Is there any better feeling than walking around on a beautiful, crisp Fall day, looking at the leaves dancing and feeling the wind caress your face, and thinking to yourself, “god, everything fucking sucks”? With a good emo song playing, it’s hard to beat. I could dump my emotional baggage on you right now, but I’ll spare us both and just share this list of underrated emo albums and EPs with some standout tracks. And before you comment about waves or start lecturing me on “real emo”, I have something I have to say to you real quick… I DON’T CARE!!!! We’re staying out of the weeds.
The Short & Sweets
Far Apart – Hazel EP (1997)
What do they say about stars and burning? Oh yeah. They release the best three-track emo EP ever and disappear back into the frigid Swedish night. Or something like that. They have a few demos out on cassettes too, but you’re hard-pressed to find any of their other songs through mainstream channels. This is for the fans of the heavier stuff. It’s a natural evolution of emo’s hardcore beginnings. I’ve been enjoying this one for a few years, it’s helped me through a couple unrequited loves, and more than likely a couple more in the future. Apparently they’re planning a compilation release soon too, but that was announced over six months ago with no new information. I guess time will tell!
Favorite Track: Hazel
American Football – American Football (EP) (1998)
You know the famous house, but have you seen wherever the hell this is? This EP really is just the Mini-Me version of their famous self-titled. A little more rough around the edges, but still just as twinkly and yearn-ey as their debut album. American Football is like Halloween, or pumpkin spice, or breaking out your favorite jacket for the first time in a while. They’re irrevocably tied to Autumn. If you listen to a song off this EP, close your eyes, and imagine anything else but a picturesque, sleepy, fall dusk with a gently swaying maple tree adorned with warmly-colored leaves, you need to have your head examined.
Favorite Track: The One With The Tambourine
Marietta, Modern Baseball – Couples Therapy (2012)
Depending on where you’re at in your emo journey, this is either brand new or entirely too popular to be considered underrated, but whatever, it’s my list. It’s four songs split evenly between indie emo revivalist legends Modern Baseball and indie emo revivalist sightly-less-than-legends Marietta. I personally think every song on the EP could be considered some of the best in each band’s discography, but the real question is, who out-emoed the other? Listen and pick a winner for yourself; will it be the four nerdy looking white guys from Philly, or the four nerdy looking white guys from Philly?
Favorite Track: Yeah Yeah Utah (yep, I went Marietta, sorry to all the Ewald-heads)
The Lazarus Plot – The Lazarus Plot EP (1999)
I spent like 20 minutes trying to find the release date for this EP, pretty sure it’s 1999. I wanna give a big shoutout to Sophie’s Floorboard. I have no idea if the info is correct, but it’s a great blog. We’re getting into some screamo territory with a couple of the tracks (if you are a dad reading this, especially my own, screamo is a term rooted in emo history. It was not designed as a catchall term for music where people scream). There’s some pretty decent variety too, the closing song is just vocals and acoustic guitar, but still undeniably somber. Also, fun fact for you, if you’re familiar with the song Laura Laurent by Bright Eyes, it’s about the lead singer. Maybe not that much fun if you know the lyrics to that song, but still an interesting crossover. This is one of the saddest ones on here, so if you’re really down in the dumps this Fall, you’re welcome.
Favorite Track: Friday The Thirteenth
Eniac – EP (2000)
It’s REALLY difficult to find much information about Eniac. I know they are from Denton, Texas, they were active from 1999 to 2005, and they have a less-than-stellar review of their final album in the Dallas Observer from a grump by the name of Sam Machkovech. Sam might be right, I don’t know, I haven’t listened to their last album, but this EP is great. It’s simple emo rock done right and without much frill, as demonstrated immediately by the title. You got the complaining, self-pitying, hopeless romanticism, and references to stars that every great emo record needs, all in a tight 23 minutes. To be fair to Sam, their review came out near the end of the massive second wave, so they were probably pretty sick of it all by then. But for you and me, we get to enjoy the past in a lovely rose tint.
