Words by Matt Abramson
"Emo" is a pretty touchy word for a lot of folks. Legend has it that it was first used at a Fugazi concert, and it went on to represent exactly what Fugazi did - the next evolution of punk rock. Punk rock with more careful musicianship, more light and shade but the same ferocity and the same DIY ethic. Somewhere during the late 1990's Dashboard Confessional, who were a shitty band with horrible music and stupid fans, got tagged as "emo" and it was all downhill from there. Now when someone utters the word "emo", one imagines some tween wearing purple skinny jeans and a Twilight t-shirt (because an obsession with vampire cheesemo isn't exclusive to fat chicks, you know, the only sizes that Twilight shirts come in are XS and 4XL) with a ridiculous haircut listening to Circa Survive. It's fucking shameful.
That aside, there are a handful of albums that I still proudly call emo. 'Experiments in Expectation' is one of them. Kill Sadie was a short-lived yet highly influential band with roots in Minneapolis who ended up in Seattle. As things things often go, they have a pretty concise discography and imploded into several other bands. Most notably, Steve Snere went on to sing in These Arms Are Snakes and Erin Tate ended up in Minus The Bear, both are fantastic bands that need no introduction. It's such widespread influence that makes the album instantly familiar.
Kill Sadie – Experiments in Expectation
(2001 Dim Mak Records)
(2001 Dim Mak Records)
"Emo" is a pretty touchy word for a lot of folks. Legend has it that it was first used at a Fugazi concert, and it went on to represent exactly what Fugazi did - the next evolution of punk rock. Punk rock with more careful musicianship, more light and shade but the same ferocity and the same DIY ethic. Somewhere during the late 1990's Dashboard Confessional, who were a shitty band with horrible music and stupid fans, got tagged as "emo" and it was all downhill from there. Now when someone utters the word "emo", one imagines some tween wearing purple skinny jeans and a Twilight t-shirt (because an obsession with vampire cheesemo isn't exclusive to fat chicks, you know, the only sizes that Twilight shirts come in are XS and 4XL) with a ridiculous haircut listening to Circa Survive. It's fucking shameful.
That aside, there are a handful of albums that I still proudly call emo. 'Experiments in Expectation' is one of them. Kill Sadie was a short-lived yet highly influential band with roots in Minneapolis who ended up in Seattle. As things things often go, they have a pretty concise discography and imploded into several other bands. Most notably, Steve Snere went on to sing in These Arms Are Snakes and Erin Tate ended up in Minus The Bear, both are fantastic bands that need no introduction. It's such widespread influence that makes the album instantly familiar.
