The difference, by ear
Emo-pop is the commercial genre the revival is explicitly reacting against, despite sharing the word.
Both are sung cleanly and move at much the same pace, around 110 to 170 bpm. To hear the difference, play The World Is a Beautiful Place... next to Jimmy Eat World. Both grew out of emo, emo pop first and emo revival eleven years after. United States appears in the origins of both.
In figures
Emo revival
Where it sits
Rock › Punk rock › Hardcore punk › Post-hardcore › Emo › Emo revival
In short
A new generation rediscovers the Midwest sound, this time with Bandcamp instead of fanzines.
How it sounds
- Home-recorded production with clean guitars and unprocessed vocals.
- Structures borrowed from Midwest emo, with tapping and open tunings.
- Long, nearly prose-like lyrics about anxiety and small towns.
Key acts
- The World Is a Beautiful Place...
- Modern Baseball
- Algernon Cadwallader
Start here
The pickAlgernon Cadwallader - Some Kind of Cadwallader. Cap'n Jazz reincarnated, unapologetically.
Full page →Emo pop
Where it sits
Rock › Punk rock › Hardcore punk › Post-hardcore › Emo › Emo pop
In short
The emo formula with a radio chorus and polished production. The version that reached MTV and the shopping mall.
How it sounds
- Choruses built for radio, with dense production and heavy compression.
- Nasal vocals with a lot of words crammed into each phrase.
- Distorted guitars mixed under the voice, pop punk style.
Key acts
- Jimmy Eat World
- Fall Out Boy
- My Chemical Romance
Start here
The pickJimmy Eat World - Clarity. The album before the success is the good one.
Full page →