Parents' piece for the Daily Mail. I am however of the cynical opinion that there is nothing left in today's 'emo' that made the original scene back in the 80's so exciting and it is purely a tag that makes artists irresistable to our current culture of consumerism. When it comes to Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy bearing his all on the interenet just before the release of the band's latest album Infinity On High, the integrity of many of these artists surely has to be questioned.

There is of course a flip side to the coin which is personified by Brand New's anti-celebrity Jesse Lacey. The modest frontman shyed away from fame when it was staring his band in the face after 2003's Deja Entendu sky-rocketed the bands profile. After a break of four years due to the band wanting to "be out of the spotlight" Brand New returned this year with 'The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me", their third full length that stunned critics and fans alike with its dark sound that was a complete departure from their previous two albums considered 'emo'.

So where next for Emo Inc.? Well the big two players in the genre My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy are surely now assured of a massive stadium tour in the near future and it is up to contemporaries such as Panic! At The Disco to follow suit. Whatever happens it seems like the Emo bandwagon and business will keep marching on for some time to come...

Brand New - Jesus Christ
Fall Out Boy - Of All The Gin Joints In All The World
My Chemical Romance - Blood