Essential Midwest Emo Records, 1997-2003

“It was super organic,” said Mike Kinsella, singer and guitarist of American Football. While attending the University of Illinois in Urbana with roommate and American Football guitarist Steve Holmes, they met drummer Steve Lamos through another short-lived band. “I was writing parts to their songs, and then Steve invited me to his living room, and they were like, ‘Okay, let’s play a show. And then we were like, ‘Let’s record these.”

That self-titled record, American Football, was recorded in the spring of 1999 and released in September of that year. Combining intricate guitar work with complex math-like arrangements and forlorn vocals, American Football’s dreamy pop landscapes and small-town approach to graphic presentation became influential in the years after the band’s demise, which prompted a 2014 reunion, followed by two newer albums and an EP in 2021.

For the 25th anniversary of the album, Polyinvyl Records released an album of covers featuring artists such as Iron & Wine, Manchester Orchestra, and more.

Formed in 1995 in Kansas City, the Get Up Kids fused pop-punk energy with anthemic melodies and vintage athletic imagery. The result was an angst-driven, pop-friendly version of Midwest post-hardcore.

For their second studio album, Something To Write Home About, the band signed with the fledgling emo label Vagrant Records. They also recruited keyboardist James Dewees. The resulting album elevated the band’s rock-friendly hooks and lyrical directness to a sonic level previously unseen in the emo genre, paving the way for emo bands to cross into the mainstream.

After John K. Samson left the politi-punk band Propagandhi in 1997, he founded the Weakerthans. With his new group, he focused his songwriting on personal tropes about relationships, depression, and life in Winnipeg, Manitoba. On their third album, Reconstruction Site, Samson framed his songwriting in a cycle of grief. Here, he tackled regret and eventual hope, which he did not arrive at too easily.

As Reconstruction Site unfolds, Samson stumbles, falls and keeps moving towards resolution amid historic nostalgia, hate for his hometown, and poetic nuance. Influenced by folk-punk and character-driven songs, the Weakerthans wrote introspective Midwest punk that currently sits in over 7,000 Collections on Discogs. And while the Weakerthans was never your typical “Midwest emo” sound, Samson’s introspection and delivery invoked emotion throughout the band’s life. 

Originally a side project for None Left Standing, Ceilishrine, and Cap’n Jazz members, the Promise Ring soon outgrew its original intentions.

At first, their sound bordered on cathartic, contemplative post-hardcore, but they evolved quickly by album two. Nothing Feels Good moved the band further away from post-hardcore towards a more pop-friendly formula laden with hooks, sing-alongs, and a geographic play-on-words that came to become emblematic of Midwest emo.

Working with producer J. Robbins, the Promise Ring continued to refine their pop hooks and playfulness on 1999’s Very Emergency before slowing it down for their final studio album Wood/Water.

Formed in the early ‘90s from various corners of the Illinois hardcore scene, Braid represented a more refined and complex side of Midwest emo. By 1998, the band had evolved their skills, expanded their tastes, and learned to hone the call-and-response energy made popular by Fugazi.

When Braid entered the studio for album number three, they sought out Jawbox frontman J. Robbins to produce. With that settled, the band traveled to Arlington, Virginia, to record at Inner Ear Studios.  

Frame & Canvas is a Midwest hallmark of intricate, guitar-driven melodies, complex drumming, and intellectual introspection. In under 42 minutes, Braid deliver all the urgency of mid-90s hardcore with the accessibility of your favorite pop record.

Released in June of 2000 by Nebraska-based post-hardcore outfit Cursive, Domestica tracks the demise of a marriage between a fictional couple known as “Sweetie” and “Pretty Baby.” With themes of betrayal, guilt, and the emotional scars of domestic conflict, Cursive frontman Tim Kasher sings, talks, and screams through the flurry of emotions that comes at the end of a relationship.

Having recently been through his own divorce, Kasher channeled his own experiences into the album, giving it a deeply personal, almost autobiographical feel. Musically, Cursive leaned more into the mid-’90s post-hardcore roots of emo, with ragged, angular riffs, unpredictable arrangements, distortion, and the tension one would expect from song titles like “The Martyr” and “A Red So Deep.”

Hailing from Houston, Mineral wrote The Power Of Failing (for Crank! Records), moved to Austin, signed to Interscope, and promptly broke up before they could work on newer recorded material.

The album’s loud-soft dynamic, paired with its chaotic crescendos, heart-on-your-sleeve lyrics, and raw production, captured a moment in emo history that helped propel Mineral and The Power of Failing onto many best of emo lists, including NME, Rolling Stone, and Vulture. 

Despite the break up. a second Mineral album does exist. In 1998, already split up, the group released the toned-down EndSerenading for Crank!, once again denying Interscope of a record.

Risen from the ashes of Louisville, Kentucky, post-hardcore outfit Falling Forward, Elliott took a melodic, guitar-driven rock approach on their first album, U.S. Songs, for Revelation Records in 1998, then regrouped for False Cathedrals.

Released in August of 2000, False Cathedrals ditched the urgency of U.S. Songs for a more atmospheric, lush approach, featuring more vocal harmonies and layered instrumentation. While matching the emotional intensity of U.S. Songs, the dynamics and ambient textures of False Cathedrals elevated the band’s profile out of the emo genre and became the band’s best-selling record.

After playing shows across the midwest with bands like the Get Up Kids and Braid, Lawrence, Kansas outfit the Anniversary signed with Vagrant Records and got to work creating a synth pop-friendly, emo-adjacent record that drew comparisons to Devo, the Rentals, and Sonic Youth.

Released in January of 2000, just as fans began to connect via the Internet, the Anniversary married pop punk, emo, and new wave sensibilities with catchy melodies and dual male and female lead vocals, separating it from other releases. In 2021, Heroes & Villains Records reissued the album on multiple vinyl variants.