Emo has risen in popularity among high school and college students in particular as the punk genre grows increasingly more mainstream. The same rebellious spirit once harnessed by rock & roll has existed for decades in the subculture of punk music. The latest MTV generation cleansed punk of its raw sounds, anarchist sentiments and violent tendencies while retaining the "look" associated with spiky, colored hair, piercing and Salvation Army tee-shirts. The result was radio-friendly bands like Blink 182 and A New Found Glory- happier punk sounds without the societal views essential to the genre’s reputation as a political, not just musical, movement.
Always striving to avoid any mainstream spotlight, punk defectors, mainly male, looked to indie-rock for help. The resulting emo genre is not entirely new, but its growing popularity is. The hallmark of emo is the characteristic over-emotional lyrics. Extremely reminiscent of punk, the lyrics can be very basic, yet still hold a sense of honesty and even crudeness. An additional trait borrowed from the punk ideal is the inclusion of every contributor to the arena. Any musician with an emotional desire is welcome to wear the emo label. But there is a dress code.
Emo kids can still shop at Salvo; they just have to spend the extra $1.00 on a sweater. To be emo, as was to be punk, comes with a style. Distinguishing emo from other brands of emotional music is the desire to remain impoverished and away from popular America. This clearly helps the reflection process when creating songs. To be emo, as was to be punk, is to live the image.
Emo has branched out its musical sounds from the typical guitar driven ones that initially characterized the genre. While bands such as Death Cab for Cutie remain guitar focused, bands like The Get up Kids have punk influences, Jimmy Eat World are intensely rock, and others like The Dismemberment Plan are more experimental.