26/11/2009

Knapsack - This Conversation Is Ending...Starting Right Now (1998)



Emo week isn't over yet. I'm not sure when it will end, but I at least wanted to post something in the same vein as this jewel of an album.

You gotta remember that emo was still a pretty alternative/underground scene in the early 90s. Pretty surprising when you remember that the early 90s music scene was obsessed with this "alternative" ideal. But I guess bands like caP'n Jazz and Sunny Day Real Estate were as big as they got, which doesn't shock me since those are some of the...I don't know, "tamer" bands? They were angsty and loud from time to time, but they could hold a tune, y'know? It seems emo was just a genre that was to be unheard of forever.

But then some kids got together and did something wonderful, something that would certainly inspire the following generation with an influence you can still hear in popular music today. Emo-pop.

Knapsack were one of these bands that appeared during the later half of the 90s recording some emo inspired pop punk. Or was it pop punk inspired emo? Oh, I don't know but the point is they're great. It was bands like this as well as Saves The Day and The Get Up Kids that produced some top quality music that was the best of both worlds. It had the emotional vocals and lyrics of emo, but it had the catchyness of pop-punk.

I'm making it sound terrible, but it isn't. It may scream teenage angst, but it sounds so damn good. Knapsack never made it as big as their contermpories (who didn't really make "it" either) but this album casts a long shadow, and is a worthy last testement to a wonderful band. Check it.

Give it a listen

Emo-pop? All the fun of alternative music but with all the fun of being able to buy a cd pretty easily? Sounds rad to me

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