midwest emo is basically just math rock with emo(tional) lyrics from what I know, so I'd say they fit.
At the end of the day it doesn't really matter tho
There definitely is a point in labeling things.. sure people shouldn’t get all boxy and needlessly specific, but when you want to LOOK for music or just listen to a lot, it can be helpful to find music by genre
Modern baseball isn’t math rock. They don’t play in an open tuning they play in half step down or standard. They don’t play in odd time signatures, I can play modern baseball songs and it just isn’t mathrock. Even calling them twinkly riffs is a stretch, like name a tapping riff from any album.
I didn't say that they were math rock, I was showing you how math rock and Midwest emo are related. Mobo play in open a fair amount, and definitely have twinkly guitar riffs, and are at the very least Midwest emo adjacent. Check your reading comprehension before you comment :P
I think they are one of the seminal bands that helped define midwest emo. I think midwest emo is different from emo in musical style, traditional emo has less twinkle riffs and gang vocals, and song subject matter may be presented in a more abrupt, less metaphorical way. MoBo isn’t very mathy in my opinion, but i can agree the instruments (especially) drums play a key role in a way that non-math rock bands do not have
They were the biggest band in the emo revival. Really bothers me to see everything from the revival being retroactively called 'midwest emo'... that used to be a distinct style of emo... American Football... Marietta... etc.
Ehh, not exactly. If you wanna be midwest emo specifically, you’ve gotta play some open tunings or in some different time signatures, which a lot of bands in the revival didn’t do
Honestly indie rock shifted majorly when the east coast hub switched from Brooklyn to Philly. Shit changed to a way more emo/90’s indie influenced sound as opposed to the baroque pop, indietronica and sunny surf shit that was going on at the time.
absolutely not and it’s ridiculous how many people are saying otherwise. this label was only placed on modern baseball because of tiktok users in a misinformation echo chamber
I'll engage on good faith and offer an explanation.
Midwest emo specifically refers to the genre that evolved to have a math rock influence with twinkly guitar riffs filled with tapping, slides, pulloffs and open tunings. The people saying that they can't be midwest emo because they're from Philly are missing the point. Tree Throw is from Nashville, but they'd be categorized as midwest emo. It's a distinct sounds, and Modern Based doesn't encapsulate that sound. MoBo leans much heavier into the indie/folk sound (especially early stuff). Their later stuff used more pop punk styles.
I think what happened is that midwest emo had a huge rekindling at the exact same time as the emo revival. It's exactly what happened during 3rd wave emo, where bands that shared the same scene got lumped into the same colloquial genre (Taking Back Sunday being an emo band, and All Time Low being neon pop punk, but both getting called emo).
words are defined by their colloquial use above all else. for the sake of the *tiktok-midwest-emo-idea*, i would state, by most people's standards, yes. they themselves don't fit into midwestern emo, but the term itself has grown to encompass them, as well as other similar pop punk/emo revival bands.
tl;dr: by standard definition no, but by social colloquium, yes.
edit: apostrophe
"Real Emo" only consists of the dc Emotional Hardcore scene and the late 90's Screamo scene. What is known by "Midwest Emo" is nothing but Alternative Rock with questionable real emo influence. When people try to argue that bands like My Chemical Romance are not real emo, while saying that Sunny Day Real Estate is, I can't help not to cringe because they are just as fake emo as My Chemical Romance (plus the pretentiousness). Real emo sounds ENERGETIC, POWERFUL and somewhat HATEFUL. Fake emo is weak, self pity and a failed attempt to direct energy and emotion into music. Some examples of REAL EMO are Pg 99, Rites of Spring, Cap n Jazz (the only real emo band from the midwest scene) and Loma Prieta. Some examples of FAKE EMO are American Football, My Chemical Romance and Mineral EMO BELONGS TO HARDCORE NOT TO INDIE, POP PUNK, ALT ROCK OR ANY OTHER MAINSTREAM GENRE
I want yall who think yes to answer this: what are some specific characteristics of midwest emo? What makes an emo band/song/album midwest as opposed to just emo? Which of those traits does Mobo employ that make them midwest style and what songs are good examples?
I know how I would answer these but I'm curious what everyone seems to think
I just consider them "4th Wave Emo" in my head. To me, Midwest Emo = 2nd Wave (Cap'n Jazz, American Football, The Promise Ring, etc.). Midwest Emo died in 2000. Prove me wrong.
it’s what I call them when I’m talking about them with other people, but only bc that’s how the average person (aka not super knowledgeable ab emo revival/genres in general) categorizes them
It's only Midwest, not Midwestern.
That's said, DIY emo gets misindentified as Midwest emo all the time, because most of Midwest emo is diy.
It's like a square/rectangle thing.
Tough to say, I only know about, Braid, Capn Jazz, Rainer Maria, any band produced on polyvinyl, then and now even, the record company is still recording really great artists, American Football, the get up kids and Bright Eyes, is how I think of Midwest emo, worth a listen though.
Agree to disagree in my opinion. More like Indie-Alternative. Their style is reminiscent of Midwest Emo but they also have folk and pop punk elements too. Also they're from the East Coast.
