The emerging fifth-wave emo scene has given me a great excuse to stay glued to social media. I’m not shy about my enthusiasm for emo, and I got a little giddy last month watching a cross-section of Twitter music fanatics go wild for pop-minded Chicago emo songwriter Eric Reyes, who records as Snow Ellet. Hugo Reyes had included Snow Ellet’s music in a great Medium roundup of recent Chicagoland emo on April 19, and after interest snowballed on Twitter, on May 7 Pitchfork ran a review of Snow Ellet’s debut EP, the March release Suburban Indie Rock Star.
I’ve noticed that more of these newer emo bands embrace electronic music, compared to previous generations. But emo did sometimes work with electronic elements before the fifth wave: New York band Crying, for instance, got started in the early 2010s, applying a sweet, lightheaded melodic sense derived from emo and pop punk to music that foregrounds chiptune synths. They toured with genre poster boys Modern Baseball and released music through Run for Cover Records, and I can hear their influence on fledgling groups such as Montana’s Hey, ILY!
- “Port Deadwards” was reissued last year on the cassette Heccraween.
The Listener is a weekly sampling of music Reader staffers love. Absolutely anything goes, and you can reach us at thelistener@chicagoreader.com.
