Emo Night were a '10s thing. And like most things from the '10s they are barely worth remembering. But if you didn't know, or weren't around for it, these were things (events kinda) that would attract millennials who could afford to go out on a weeknight, or who didn't have to work the next morning (or maybe they couldn't or did, but didn't care). These tragic souls would dress in their most revealing indie sleaze and step out to clubs (places that usually played genuinely danceable music) to drown their cares in $1 PBRs... and they mostly succeeded.
The ramble of Emo Nights were the faithful. Music lovers (and addicts) whose enthusiasm for bands like Cute Is What We Aim For and Forever the Sickest Kids couldn't be scuttled by think pieces on problematic lyrics or unhinged forum screeds by "tru punx" about how "emus" were ruining it for "the rest of us." In retrospect, I admire their persistence and courage. They were unabashed in their love of emo music during a time when it was cool to cop out (hell, even the Get Up Kids did it!).
But my admiration only extends so far- Emo Nights were sad, dude. I only ever managed to go to a few, and more than a decade later, I'm still impressed at how underwhelming they were. It was like, "Welcome to your life as an alcoholic, brought to you by Fueled by Ramen." I think part of my boredom with these events is that I actually wanted to dance at a lot of the clubs, but that was not the vibe on these nights at all. Emo Nights took themselves (and the music) very seriously. They also lacked the amusing absurdity and coordinated spectacle of, say, Denny's letting Gym Class Heroes design a nested-egg combo- a promotional idea that is laudable in its audacious transparency and bald exploitation of youth culture. Like GCH's "After School Special" or Sum 41's "Sumwitch" Emo Nights, were a product for wasted youth, unlike these Denny's specials though, they were also a wasted opportunity.
There was some controversy about Emo Nights "selling out" a while back that I didn't pay attention to, and I'm sure somebody still hosts them, somewhere- but I'm way too old, and wise, and very old to be out drinking on a weeknight. Plus, I made my peace with these things not being my bag back during the Obama administration. So why look back now? Well, my renewed interest in emo music in the last two years (thanks to bands like Guitar Fight from Fooly Cooly, Oolong, Camp Trash, and Hey, Ily, amongst others) has got me wondering about the genre's pop (and even mass) potential again and has made me curious about how the genre could, maybe, possibly, make its way back into night clubs- only this time in a way that realizes the potential of introspective lyrics pumped into an exhaustive dance party. I don't know that underscores is the person to reify emo's pop-potentiality, but they certainly seem on the right track on their latest release, boneyard aka fearmonger.
This will probably surprise you, but I'm not particularly fond of underscore breakout album fishmonger. It definitely lays out the ground rules for what to expect on fearmonger (which, to be clear, I like a lot), but their earlier efforts too closely resemble a lot of other heavily produced diy, singer-songwriter albums for my taste. Not bad, but also not going to hold my attention for very long either. It also felt like underscores was still trying to figure out who they want to sound like on the fishmonger, and I found the noticeable and still visible eraser lines of this process very distracting. That's my only real criticism of it though. It just didn't represent the artist's potential in my opinion.
fearmonger, in contrast, has its own identity from the outset as well as a developed sense of sound that breaks from the more haphazard qualities of their previous work. It's shorter, more ambitious, more confident as well- all of which work to its advantage. And truly, and I say this with full honesty, and without hyperbole, it totally blows my mind how a lot of these songs are put together. They sound like Fall Out Boy demos produced by Skrillex. There is a highly developed intelligence behind these songs that you rarely get a glimpse of in such emotionally charged pop music. They possess a mathematically constructed architecture of chaotic catharsis- a temple to the fates of heartbreak where the makings of a hero lie embedded in the fissures of each howling disappointment and thunderous triumph.
There are solid, hook fundamentals present on songs like "Girls and Boys" and "Loansharks," but the way underscores layers in effects to enhance the twists and turns that are already present is both excessive and exceptional. It's like getting hit in the face with a balloon full of cocaine, with that white gold filtering into every orifice in your face and supercharging your senses- it's scratchy and sweaty, and maybe the start of a bad night, but jeeeeeeesssssusss is it intense.
These songs literally feel addictive. As in, when they finish, I feel an absence that can only be filled by listening to them again. "Tounge In Cheek" in particular, has this alluring, elasticity to it that grabs me with the full force of Earth's gravitational pull- dropping me into its whirl of delightful and friendly electronics like I was plunging 10 feet into ball pit-trampoline-combo while holding hands and locking eyes with Gerard Way.
"Saltfields" intertwines some Sugar Ray-dusted, sun-kissed pop-punk riffs with an understated hip-hop beat, and then goes full plunderphonic-spree on your brain in the last minute- leaving you with the impression that you just witnessed underscores transcend to its final, Ableton-anarchist, chaos-demon form as they shift their svelte but imposing frame, spread their wings, and lift off to embrace the night.
fearmonger shows me that underscores is not afraid of change, not even when their transmogrification leads to unprecedented and unpredictable outcomes. The album pierces the veil of what is possible when emo intersects with electronic dance production while capturing the insane blend of contradictory and confusing emotions that inundate you in your youth. It feels innovative- genuinely so. And not in a chintzy, scammy Silicon Valley kind of way either. underscores is really doing something special and I recommend that you learn to love what they have unleashed because it feels like the future, arriving today.
