{"id":11467,"date":"2018-11-15T10:25:15","date_gmt":"2018-11-15T16:25:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebozho.com\/?p=11467"},"modified":"2018-11-21T23:11:32","modified_gmt":"2018-11-22T05:11:32","slug":"mount-rushmore-midwestern-emo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebozho.com\/mount-rushmore-midwestern-emo\/","title":{"rendered":"Cursive’s Tim Kasher and more: Midwestern emo’s Mt. Rushmore"},"content":{"rendered":"

Back in our Fall Music Preview<\/a>, I made a reference to Cursive bandleader Tim Kasher being on the \u201cMt. Rushmore of Midwestern emo.\u201d But who else would be etched in stone?<\/p>\n

The Nebraska band plays the High Noon Saloon on Friday, Nov. 16<\/a>, and ahead of that appearance I\u2019m proposing a theoretical monument to the Midwest\u2019s long history with the genre. So basically, we\u2019re looking at bands from the region who have had some sort of lasting impact. But before we get into it, I want to address a notable omission.<\/p>\n

Initially, I included Conor Oberst on Mt. RushEMOre (just go with it). However, after careful consideration, I\u2019ve decided to omit the Bright Eyes leader. Oberst\u2019s songs are very, very sad, but they aren\u2019t really emo. They lean too heavily on folk inflection rather than emo\u2019s punkier ethos. Likewise, Oberst\u2019s punkest band, Desaparecidos, is too overtly political to qualify.<\/p>\n

This actually helps spell out my criteria for Mt. RushEMOre. We\u2019re looking at bands with 1) earnest and\/or melancholy lyrics, 2) vaguely punk or hardcore sounds, and 3) major influence.<\/p>\n

So let\u2019s get into it.<\/span>\n

The Kinsella Brothers<\/h2>\n

Yes, I know there are only four people on Mt. Rushmore. But I like to think of Chicago natives Tim and Mike Kinsella as a package deal (Tim on vocals, Mike on drums) because both are equally important to the genre. They played in Cap\u2019n Jazz together, a band that more or less created the template for the buzzy emo punk that would dominate the early 2000s. They joined forces again in Joan of Arc, an aggressively weird, sample-loving math rock outfit whose influence can be heard loud and clear in St. Louis\u2019 Foxing, the band responsible for this year\u2019s best album<\/a>. And Mike, for his part, founded American Football, forefathers to the twinkling shoegazers that permeate emo\u2019s current iteration. See: The World is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid of to Die.<\/p>\n