I've been a big fan of the new emo scene for awhile, and I'm glad these bands are getting some mainstream attention. However, some of these same bands are displeased with the tone of the press coverage. I wrote about this very same article over on Reddit: Part of me is sad that this small scene, personal to me for a few years now, is starting to blow up and reach a wider, more diverse audience. In the end, however, some of these bands are very good and they deserve a wider audience and the (financial and otherwise) support that entails.Certain emo bands have been ripping into articles like this that are trying to hype the "emo revival". I think they're right that emo never went away, but to mercilessly rip into publications that are trying to give you positive press coverage seems to be short sighted and petty to me. These articles are just trying to put the current scene in context so people who don't normally listen to this music understand what's going on. Plus, I like how this article states that the current "emo revival" phase isn't so much because people are hopping on the emo bandwagon, but that fans of bands like Algernon Cadwallader and Snowing, who probably started listening to them four or five years ago, are finally now starting to get hired into writing positions where they can write about their favorite bands.
I agree that it's a scene that never went away, not with labels like Count Your Lucky Stars and Tiny Engines consistently putting out great music. I'm torn about how the bands are reacting. On one hand I don't think it's a great idea to rip the press coverage they're getting. However, I can understand because the scene is getting bigger and I wouldn't want it getting diluted or people having misconceptions and trying to change it because they like bands such as Fallout Boy or My Chemical Romance, which they might relate to "emo".
I absolutely cringe when someone says they listen to "emo" bands like Fallout Boy, Panic at the Disco, and Paramore. Hell, I love Paramore but I think of them clearly as pop punk or even a pop band. I hate having to describe to people that the emo I listen to is different than the the Third Wave of emo or most bands on Warped Tour, which seems to carry the mainstream definition of emo these days. Most people don't understand or care, not that I blame them. I guess I just hate thinking that bands like Into It. Over It. and TWIABP will be embraced by the same people who don't give two shits about the "emo" I like (or maybe that means those bands are changing into mainstream bands. The horror!). I like thinking that I'm part of small, select scene where everybody "gets" it. Now that's changing but I'm personally trying to accept it. So I totally understand where you're coming from.
I refer to all of that music as "mall-core", admittedly in a condescending way because of the teenage Hot Topic regulars that love those bands, and the fact that I don't like any of the bands that you just listed in that first paragraph. It's the type of thing where if it extends into what emo actually is, I'll be sad. The new Into It. Over It. and TWIABP are gateways into the genre. That said, it's going to lead to a couple of routes. The one that lures people in and makes them think they like the genre, when in reality they've only listened to one of those two bands. The other is more exciting, and one I think you should be excited for too, it's the one where it leads to people delving farther into the genre and discovering more of these great bands.
Absolutely! I agree with you on there being two routes, and it is indeed the second option that has me excited by the recent attention to the "emo revival". Even if only one person was turned on to the new emo scene and became invested in it, I think it would be worth it. Those light investment fans, while annoying, will eventually fade away. You know, this kind of reminds me about how discussions over the expansion of Hubsk's user base go.