107 Emo Bands You Knew About Before Anyone Else
Hello there, the angel from my nightmare. Remember Myspace in the early 2000s? You know, when it was socially acceptable to autoplay music in the background of your profile page? Let's take a trip down Ocean Avenue and revisit this sacred time of emo, pop-punk, screamo, and the many genres that soundtracked your teen angst.
Fans always wanted to makedamnsure they were the first ones to discover new music. Listening to an underground band before they "sold out" and went mainstream -- a.k.a. made it to MTV 😂 -- was sort of a badge of honor in the middle school Myspace world.
Well, now we're putting them on MTV anyway. Below, you'll find hands down the most comprehensive list of emo bands (and the songs they're known for) we could possibly muster. These are the anthems, so throw all your hands up, and sing along to the age of paranoia.
A Static Lullaby
Most popular song: "The Shooting Star That Destroyed Us" from And Don't Forget To Breathe (2003)
AFI
Most popular song: "Miss Murder" from DECEMBERUNDERGROUND (2006)
Alexisonfire
Most popular song: "This Could Be Anywhere In The World" from Crisis (2005)
All Time Low
Most popular song: "Dear Maria, Count Me In" from So Wrong, It's Right (2007)
Amber Pacific
Most popular song: "Gone So Young" from The Possibility And The Promise (2005)
Anberlin
Most popular song: "The Feel Good Drag" from Never Take Friendship Personal (2005)
Armor For Sleep
Most popular song: "Car Underwater" from What To Do When You Are Dead (2005)
Avenged Sevenfold
Most popular song: "Bat Country" from City Of Evil (2005)
blink-182
Most popular song: "I Miss You" from Blink-182 (2003)
Boys Like Girls
Most popular song: "The Great Escape" from Boys Like Girls (2006)
Brand New
Most popular song: "The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows" from Deja Entendu (2003)
Bright Eyes
Most popular song: "First Day Of My Life" from I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning (2005)
Cartel
Most popular song: "Honestly" from Chroma (2005)
Cobra Starship
Most popular song: "Good Girls Go Bad" feat. Leighton Meester from Hot Mess (2009)
Coheed And Cambria
Most popular song: "Welcome Home" from Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through The Eyes Of Madness (2005)
Copeland
Most popular song: "Chin Up" from You Are My Sunshine (2008)
Cute Is What We Aim For
Most popular song: "The Curse Of Curves" from The Same Old Blood Rush With A New Touch (2006)
Daphne Loves Derby
Most popular song: "Pollen And Salt" from On The Strength Of All Convinced (2005)
Dashboard Confessional
Most popular song: "Hands Down" from A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar (2003)
Death Cab For Cutie
Most popular song: "I Will Follow You Into The Dark" from Plans (2005)
Emery
Most popular song: "Studying Politics" from The Question (2005)
Escape The Fate
Most popular song: "Situations" from Dying Is Your Latest Fashion (2006)
Evanescence
Most popular song: "Bring Me To Life" from Fallen (2003)
Fall Out Boy
Most popular song: "Sugar, We're Going Down" from From Under The Cork Tree (2005)
Finch
Most popular song: "What It Is To Burn" from What It Is To Burn (2002)
Flyleaf
Most popular song: "All Around Me" from Flyleaf (2005)
Forever The Sickest Kids
Most popular song: "Whoa Oh! (Me vs. Everyone)" from Underdog Alma Mater (2008)
From Autumn To Ashes
Most popular song: "The After Dinner Payback" from The Fiction We Live (2003)
From First To Last
Most popular song: "Emily" from Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has A Body Count (2005)
Funeral For A Friend
Most popular song: "Rookie Of The Year" from Casually Dressed & Deep In Conversation (2003)
Further Seems Forever
Most popular song: "Snowbirds And Townies" from The Moon Is Down (2001)
Good Charlotte
Most popular song: "The Anthem" from The Young And The Hopeless (2002)
