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Raucous two-piece 1994! came out of the same Pennsylvania scene that produced Algernon Cadwallader and Snowing, whose jittery take on second-wave emo have inspired plenty of kids to give the music a try; of those bands 1994! is the most caustic, and its music can get a little deranged. Algernon and Snowing have since broken up and 1994! has gone off in a fascinating new direction, producing the aggressively strange Fuck It; 1994! embraces stark experimental piano melodies, barely audible guitar strumming, and screeching guitar feedback on the album, which the band recorded in a handful of European cities with an iPhone and a “shitty” microphone.
FUCK IT by 1994!
This is Middle Eastern emo via the 90s midwestern scene. The Israeli band’s music evokes all the nervous, seemingly boundless energy of youth, and Ilai Ashdot’s garbled, exasperated yelps are particularly absorbing on “With My Chin Up and My Expectations Down.”
Football, Etc., Audible (Count Your Lucky Stars)
The Albatross by Foxing
Plenty of bands in the current scene emulate midwestern 90s acts, but not everyone does; Buffalo three-piece Lemuria takes plenty of inspiration from the D.C. posthardcore scene that birthed emo in the mid-80s with melodic tunes that rebelled against hardcore’s then-increasingly violent, macho aesthetic. Lemuria’s tunes are reminiscent of the era shortly after the Revolution Summer, when groups such as Jawbox evolved that posthardcore style into a slightly more accessible, hooky sound—on The Distance Is So Big Lemuria evolve the style into a bubblegum pop sound that’s still quite ferocious. Guitarist Sheena Ozzella’s earnest, lovelorn vocals help make songs such as “Ruby” um, shine.
