Chooned in: What is Mid-West emo?

Mid-West emo is a style of music that hales from, you guessed it, the Mid-Western area of America.

This cult genre is growing in popularity, and even bands that have disbanded over ten years ago, are seeing a resurgence in sales and streaming popularity.

When most people hear the term ‘emo music’, they think of the bands of the mid-2000s, like My Chemical Romance, Paramore, and Panic! At The Disco.

This music, basically, saw people play pop punk tunes… Only with A LOT more eye liner. However, Mid-West emo music is different; often deriving from odd tunings, and inspired by bands like Smashing Pumpkins and Soundgarden, who integrate more complicated guitar riffs into music.

Another term given to Mid-West emo music is, perhaps offputtingly, ‘math rock’. Pretty nerdy… But this a reference to the odd time signatures that the songs are often in.

Some of the most notable works of the genre are listed below:

‘American Football’ – the self-titled album of American Football.

This album has become a cult favourite. It was originally released in 1999 to little fanfare, but, it has since gone on to be considered a modern classic. This album created the signposts for the genre, which are now considered to be almost cliche in Mid-West emo. This album is full of songs with complex time signatures, and even more complicated twiddly guitar parts and odd tunings. My personal highlight of the work is its opener, ‘Never Meant’. Which is, possibly, the textbook song of the genre, with its odd phrases and happy melodies, accompanied by ‘sad boy’ lyrics, big choruses, and droney vocals that the genre is known, and mostly-loved, for.

‘The Power of Falling’ – Mineral

This is a band that I would never have never found in a thousand years if it wasn’t for recommendations from other musical explorers. Mineral takes all the quintessential elements of the genre, and dials them up to eleven. The vocals are incredibly ‘whiney’, and the band could be a hard listen for a new comer to this style of music. But, if you’re a fan of it, this album is exactly what you need. Originally released in 1997, it has only really come to prominence recently – and long after the band split up. This album has appeared on various ‘Best-of Emo Album’ lists by NME, and T Rolling Stone magazine. Similarly, Mineral’s song, ‘Gloria’, appeared on a ‘Best-of Emo Songs’ list by Vulture magazine. In a retrospective piece titled ‘Mineral’s “The Power of Failing’ Dragged Alternative Rock in a More Emotionally Vulnerable Direction”’, Eddie Cepeda of Vice stated that ‘bands like Death Cab and Pinback have Mineral to thank for much of their sound’.

‘Technicolor’ – Covet

Covet is a band that have taken the Mid-West emo genre to a new virtuosic level of brilliance. Young guitarist, Yvette Young, is one of the best technical players around today. This band is a blend of stunning musicianship and catchy melodies. Covet is full of amazing musicians not interested in trying to show off, but, instead, trying to create the best songs they can.