Favorite Track: I’ll Never Get Home
The International Picks
Hyakkei / 百景 – Standing Still in a Moving Scene (2006)
“B-b-but there’s no vocals!!!” you scream at me very loudly. Quit being weird! Make up your own damn lyrics if you want them so bad! To be fair, I realize it’s a little difficult for me to argue that this is an emo album without any singing whatsoever, but do you hear that guitar tone? Those drums? The whole dang thing? If you don’t want to rip your heart out listening to this album, then you didn’t have one to begin with.
Favorite Track: −2℃
125, Rue Montmartre – Discography (2019)
I don’t know a lick of German. However, when I hear emo, I know it. This is a discography collection of 125, Rue Montmartre recordings from 1999 and 2000, put together by European label Thirty Something Records. It has that delectable Y2K emo tone that I have yet to hear a modern band replicate. You also get a little bit of electronic weirdness, like on the track Steigerungslied. Despite the language barrier, I can still wistfully walk around downtown and stare off at where I imagine the horizon to be through the buildings. If that isn’t the true test of an emo album, I don’t know what is.
Favorite Track: Disco Hijack
The Comps
Everyone Asked About You – Paper Airplanes, Paper Hearts (2023)
Just 16 seconds short of an hour, this compilation is chock-full of beautiful, melodic emo songs from 1997-2000 with some of my favorite vocals of any band ever. It’s genuinely one of the best here, and their story is pretty interesting too. They’ve actually just regrouped to start performing again, and according to a Rolling Stone article, it’s because of Japanese fans bringing attention to their old stuff. I have no more context to this because I refuse to pay Rolling Stone for the full article, but the headline is all the info I need. I’ll just imagine the rest. And fuck Rolling Stone and their stupid top 100 lists and inability to criticize anything thoroughly, by the way. Maybe that’s a little harsh, but I’m listening to Everyone Asked About You as I’m writing this and it’s making my emotions very intense.
Favorite Track: Taxi
Pohgoh – All Along (2007)
Honestly, the craziest thing about Pohgoh is that they’re still making new music, despite this compilation containing music that dates back to 1994 – 1997. Of course, they did break up at one point in 1998 before getting back together, such is the nature of every emo band ever. These are some of the poppiest tracks here, with some sounding like they’d be right at home on a Superchunk album. They’re clapping! On the beat! On an emo album! Anything is possible! I guess if you name your band after a bouncy and inherently joyful device, your music starts to sound like it. This is emo for people who have a sunny disposition and a jaunty gait, and it makes the chilly Autumn nights a little warmer.
Favorite Track: Megaphone Mouth
The Honorable Mentions
Before I tell you my personal favorite emo albums, for the Fall and in general, here are a few honorable mentions that deserve just as much attention as the others. I’ll keep these shorter. But you better check them out. If you’ve made it this far, you clearly don’t have anything else important going on. And you might also be emo, which means you definitely don’t have anything going on. So congratulations, you’re a certified emo freak!
Karate – The Bed Is In The Ocean (1998)
One of my favorite album covers ever. Slow, methodical, kinda jazzy? Still making music, but of course broke up once before in 2005. Brought back together by Numero Group and their series of reissues, like a couple other bands on this list. Someone give Numero Group a Nobel Peace Prize at this point.
Favorite Track: Diazapam
Texas Is The Reason – Do You Know Who You Are? (1996)
Closer to post-hardcore, but who’s keeping track at this point. Where’s emo without hardcore anyways? A lot more fun than it initially lets on. Less for walking around on a fall day and more for driving, if that’s your thing. Maybe it’s good on one of those stupid scooters too, but I haven’t tried.
Favorite Track: The Magic Bullet Theory
Mineral – EndSerenading (1998)
Kind of the gold standard. Mineral could easily be declared the best emo band of all time. Honestly, a good place to start if you’re trying to get into the sound. If you already love emo and haven’t heard it, get on it!
Favorite Track: Waking To Winter
The Promise Ring – Nothing Feels Good (1997)
The least-looking emo album cover with the most emo-sounding album name on the list. Is this emo? Power pop? Indie rock? I don’t know anymore. My brain is fried at this point. Emo doesn’t even sound like a word. Look at the pretty colors!!!
