Praise for Emo Revival
“An overdue modernization of emo history, told by one of the few
writers on Earth who was on the front lines for all of it,
documenting with accuracy and a true love of the music.”
—Dan Ozzi, author of SELLOUT: The Major-Label Feeding Frenzy That
Swept Punk, Emo, and Hardcore (1994 - 2007)
“Sacher captures the magic and the chaos of the bust years of
underground music as well as the excitement of making it up yourself
when everyone's stopped looking for the next big thing. This book is
a passionate in-depth look at the bands who brought the best parts
of DIY out of the basements and back to the forefront of youth
culture.”
—Geoff Rickly, singer of Thursday and author of Someone Who Isn't
Me
“Deeply personal and moving. Andrew did an incredible job at
highlighting an era that felt exciting and new. Cannot recommend it
enough.”
—Michael York, member of Pianos Become the Teeth
Synopsis
The story of the reinvention of punk rock's most misunderstood
subgenre, featuring Algernon Cadwallader, Title Fight, Modern
Baseball, and the dozens of other bands who saved emo from
implosion.
Emo didn't start with the rise of bands like Fall Out Boy and My
Chemical Romance and it didn't end with their turn-of-the-2010s
drop-offs either. When emo faded from the mainstream, major players
in the music industry were ready to move on. The genre looked like a
fad that was passing. But it didn't die; it went back to the
basements and VFW halls that it began in decades earlier, fueled by
a new crop of bands who kept emo alive when no one else would.
Andrew Sacher explores why and how these bands turned the fourth
wave of emo into one of the most impactful underground rock
movements of its time. Informed by over 80 original interviews,
Sacher offers a deep dive into the generation of bands that restored
the musical values and DIY ethos of emo's past in order to shape its
future.
Emo Revival is a story about countless great records and powerful
live shows, but even more so than that, it's a story about
community. None of this would have happened without an influx of
likeminded bands, record labels, show bookers, and fans who
reinforced that “DIY” is really about doing it together.
