# Is (are) your kid (s) into screamo? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 9, 2010, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-are-your-kid-s-into-screamo/546152 "2010-07-09T21:22:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-are-your-kid-s-into-screamo/546152/41 "2010-07-12T18:19:43Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > System of a Down isn’t screamo at all. It’s metal of one kind or another. I thought they were “Nu-Metal” like \*\*Korn \*\*or **Linkin Park.** I would classify \*\*Disturbed \*\* as “Nu-Metal” as well. \*\*My Chemical Romance \*\*is Emo. I know they don’t like to be classified as “Emo”. \*\*Dave Mathews Band \*\*doesn’t like to be classified as “Jamband” either. Too bad both bands essentially define their genres. It’s like this. 70s and 80s bands like \*\*The Clash, The Ramones \*\*and \*\*Sex Pistols \*\*are Punk. **Dead Kennedys** and \*\*Black Flag \*\*are a subgenre of Punk called “Hardcore”. Later bands having punk musical sensibilities like \*\*Green Day \*\*, \*\*Blink 182 \*\* and \*\*Lit \*\*are Post-Punk or Pop Punk. Add long album names and mod haircuts, you get Emo bands like \*\*Fall Out Boy, Dashboard Confessional \*\*and **Panic! At The Disco**. And some incomprehensible screeching to the choras like \*\*Hawthorn Heights \*\*or **Silverstein** and now you have Screamo. Note that most of these post 1995 “punk” offshoots are musically closer to “Power Pop” than traditional Punk. ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-are-your-kid-s-into-screamo/546152/42 "2010-07-12T18:24:49Z")
> [@brujaja](#): > > Now, don’t get me wrong – I love my boy like crazy. And I am keenly aware of the irony implicit in a punk mom who doesn’t get her kid’s music. Heh heh. > > I have a sort of a theory about screamo. I think it represents an unconscious attempt on the part of young men to broaden their gender role to include more emotional expression. Yes, I know men have always been free to express their emotions; but I think there has remained a certain pressure not to be… well, not to cry or be emotionally vulnerable and stuff like that. In this sense, I think it’s a good thing. > > Anyway, do your kids like screamo? Do you? Is it radically different from what you listen to? I’m just curious. My boy doesn’t like it or the people that dress all emo/screamo. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-are-your-kid-s-into-screamo/546152/43 "2010-07-12T19:03:26Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I thought they were “Nu-Metal” like \*\*Korn \*\*or **Linkin Park.** Yeah, they were nu-metal, or at least some listeners and critics identified them as nu-metal at some point or another, but the reason I said “metal of one type or another” is because I’m hesitant to nail them down to one genre. I see a lot more progressive rock influence in their work than in typical nu-metal bands. To my ears, they don’t really sound nu-metal, but they have been often lopped into that category. [Relavant link](http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/system-of-a-down/nu-metal-or-not-.html). > [@](#): > > \*t does not appear that the band consider themselves to make nu metal music, guitarist Daron Malakian was quoted in the magazine Guitar World as saying that he was glad that System of a Down had not slipped into the nu metal genre. > > […] > > On one of the band’s spring 2005 tour concerts, Daron Malakian announced to the crowd, “They used to call us nü-metal, now they call us prog-rock. I think they’ll call us anything that’s popular.” Then, after a pause and the subtlest of grins he said, “But actually, we’re just a bunch of mo-rons.” > > […] > > I’m not saying we’re the most original band in the world, but I don’t really feel that we fall into a heavy-metal category or a pure rock category. There’s a lot of stuff mixed up into one. That last quote kind of sums up my feelings about them. They kind of straddle genres and don’t really quite fit into what I think of when I hear the term “nu-metal.” ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-are-your-kid-s-into-screamo/546152/44 "2010-07-12T19:07:23Z")
Nah, System of a Down is more… punk-metal than Nu-Metal. They’ve got something. I’m not sure if you could call it talent, but it’s clearly head and shoulders above Nu-Metal. They remind me a lot of the Germs. Only with talent. And musical skill. So I’m not sure why they remind me of the Germs. But whatever it is, it’s clearly that. At any rate, the dread beast Ormagoden would not make their brains explode, and their music would please him greatly. ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-are-your-kid-s-into-screamo/546152/45 "2010-07-19T02:01:10Z")
I wanted to mention that I really like System of a Down. My son turned me on to them; and I thought their level of musicianship and artistry was freakin amazing. Also their depth of expression, definitely have an intellectual aspect. I also wanted to thank **mssmith 537** for that concise breakdown of the basic punk categories. That was very well put. Reflecting on what you said, I begin to realize that punk as I know it is probably behind us. \>sigh\< Punks are a bit different these days. [http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&friendId=104809596&page=2](http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&friendId=104809596&page=2) ---
**Author:** ![torie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@torie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torie)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-are-your-kid-s-into-screamo/546152/46 "2010-07-19T08:20:51Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > Did you just compare Within Temptation and Evanescence? > > ..okay, it’s a fair comparison, but only insofar as The Beatles and The Monkees\* are similar. I still wouldn’t call Evanescence symphonic metal, but I would consider it a gateway band to that genre. > > \*I say that as a fan of both The Beatles and The Monkees. I sorta wanted to scream when I read that too. 😛 Evanescence is actually not bad. It’s just like you said, they’re a gateway band. But they are NOT symphonic or goth. I’m a huge follower of both those genres and we don’t claim them. 😉 They’re the watered down, Hot Topic version of their genre. System of A Down is an amazing band that got unfairly lumped in with a lot of the Nu-Metal garbage because they came out around the same time. One of the things I like about them is that they kind of defy any labeling. They’re a genre onto themselves. I can’t think of many other bands that sound like them. I CANNOT STAND screamo. I have a friend that listens to a lot of that shit. It’s a bunch of skinny boys trying to sound like [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3WJX1cIuY4) and failing because they suck and are not amazing paragons of awesome like Amon Amarth. They end up sounding like they’re being stabbed with a spoon or something, and they’re running scared. Not at all pleasant or fun to listen to. Leave the metal screaming to the big boys. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-are-your-kid-s-into-screamo/546152.md?page=2)