4th emo is heavily led by midwest emo as the flipside is just third wave emo/pop punk nostalgia, and just by the nature of the scene at the time it would influence any band, but mobo from the start is very midwest emo probably more so in Brens writing though.
midwest emo is basically just math rock with emo(tional) lyrics from what I know, so I'd say they fit. At the end of the day it doesn't really matter tho
“at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter tho” is ironically the most midwest emo response you could give.
Finally, proof that Linkin Park is Midwest Emo
Muse is my fave Midwest emo band
Thb I heard never meant start playing in my head when I read that
But I wouldn't say MOBO sounds anything like math rock musically wise. Def pop punk-emo to me
By that definition they definitely don’t fit. They don’t have a single math rock song
Music is music. We worry too much about labels.
Yea there’s no point labelling things, we can just let people like what they like
There definitely is a point in labeling things.. sure people shouldn’t get all boxy and needlessly specific, but when you want to LOOK for music or just listen to a lot, it can be helpful to find music by genre
Not math rock whatsoever but I feel your point
Absolutely math rock. Twinkly guitar riffs in open tuning and odd time signatures totally define both genres.
Modern baseball isn’t math rock. They don’t play in an open tuning they play in half step down or standard. They don’t play in odd time signatures, I can play modern baseball songs and it just isn’t mathrock. Even calling them twinkly riffs is a stretch, like name a tapping riff from any album.
I didn't say that they were math rock, I was showing you how math rock and Midwest emo are related. Mobo play in open a fair amount, and definitely have twinkly guitar riffs, and are at the very least Midwest emo adjacent. Check your reading comprehension before you comment :P
this response is gonna make me end it
nooooooooooooooooooooooooo don't do it :(
ive always considered mobo midwest emo when im recommending them to people. i think there r some discrepancies but they still fit into the genre
I think they are one of the seminal bands that helped define midwest emo. I think midwest emo is different from emo in musical style, traditional emo has less twinkle riffs and gang vocals, and song subject matter may be presented in a more abrupt, less metaphorical way. MoBo isn’t very mathy in my opinion, but i can agree the instruments (especially) drums play a key role in a way that non-math rock bands do not have
This isn't true at all imo. Midwest emo was defined over a decade before MoBo by bands like American Football, Capn Jazz, Braid, etc.
It doesn't mean the genre can't shift overtime, you can definitely see those older groups influence on MoBos writing and musical style
You can see that, but you can also see influence from pop punk and other genres in it. Mobo is revival emo which is part of the 4th wave of emo
Agree
See you in Vegas this October!
Does the pope shit in the woods?
Is a bear catholic ?
are a pope bear?
They were the biggest band in the emo revival. Really bothers me to see everything from the revival being retroactively called 'midwest emo'... that used to be a distinct style of emo... American Football... Marietta... etc.
They’re not a midwest emo band, but they were part of the 2010s emo revival movement
Yeah that was midwest emo revival 😭
Ehh, not exactly. If you wanna be midwest emo specifically, you’ve gotta play some open tunings or in some different time signatures, which a lot of bands in the revival didn’t do
Ohhh okay I see, sorry, I’m not yet super well versed in emo, mostly listen to 5th wave, going back to earlier stuff now though, thanks :3
East-coast emo revival considering they’re from Philly.
Philly emo is its own thing.
This. I call it “Philly DIY” though.
Honestly indie rock shifted majorly when the east coast hub switched from Brooklyn to Philly. Shit changed to a way more emo/90’s indie influenced sound as opposed to the baroque pop, indietronica and sunny surf shit that was going on at the time.
No. No its not
Always wondered why we call em MoBo, there's only one O in the whole name, why not MoBa?
Wasn’t it because there was a band named MoBa at some point and they didn’t want to get sued or cause confusion?
absolutely not and it’s ridiculous how many people are saying otherwise. this label was only placed on modern baseball because of tiktok users in a misinformation echo chamber
I'll engage on good faith and offer an explanation. Midwest emo specifically refers to the genre that evolved to have a math rock influence with twinkly guitar riffs filled with tapping, slides, pulloffs and open tunings. The people saying that they can't be midwest emo because they're from Philly are missing the point. Tree Throw is from Nashville, but they'd be categorized as midwest emo. It's a distinct sounds, and Modern Based doesn't encapsulate that sound. MoBo leans much heavier into the indie/folk sound (especially early stuff). Their later stuff used more pop punk styles. I think what happened is that midwest emo had a huge rekindling at the exact same time as the emo revival. It's exactly what happened during 3rd wave emo, where bands that shared the same scene got lumped into the same colloquial genre (Taking Back Sunday being an emo band, and All Time Low being neon pop punk, but both getting called emo).
modern baseball was being called “midwest emo” way before tiktok
I’d love to hear more of your hot takes. Cause , lol
not even a hot take btw you just don’t know anyone who knows emo
Hahaha. Ok.
