Post-Nothing Rock

Why I Like It:

Wahoo! Discussing another release from 2026, we're on a role now.

So today folks, we are deep diving into emo and its waves - and ultimately trying to decipher where we are at with this current iteration of the genre. Am I an expert in this? Heck no! Have I heard and read lots of thoughts on it? YEP! Hang ten, it's going to be a radical ride! My inner dad jokester cringes, but we tread on.

Let's get to the main punchline now, I think we have our new sound of emo currently underway and it's the coined "2nd wave emo revival". Is it still 5th wave? Who knows. Reddit seems to be debating on if we are in the 5th wave or starting into the 6th wave.

*If you want a breakdown of all the emo waves, as you follow along, here it is:

1st wave: 1985 to ~1992 (emocore/DC/Revolution Summer)
2nd wave: 1992 to ~2002 (Midwest emo/screamo/Skramz)
3rd wave: 2002 to ~2009 (Emo pop/basement emo/proto revival/screamo)
4th wave: 2009 to ~2018 (Emo revival/Twinkledaddies/Midwest emo/skramz)
5th wave: 2018 to Present (Emo pop/Sparklepunk/Weedmo/Emo Revival 2.0)

(Credit to r/Emo)

I'll insert my opinion on this debate here. It's based off something I heard off the indie music podcast Indiecast - where they say the early 2020s was the Phoebe Bridgers Punisher era of music and we will be seeing the shift in sound within 2025/2026 (which I think might be indie country, or maybe indietronica?). From that discussion in mind, I will say this year we are seeing the real life transition into 6th wave emo and here's my reasoning.

If you follow the trajectory of 5th wave, many would say it started around 2018, where bands took the 4th wave emo sounds and added a concoction of hyper-indie bedroom-chiptune-gaze to push the boundaries of the genre. If you think of it, Punisher was a covid era album that propelled the quieter female singer songwriter aesthetic for indie music, and the first glass beach album can be considered the covid album that propelled the hyper-indie bedroom-chiptune-gaze of emo.

* Side Note- I picked Glass Beach because their album got traction in 2019 and is a pretty good representation of that sound I described. My personal pick would be Somewhere City by Origami Angel though. *

Now around 2025/2026 we've been seeing the popularity of a new sound in emo taking root. And oh man is it getting popular fast. There's an excellent article by Peyton Khorey, of KZSC Santa Cruz radio, that does a deep dive into this whole thing, that I highly recommend. There's also another podcast, endless scroll, that describes another trend, where popular internet slowcore/shoegaze artists are releasing more "internet native emo" music that's adding fuel to this popularity fire. This last point I am completely out of my depth about, as someone who has no TikTok account, but it is an interesting aspect to bring into the conversation.

Why the popularity of the 2nd wave emo sound? I have a couple thoughts there. The second wave of emo happened in the 90s. It was not popular yet, mainly DIY, and all analog. It's people gathering together to do something they are genuinely passionate about and not giving two shits if it's popular (remember selling out was a big deal at this time). What's happening right now? We are in the age of AI; with AI bands, bots creating fake hype, and less human hands in general on these projects. I think the fact that we have a revival of the 2nd wave of emo is a beacon of hope. There's a craving out there for more human experiences and creativity and I think the band, it could be worse, is one of those bands doing just that.

I had the pleasure of chatting with the bassist and lead singer, Brittany, and it truly got me excited for the 6th wave of emo. Ya, there we go, I'm full committing to this narrative now. Either I will have my finger on the pulse, or this will be an utter failure of a prediction. But let's embody that 'not giving a shit' ethos and forge on.

I was first enamored with the band it could be worse from their Reddit post titled 'god modern midwest emo is such ass', where someone said this about their music. First of all, that's a mean thing to say and they are deadass wrong. I was intrigued by the website that Brittany posted about (and turns out created herself) then listened to their new EP, a door you close yourself, on a sick looking Windows Music Player widget. Now that is some DIY ethos! It was basically love on first listen from there. Oh, and did I mention the handmade merch?? You can't even order it and have to physically go to a show to get it right now (keep an eye out for some limited tapes too!).

That could change in the future, when this band blows up (lets manifest this now), but hell ya love that hands on approach! But seriously, look at the website. I'll add another link right here, because it is something of beauty. Especially if you grew up in the heyday of the early internet, you should appreciate this.

Ok let's talk shop and get to the dang music already. I absolutely love Brittany's vocals. They will be soft in one instant, then utterly raw screaming in another. In her words, it's an androgynous style that she's been honing in. And I would be doing a disservice if I didn't mention the band's goal of filling a gap in the midwest emo scene, where it's dominated by "dude-who’s-bad-at-singing-but-picked-up-a-guitar kinda vibe", and proving that this scene can evolve and include badass people of all types! This is probably my favorite part of 5th wave and 6th wave emo, is the richness and diversity it brings. I find more relatable lyrics in this current era, than say the 3rd wave Warped Tour and Hot Topic era of emo, that I grew up on.

A couple lyrics that I loved:

are you mad at me? lol - "irish exit from my own party/ so you will all finally stop perceiving me"
cousin you're scaring the normals - "i just heard you trash pete wentz/ i swear to god i will haunt you"
arnold house (dm for the address) - "i caught myself whispering, "just take it all in"/ before the walls forget all the songs that we've written in them"

Also, an interesting tidbit that I learned about a door you close yourself is that most the tracks started with the drumming parts first, then the vocals, and finally the guitar. This is because the guitarist Erin was the last person to join the band before they were a complete unit. Those intricate midwest emo riffs and tapping are comparable to Dylan Mattheisen of Tiny Moving Parts (sentiments I stole from Brittany but whole heartedly agree with). And let's not forget the person that's leading the charge in these tracks, drummer Recce! I'm just going to copy and paste Brittany's words here again, because she describes it much better than I could: "kinda mathy, intricate, syncopated, and filling the space to match the lead guitar a bit more".

I also appreciate the recording of this EP and how it looks. The instruments were recorded live and vocals layered over top. This makes the project sound like what you would authentically hear at a house show. The EP art was a cut & paste scanned cover too. I know I said DIY already, but this is genuinely embodied within a door you close yourself, from start to finish. There's nothing more spiritually 2nd wave emo than this right here.

To wrap everything up, 6th wave emo is here people and it could be worse is the band to check out if you want here what it has to offer!

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