So you’ve finally grown out of your emo phase. Kissed your brightly colored hair teased to the high heavens and thick rings of black eyeliner good-bye. Thank God none of our Facebook cover photos say "rawr means I love you in dinosaur," anymore. Even though a G chord still pulls on your heartstrings a bit and you might stare longingly at Hot Topic in the mall, overall you’re a “grown up” now. So the question that lingers for all of us is, of course, what music do we listen to now? Now that My Chemical Romance broke up, the only original member of Panic! At The Disco left is Brendan Urie, and the new Fall Out Boy will never live up to Infinity on High, who do we listen to? Fear not, a helpful guide is finally here.
Halsey
Not only is she an actual goddess, but Halsey brings back some real edgy teen angst. With lyrics like “are you deranged like me? Are you strange like me?” (Hurricane), how can you not go back to those sixth grade days of screaming Secondhand Serenade like your heart was broken? Plus her blue hair is everything any young emo kid could ever want.
Twenty-One Pilots
This makes up the second third of the new age emo trinity (decidedly made up of tøp, Halsey, and Melanie Martinez). While they can never replace MCR--rest in peace, they do make us feel very edgy in a more grown up way. Lyrics such as “am i the only one I know, waging my wars behind my face and above my throat” (Migraine), you’re instantly brought back to the days of the Black Parade where nobody understood you. Let’s be real, we never outgrow the emo, we just get better at hiding it.
Gnash
This an artist who is on the radio a bit. His voice brings back some serious early 2000s pop-punk vibes. It is also a voice that you could fall asleep to. Some of his lyrics include “I’ll be your band-aid” (get well soon) which is something we would totally tell our middle school sweetheart whose parents just couldn’t “get it.”
Chvrches
An underrated band with sad lyrics is what emo kids live for. So why wouldn’t closeted emo adults? This is a band that your coworkers could find you streaming and not question why you aren’t over your emo phase yet. But just because the band sounds more “grown up” doesn’t mean you can’t still find some angsty lyrics. One prime example is, “make me blind so I don’t ever look back” (Night Sky).
X Ambassadors
You’ve most likely heard their first big hit, “Renegade” and you’re wondering why X Ambassadors would make this list. This is a band that reflects Fall Out Boy-- going from upbeat songs to something you can cry over to a song to profess your undying love to a song about rejection. Emo lyrics, “Hold on to me, cause I’m a little unsteady,” (Unsteady)
Passion Pit
In true Jimmy Eats World fashion, this band gives the whole high pitched, screaming voice vibe that is strangely comforting and any emo kid can relate to. These lyrics would go great on your MySpace if they had been around in the dark ages before Instagram. Either way, these are some lyrics we can scream along to in the carride home from a hard day of work, such as, “Like stars burning holes right through the dark Flicking fire like saltwater into my eyes You were one inch from the edge of this bed I dragged you back a sleepyhead," (Sleepyhead).
Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco, My Chemical Romance
Two out of three of these bands are still making music. Besides that, do we ever truly outgrow our emo phase? Maybe this is because I have Fall Out Boy tattooed on my body, but there will always be a special place in my heart for the original emo trinity. No shame in going back to your roots. We will always love "I Write Sins Not Tragedies," "Sugar, We're Going Down," and "Welcome To The Black Parade," and that's okay. We can do without the eyeliner, though.
