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The Summer Ends: The Tale of Midwest Emo

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The Summer Ends: The Tale of Midwest Emo LP1 (Spotify) LP 1 (YouTube) Mike Kinsella (YouTube) Mike Kinsella (Instagram) Other Links It was an autumn night when a 20-year-old undergraduate went through the painful process of a friendship slowly coming to an end. Mike Kinsella decided to express his grief through music. Steve Holmes and Steve Lamos, two of his friends, were invited to join him in his musical venting. In the autumn of 1997, American Football was formed. Kinsella wasn’t new to music, at just 13 years of age, he played drums for his brother’s indie/post rock band, Cap’n Jazz. Together, they recorded and released over 30 songs and gained moderate fame. Things were different now. Over the years, Kinsella had become a more seasoned musician, started playing the guitar, and experimented with more intricate musical concepts. Within a year, they recorded three demos and eventually signed with Polyvinyl Records. Over the following year, they worked on several new songs for their f...
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Sleep Patterns

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Sleep Patterns (Merchant Ships) YouTube Spotify This song holds an incredibly special place in my heart. Merchant Ships are a band who’ve gotten me through several hardships. They recently released quite a bit of their catalogue on Spotify, making their music more accessible to many more people wanting to seek refuge from hard times with the help of music. While it’s definitely not easy to get into their music, once you do, it’s impossible to look back. Every song bleeds emotion, nothing is fake and you can very clearly see how the songwriter feels. Sleep Patterns might be one of the best emo songs. Compared to their other songs, this is definitely easier to get into because of its tranquil nature. However, this halcyon also translates into this eerie atmosphere, which makes me feel like I’m stranded in the dead of night with nothing in sight, just me and my thoughts. The song is in F#Major, which is a rather unorthodox key, but since it’s essentially played on a guitar with a capo on...
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Uncomfortably Numb

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Uncomfortably Numb (American Football, Hayley Williams) Music Video (YouTube) Live At NPR Radio (YouTube) Spotify American Football again. Since it’s autumn, you can expect me to cover a lot of Midwest emo right now. As I said before, American Football is a band with legendary status. You might also remember me alluding to a bad record by them. The band started out in 1997 but disbanded almost instantly in 2000 due to the members' getting tied-up with their personal lives. The band was very unpopular, only gaining the critical acclaim they have now in the late 2000s to early 2010s. In 2014, the band returned from their hiatus and released an album in 2016.  Unfortunately, compared to the marvellous feat they accomplished via their first record, LP2 doesn’t come close. While the album does scratch my emo itches, it doesn’t bring a lot new to the table. A lot of what made American Football an amazing band in the first place is still here, but the songs lack the bijou of their first r...
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Beautiful Mystery

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Beautiful Mystery (Owl City/Adam Young) YouTube This track is a bit of an obscure one as it was never even released in the first place. But that does not stop it from being an earworm. A lot of Owl City's music makes me feel nostalgic even though the only song I would’ve heard when I was young would be Fireflies. They’ve just got this innocence and charm which is hard to fake. Sonically, they blend in acoustic and electric elements to create a one of a kind sound which is very clear from their first album itself. Adam is also an incredibly underrated musician. He holds his own at several instruments and even the production side of things. It’s amazing to imagine a kid in their parents basement writing and creating the most vivid music you’ve heard. The song starts off with this square synth with an incredibly catchy melody, as we go on, the rhythm section becomes more prominent with hard hitting drums with other instruments creating a beautiful harmony over the melody we started ou...
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My Name Is Jonas

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My Name Is Jonas (weezer) YouTube   Spotify This is what started it all for weezer. The first track of their debut album. Often regarded as the most significant albums of the 90s. It’s in 3/4 (or 6/8 it isn’t very clear) which is often known as the waltz time signature due it’s heavy usage in that genre. The song kicks off with an acoustic guitar intro written by Jason Cropper, weezer’s former guitarist who was kicked out before their debut album got out for reasons still mostly unknown (there are rumours and theories but nothing has been confirmed). Even though the song is in B, I’ll transpose everything up half a tone for the sake of simplicity. It starts off with a C major chord and then goes to a G6/B, adding some tension. Then to A minor followed by G6/B and back to C again. The intro is a perfect example of tension and release which is all what music is about. C Major and A Minor are relative minors which in simpler terms could mean that C Major and A Minor are somewhat like ...
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Never Meant

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Never Meant (American Football) YouTube Spotify Live acoustic version worth checking out Another rendition of the song As autumn slowly starts, I feel that it’s appropriate to talk about a song from one of the best records to play during this time of the year. American Football is a band with legendary status, which is something I don’t say often. They could release the worst music you’ve ever heard, but that still won’t change the fact that they, by their own bootstraps, made Midwest emo a thing.   Around two years ago, I was listening to what others recommended to me or what was popular. I was desperate to find a sound that was truly mine. This kicked off a period of my life when I was going through all kinds of music to see what I liked. After a considerable amount of searching, I came across this song. It instantly perked my ears. The odd time signature, the amazing drum groove, the open and angular guitar parts beautifully harmonise together. I knew that this was what I had be...
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