30. Lifetime “Dwell”
Lifetime distanced themselves from their early stuff and would surely not be considered emo today but this first 7” was emo as fuck. This also made our list of the 10 best Lifetime songs.
29. Karate “Cherry Coke”
If you had to choose the preferred drink for the emos it would surely be Cherry Coke. The Promise Ring also had a song about it. Why did all these sad boys like it so much? Probably because it harkens back to the 1950s which 1990s emo kids had a weird obsession with just without the blatant racism and false sense of American exceptionalism.
28. Piebald “New Coke”
Another song about Coke! Travis Shettel’s vocals really pushed the limits on what can be considered singing. Just trying to imagine what the average person’s reaction to it would be is amusing. Like if you played this for a normie coworker at your job you probably wouldn’t get invited to anymore after work happy hours. Actually, now that I’m saying it out loud I’m going to back pocket this idea and use it to get out of any future forced social interactions with those chodes.
27. Railhed “Seven Thumbs Thick”
Writing a song about a painful breakup is not exactly an original idea. Everyone from Taylor Swift to Fleetwood Mac seem to have even made an entire career out of it. Most breakup songs have a heavy cringe factor though which we are luckily spared here. These guys were obviously going through some shit. Hope things are better for them now.
26. I Wish I “Blessed and Delivered”
Damn, this song rocks the shit! This came out on Dim Mak Records which was run by one Steve Aoki and is probably the best thing associated with him besides the fact his dad started Benihana.
25. Shadow Season “Growing”
The second of two bands to form after the breakup of Turning Point. The bassline screams emo. The bass tone itself is extra emo. This was surely on the list of bass lines that fledgling emo bassists learned in their lonely bedrooms.
24. Red 40 “The Outsiders”
Years before Ben Nichols became the alt-country darling frontman for Lucero, he was in Red 40 doing a pretty good rendition of Blake Schwarzenbach. “Didn’t go outside today until it got dark / Just stayed in my room taping music for you.” Now there’s an anthem for sad ‘90s boys.
23. Elliott “The Watermark High”
Anytime you talk about this band people automatically assume you mean Elliott Smith. Which, nothing against him but is not really my kind of thing. If I had one negative thing to say about Elliott it would be that I can only understand like every third word that is being sung.
22. Braid “Killing A Camera”
I think at this point we need to have a serious talk about vocals. Specifically vocals in emo songs and how they aren’t what you would call traditionally “good.” It’s like everyone was all amped up on their emotions that they couldn’t hold it together to stay in key or not have their voice crack when singing. The thing is when it’s done right it actually works and is part of the charm. This is a perfect example.
21. Soulside “Name In Mind”
We’ve talked a lot about bass on this list so far probably because as a genre bass plays a major factor in emo songwriting. Soulside was on Dischord and for sure has that DC hardcore aesthetic but with that bassline, it pushes this into the realm of emo.