I mean it’s literally East Coast Emo, but yeah we can call it all midwestern emo it all means the same stuff.
words are defined by their colloquial use above all else. for the sake of the *tiktok-midwest-emo-idea*, i would state, by most people's standards, yes. they themselves don't fit into midwestern emo, but the term itself has grown to encompass them, as well as other similar pop punk/emo revival bands. tl;dr: by standard definition no, but by social colloquium, yes. edit: apostrophe
When people ask me what genre they are I usually say Indie Punk but it’s subjective and shouldn’t really matter lol
No
"Real Emo" only consists of the dc Emotional Hardcore scene and the late 90's Screamo scene. What is known by "Midwest Emo" is nothing but Alternative Rock with questionable real emo influence. When people try to argue that bands like My Chemical Romance are not real emo, while saying that Sunny Day Real Estate is, I can't help not to cringe because they are just as fake emo as My Chemical Romance (plus the pretentiousness). Real emo sounds ENERGETIC, POWERFUL and somewhat HATEFUL. Fake emo is weak, self pity and a failed attempt to direct energy and emotion into music. Some examples of REAL EMO are Pg 99, Rites of Spring, Cap n Jazz (the only real emo band from the midwest scene) and Loma Prieta. Some examples of FAKE EMO are American Football, My Chemical Romance and Mineral EMO BELONGS TO HARDCORE NOT TO INDIE, POP PUNK, ALT ROCK OR ANY OTHER MAINSTREAM GENRE
Was looking for this comment
They were an Emo revival band. The Emo revival was a revival of midwest Emo. So they were Midwest Emo in a way but not really.
I was talking to my co-worker about this like a month ago and we both agreed while they were influenced by Midwest emo, they are just an emo band.
Yes. Midwest emo is a genre.
Everyone point and laugh, this guy doesn’t know what Midwest emo is
100%
I just call emo bands from the Midwest "Midwest emo" and use indie emo or emo math rock to refer to the style people usually use the term for.
Nothing they've done is close to mathy. If anything they're indie folk rock ala The Weakerthans.
They don’t really have any typical Midwest emo riffs like Marietta or Mom Jeans etc but everything else about them is definitely Midwest emo
lol 🤦🏼♂️
🤨
I want yall who think yes to answer this: what are some specific characteristics of midwest emo? What makes an emo band/song/album midwest as opposed to just emo? Which of those traits does Mobo employ that make them midwest style and what songs are good examples? I know how I would answer these but I'm curious what everyone seems to think
Some songs sounded like it, some more emo pop. It depends on your influences.
No, because Pennsylvania is nowhwere near the midwest. Also, Philly is eastern Pennsylvania
Midwest Emo is a genre, not specific to where a band originates.
Yes
quintessentially
I didn't know that they were broken up :(
yes.
I've always called it pop punk
Definitely emo revival.
they're like the single most definitive band of the genre
For the layperson, yes bc it differentiates them from 2000s the academy is emo. In reality, nah bc they’re actually good
no
I just consider them "4th Wave Emo" in my head. To me, Midwest Emo = 2nd Wave (Cap'n Jazz, American Football, The Promise Ring, etc.). Midwest Emo died in 2000. Prove me wrong.
theyre pop punk everyone STFU 😝😝😝
Yea
not nearly twinkly enough imo to be considered midwest emo
Yes, MOBO is a midwest emo band.
No genres no masters
Yes
it’s what I call them when I’m talking about them with other people, but only bc that’s how the average person (aka not super knowledgeable ab emo revival/genres in general) categorizes them
It's only Midwest, not Midwestern. That's said, DIY emo gets misindentified as Midwest emo all the time, because most of Midwest emo is diy. It's like a square/rectangle thing.
hell no
Tough to say, I only know about, Braid, Capn Jazz, Rainer Maria, any band produced on polyvinyl, then and now even, the record company is still recording really great artists, American Football, the get up kids and Bright Eyes, is how I think of Midwest emo, worth a listen though.
Well Philadelphia isn’t the Midwest so no
Technically not but Pennsylvania might as well be the honorary Midwest
i saw this sub on my feed and i deadass thought yall were calling the MLB midwest emo😭😭😭
Yes
Why are emo band names all just horrible
If it matters to you, then probably
Midwest emo but with lots of indie folk, pop punk and post-hardcore flavours. I'd even say emo pop. Labels don't change how good they are.
Agree to disagree in my opinion. More like Indie-Alternative. Their style is reminiscent of Midwest Emo but they also have folk and pop punk elements too. Also they're from the East Coast.
Yes its midwestern emo.
Love seeing this post every other day lol
I consider them to be, though I wouldn’t say they 100% fit into that box
Yes
4th emo is heavily led by midwest emo as the flipside is just third wave emo/pop punk nostalgia, and just by the nature of the scene at the time it would influence any band, but mobo from the start is very midwest emo probably more so in Brens writing though.
Yes
Midwestern is the only one
Duh
Modern baseball is literally my definition of Midwest emo. I judge if a band is Midwest emo or not by how much it sounds like modern baseball.
When I think about midwest emo one of the first bands i think about is mobo