Your way in
Midwest emo 1994
Open tunings and interlocking arpeggios, odd meters and lyrics about autumn and empty rooms.
- Heaviness
- 2
- Speed
- 4
- Melody
- 10
- Where from
- Illinois / Kansas, USA
- Tempo
- 100-150 bpm
- Song length
- 3.5-6 min
- Written about
- Adolescence in retrospect, Place - specifically the suburban Midwest, Failure at intimacy, Weather and seasons
- Vocals
- Sung
Why this one
| You said | Midwest emo | Match | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| No words at all When someone is singing, what should come out? | clean | 80% | ×3 |
| Light How much weight do you want behind it? | 2 out of 10 | 100% | ×2 |
| The nineties Does it matter when it was made? | 1994 | 100% | ×1 |
| Somewhere else entirely What should the words be about? | Adolescence in retrospect, Place - specifically the suburban Midwest, Failure at intimacy, Weather and seasons | 0% | ×1 |
| Yes. A proper melody. Do you want a tune you could hum afterwards? | 10 out of 10 | 100% | ×1 |
| Weighted mean | 80% | ||
Ranked over all 150 genres in the encyclopedia, on the 5 answers you gave, weighted vocals 3, heaviness 2, era 1, about 1, melody 1 out of 8. Midwest emo leads the next by 1 point. Where two genres score the same the broader one wins, because a genre with subgenres under it is somewhere to carry on from and a leaf is a full stop.
Five records, in this order
- 1Start one step outside
Sunny Day Real Estate, Diary 1994
Sunny Day Real Estate - Diary. The bridge between DC hardcore and everything that followed.
- 2The one to put on first
American Football, American Football 1999
American Football - Never Meant. That opening guitar figure is a whole genre.
- 3Then
- 4Then
- 5Then
The first is the entry point for Emo, one step outside, so the second record has something to be heard against. After it come Midwest emo's essential records in the order the encyclopedia lists them. Every one of these has a page here with links out to somewhere it can be played.
If that is not it
-
Power metal 80%
Galloping tempos, choral hooks and lyrics about dragons and battles. Optimistic by definition.
On the other branch of the tree entirely, and 8 steps from Midwest emo.
The way into Power metal -
Math rock 79%
Odd meters and interlocking riffs assembled like a puzzle, usually without vocals. Post-rock's cerebral cousin.
7 steps from Midwest emo, meeting it only at Rock.
The way into Math rock
Not simply the second and third of the ranking: those are almost always near neighbours of the first, which is three names for one suggestion. An alternate has to sit at least 4 steps through the tree from the headline and from the other alternate, which is the same floor the "sounds like this, but isn't" panel uses.
What your answers ruled out
- No words at all put 33 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Black metal, Death metal, Grindcore. Worth 3 of 8.
- Light put 12 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Death metal, Brutal death metal, Sludge metal. Worth 2 of 8.
- The nineties put 23 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Blues rock, Progressive rock, Rock and roll. Worth 1 of 8.
- Somewhere else entirely put 106 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Punk rock, Hardcore punk, Alternative rock. Worth 1 of 8.
- Yes. A proper melody. put 12 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Grindcore, Brutal death metal, Cybergrind. Worth 1 of 8.
Counted as genres scoring 20% or less on that answer alone. A recommendation that only shows what it chose is hiding half of what it did.