In Defense of the Genre is a column on BrooklynVegan about punk, pop punk, emo, hardcore, post-hardcore, ska-punk, and more, including and often especially the bands and albums and subgenres that ...

You might be wondering why “Mr. Brightside” made this list, but the anthemic track from The Killers is one of their most melancholy. Since the song is really about a guy who’s pained by the jealousy ...

Emo music means many different things to fans, from the genre’s forebearers in ‘80s D.C. to ‘90s godfathers like Jawbreaker and Cap’n Jazz, to the boom in popularity around the early-aughts Warped ...

No matter the wave or subgenre, most emo bands seem to have a knack for covering songs from the ’80s and ’90s. Maybe it’s the unexpectedness of hearing a screaming version of a-ha’s “Take on Me” or an ...

Emo bands covering pop songs just seems to make sense. This is especially true for third-wave emo bands that started popping up in the early 2000s. Identified by their slick production and (sometimes) ...