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Midwest Emo, or Second Wave Emo, is a subgenre of indie rock that emerged in the American Midwest during the 90s, with bands like Sunny Day Real Estate, Mineral, Cap’n Jazz, The Get Up Kids, American Football, or basically whatever the Kinsella family was doing, leading the musical movement.

Often associated with math rock, midwest emo is characterized by its intricate, methodical guitar riffs, cathartic and melancholic chord progressions, and unconventional vocals paired with personal and introspective lyrics, usually about how much life sucks and why you’re sad and how you get zero bitches.

However, not all midwestern emo consists of gloomy chords and sadness. The sound of midwestern emo can range from the stripped-back expressions of American Football’s 1999 LP and Joan Of Arc’s A Portable Model Of, to the post-hardcore abraisiveness of At The Drive-in’s Relationship Of Command and the pop-punk influences of The Get Up Kids’ Something To Write Home About.

The movement would see moderate success in niche and underground music communities in the 90s, but would go out of style in the early 2000s with the rise of pop-punk and emo-pop bands like Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance. However, the genre has seen a revival in the 2010s with bands like Mom Jeans, The World is a Beautiful Place, and The Hotelier.

Notable examples of midwest emo include:

Cap’n Jazz - “Oh Messy Life”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83BRULUXqlI

Mineral - “If I Could”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=764jBGxwSmw

American Football - "The Summer Ends"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSgOVfvauhY

Sunny Day Real Estate - “Song About An Angel”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y413Vk9FzY0

The Get Up Kids - “Anne Arbour”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAQHTg4NwV4

Title Fight - “Crescent-Shaped Depression”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAl3mN6hnlM

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