These guys were the Godfathers of Emo founded by Guy Picciotto from Fugazi who is a Minor Threat die-hard. When Rites of Spring was formed in 84 at Washington DC, they used the musical styles of hardcore punk and mixed them with melodic guitar sounds, a variety of rhythms, and of course personal, emotional lyrics. Many of their themes such as nostalgia, romantic bitterness, and desperation became familiar concepts of their genre and other certain forms of music later. Their live performance were emotionally so public and eruptive, they made some of the audience members cry like if they were at a movie theater rather than a concert.

Ian MacKaye is still a huge of them; he produced the band's self-titled album and All Through a Life (EP), was one of the band's roadies, and even formed his own emo band as his take of the genre called Embrace, which had similar themes of examination of one's own thoughts and feelings, and emotional release.

A year later, more bands in the Rites' home area similarly followed in connection. Are they Rock Hall material despite the obscurity of the band's music? You bet!

Posted by The Dude on Saturday, 11/30/2019 @ 11:10am