1998 Looked Great On Plain White Paper


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Braid - The New Nathan Detroits
Texas Is The Reason - The Magic Bullet Theory
One Hundred Words For Snow - Collide

I don't think 'dissatisfied' is the right word; maybe I was just bored with the same old psuedo-political discussion in the punk I was listening to. Maybe I was getting over the boy-meets-girl, boy-losing-girl anthems of my favorite pop punk records. Maybe I was through with high school and trying to assemble a soundtrack to the larger campus with ashtrays known as Junior College. And while I must credit Dr. Frank of Mr. T Experience and Joey from The Vindicitives for starting the fire, I started looking for clever lyrics that weren't just about the same old stuff. I started getting more into, gasp, Boris the Sprinkler because say what you will, his lyrics and delivery are unlike anything else. But dude, how many songs can I listen to about Pabst Blue Ribbon while I'm reading Buckminster Fuller and Kierkegaard?

And while the bands that I gradually discovered certainly aren't on academic levels of T.S. Elliot or Walt Whitman, they seemed to encapsulate that same sense of being an American. It seems like saying anything about being an American is loaded nowadays. But I simply use the term as a means to reflect a common experience or culture. (While there exists MANY American Experiences, doubtlessly, I refer to some romantically vague notions of collected consciousness.) The concerns and values of 'mainstream culture' are radically different than they were 10, 20, or 100 years ago, but when we encounter artifacts that capture their time, we react. Some say that the history of art is simply each generation improving upon the last, taking what they like, and damning the rest. Each generation has its voice.

And for me these were the Ginsbergs and Kerouacs of my time. As much as I Iove to read Beat work, it feels like I'm engaging in fantasy; these bands were talking about me, right now. Their lyrics were challenging and poetic; and after listening to an entire album I felt like I knew what it was really like in Kansas or Chicago. And far from being preachy or straightforward, I found myself attempting to unpack and decipher the meaning in the lyrics like I was still in English class.

Eventually, a few of these bands ended up on a compilation called "The Emo Diaries." I wish I could say where I first heard the term emo, but I'm pretty sure it was a friend of mine making fun of another friend's new boyfriend. "Yeah, he's emo," Alan said," That means he listens to Jawbreaker and smokes Chesterfields." I took a mental snapshot of this emo-stranger's dress and pins and patches in an attempt to find out more. (Besides, I really liked Jawbreaker... where did that leave me?)

But the next time I encountered the emo-beast was at a One Hundred Words For Snow show at Koo's cafe. Redwood Records put on a veritable emo-fest spanning two-nights, and apparently 100 Words, another band I really liked, fit the bill. Guests could even purchase limited pressings of records with an "Emo Inside" cover that parodied Intel's most likely forgotten identity campaign. That night I took in all the t-shirts and stickers on guitar cases feeling like I'd entered a whole new world. I felt like I was alive and a part of something that was happening now. Luckily, I met some cool folks at work who clued me in to Moss Icon and Rites of Spring before I got too heady over this new 'emo' stuff.

And the more I thought about it (and the more clues I was given), I began to see similarities with artists who were on comps with Born Against. (Let's face it, I never would have bought an Ebullition record if it didn't have that Born Against entry point.) At this point, you could still sort of feel the 'hardcore' element in the music. (Like you could still hear the hardcore through the metal from Integrity.)

I'm not sure if I'm summing it up well, but it wasn't an embarrassing thing to listen to emo records. My punk friends didn't get why a band who's named after a classic Misfits lyric could sound so mellow, but they didn't make fun of me or call me 'emo' because I listened to Texas is the Reason.

But nowadays labeling a band, "Emo," is like a kiss of death. Too many bland and homogenous bands have emerged under the banner of Emo to willing mainstream audience. Same old story. When I mentioned the beats earlier, did you picture Doby Gillis or one of Fred Flintstone's amnesia induced personas? Every event in youth culture is co opted and sold for a profit. I think maybe it just happens faster now.

(Buy Braid Frame and Canvas at Amazon)

(Buy Texas is the Reason Do You Know Who You Areat Amazon)


434 Responses to “1998 Looked Great On Plain White Paper”

  1. Anonymous Anonymous 

    i remember when emo wasn't a bad word. well maybe it always was. i first discovered it while reading a pulse magazine article about fugazi where they were describing rites of spring as emotional hardcore a.k.a. "emo." they didn't like the description then or now. ian was quoted as saying "i thought all hardcore was emotional."
    by the way, new nathan detroits is definitely one of my all time favorite emo songs. there may be no other band that more deserves that label than Braid.

  2. Anonymous Anonymous 

    Much love to Texas is the Reason! They don't get nearly enough attention in the music blog world for how wonderful they used to be back in the day. Thanks for doing your part to remedy the situation. :)


    Cheers.

  3. Anonymous Anonymous 

    i remember when emo wasn't a bad word. well maybe it always was. i first discovered it while reading a pulse magazine article about fugazi where they were describing rites of spring as emotional hardcore a.k.a. "emo." they didn't like the description then or now. ian was quoted as saying "i thought all hardcore was emotional."
    by the way, new nathan detroits is definitely one of my all time favorite emo songs. there may be no other band that more deserves that label than Braid.

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  5. Anonymous Anonymous 

    Redwood was actually giving away the one sided Inside 7". I was at that show with give until gone.

    thank you for posting this one hundred words for Snow song. i used to have all their records, but have since given away all my records.

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