Favorite Track: Red & Blue Jeans
Forlorn Fall Favorites Finale
Christie Front Drive – S/T (1996)
Here we go, the big leagues. An album so nice, they named it a couple different things because no one knew what it was supposed to be called when it came out. Remember when I said that Mineral could be considered the best to ever do it? I lied. In between the four interludes (a bit excessive, I’ll admit) are some of the greatest emo tracks ever written. This was undeniably their swan song, and it unfortunately goes pretty unrecognized. However, despite how much I absolutely love this album, it’s not the quintessential Fall emo album. Maybe if I lived in a city or something, the greys and blues of the album’s tones would mesh in with the cold, daunting skyscrapers, droning traffic, and anonymous passerbys. But I live in Lexington, Kentucky. Yippee!
Favorite Track: Fin
P.E.E. – Now, More Charm and More Tender (1996)
P.E.E.? Pee? Potentially Egregious Error? Whatever, the band barely cared when they named themselves anyways. They showed up at their first show and realized they had no name, and the rest is history (they later regretted that split second decision, unsurprisingly). No one makes off the wall, slightly disordered emo/math with pop insensibilities like they do, though. This album makes you feel like a bouncy ball thrown into a wooden box. In a strange way, it fills me with a confidence a lot of these other albums don’t. I think it’s the feeling of boiling anger that seems to resonate under a lot of the tracks, either through the aggressive drumming or disjointed tonal changes. It’s a weird album, and it’s difficult to describe unless you listen to it, but I knew P.E.E. would have to be on this list the moment I thought of making it. It’s another album that benefits from a walk on a Fall evening, just remember to bring a baseball bat for all the mailboxes you’ll wanna smash. And then the next song will play and you’ll feel bad and duct tape it back together.
Favorite Track: Treed
Korea Girl – S/T (1999)
When P.E.E. was going absolutely nuts, about an hour down south in San Jose was the more straightforward, pop-minded Korea Girl. It’s one of the few albums on this list you could show your church-going mom and she’d probably find something worth a “not really my thing, it’s interesting though!” Thanks Mom! They have higher fidelity re-releases on Bandcamp for this album, but it sort of feels like a waste. I think the lo-fi, DIY, dusty feeling of this album is part of what adds so much life into it. No matter what version you listen to though, the pop songwriting is phenomenal, and only makes me a little bit sad. It’s the perfect dose of melancholy on an average Fall day, just enough to remind you that you’re alive and human and you haven’t forgotten how to feel. Not yet, anyways. Korea Girl won’t let you.
Favorite Track: Reunion
Kind of Like Spitting – Nothing Makes Sense Without It (2000)
This is it. No more hesitation, no more build-up. This. Is. The. Emo album for Autumn. Just look at the cover, it could be 5 hours of harsh noise layered with wet slapping sounds and the inhuman shrieks of Josh Kiszka and it would still look like the absolute perfect prototype of a contemplative small town Autumn evening emo album. It’s got a violin! A fucking violin!! Ben Barnett sings in such a way that kinda makes you wanna either kick him in the head while he’s down or pick him up and make him a bowl of soup with Saltines and ginger ale on the side. If his voice isn’t your thing, you’re probably gonna want to kick him in the head, and I respect that. But if your heart and mind are emo enough, and you dream big enough, and you play this album on a perfect Fall day, the stars will align and it will all make sense.
Favorite Track: Birds of a Feather
Conclusion
And that’s it. Those are the underrated Autumn emo classics you need to know to be ready for the season. I’d be dumb not to recommend some local Lexington emo acts I’ve heard recently that also deserve your attention before the end, though. Foolsmate and Summerhouse are both great emo-adjacent bands in the local scene that also deserve your attention, check them out if you get the chance! And look at that, we managed to get through all those albums without talking about “real emo” once. Thank fucking god. Now get out there and be sad or something. Listen to emo. Because nothing makes sense without it.