Green Day
Most popular song: "American Idiot" from American Idiot (2004)
Halifax
Most popular song: "Sydney" from A Writer's Reference (2004)
Hawthorne Heights
Most popular song: "Ohio Is For Lovers" from The Silence In Black And White (2004)
Head Automatica
Most popular song: "Beating Heart Baby" from Decadence (2004)
Hellogoodbye
Most popular song: "Shimmy Shimmy Quarter Turn (Take It Back To Square One)" from Hellogoodbye (2004)
Hey Mercedes
Most popular song: "Eleven To Your Seven" from Everynight Fire Works (2001)
Hey Monday
Most popular song: "How You Love Me Now" from Hold On Tight (2008)
Hit The Lights
Most popular song: "Body Bag" from This Is A Stick Up...Don't Make It A Murder (2006)
Jack's Mannequin
Most popular song: "The Mixed Tape" from Everything In Transit (2005)
Jimmy Eat World
Most popular song: "Pain" from Futures (2004)
Lola Ray
Most popular song: "Automatic" from I Don't Know You (2004)
Mae
Most popular song: "Suspension" from The Everglow
Matchbook Romance
Most popular song: "Promise" from Stories And Alibis (2003)
Mayday Parade
Most popular song: "Miserable At Best" from A Lesson In Romantics (2007)
Metro Station
Most popular song: "Shake It" from Metro Station (2007)
mewithoutYou
Most popular song: "January 1979" from Catch For Us The Foxes (2004)
Mindless Self Indulgence
Most popular song: "Shut Me Up" from You'll Rebel To Anything (2005)
Motion City Soundtrack
Most popular song: "Everything Is Alright" from Commit This To Memory (2005)
MxPx
Most popular song: "Responsibility" from The Ever Passing Moment (2000)
My Chemical Romance
Most popular song: "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" from Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge (2004)
New Found Glory
Most popular song: "All Downhill From Here" from Catalyst (2004)
Panic! At The Disco
Most popular song: "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" from A Fever You Can't Sweat Out (2005)
Paramore
Most popular song: "Misery Business" from Riot! (2007)
Pierce The Veil
Most popular song: "Chemical Kids And Mechanical Brides" from A Flair For The Dramatic (2007)
Plain White T's
Most popular song: "Hey There Delilah" from All That We Needed (2005)
PlayRadioPlay!
Most popular song: "Even Fairy Tale Characters Would Be Jealous" from The Frequency (2007)
Push Play
Most popular song: "Midnight Romeo" from Found (2009)
Quietdrive
Most popular song: "Time After Time" from When All That's Left Is You (2006)
Rediscover
Most popular song: "Shake It" from Call Me When You Get This (2007)
Relient K
Most popular song: "Be My Escape" from Mmhmm (2004)
Saosin
Most popular song: "You're Not Alone" from Saosin (2006)
Saves The Day
Most popular song: "At Your Funeral" from Stay What You Are (2001)
Say Anything
Most popular song: "Alive With The Glory Of Love" from ...Is A Real Boy (2004)
Say Hi To Your Mom
Most popular song: "Let's Talk About Spaceships" from Numbers & Mumbles (2004)
Scary Kids Scaring Kids
Most popular song: "Watch Me Bleed" from Scary Kids Scaring Kids (2007)
Secondhand Serenade
Most popular song: "Fall For You" from A Twist In My Story (2008)
Senses Fail
Most popular song: "Buried A Lie" from Let It Enfold You (2004)
Sherwood
Most popular song: "Song In My Head" from A Different Light (2007)
Silverstein
Most popular song: "My Heroine" from Discovering The Waterfront (2005)
Simple Plan
Most popular song: "I'm Just A Kid" from No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls (2002)
Something Corporate
Most popular song: "Konstantine" from Songs For Silent Movies (2003)
Story Of The Year
Most popular song: "Until The Day I Die" from Page Avenue (2003)
Straylight Run
Most popular song: "Existentialism On Prom Night" from Straylight Run (2004)
Sugarcult
Most popular song: "Memory" from Palm Trees And Power Lines (2004)
Switchfoot
Most popular song: "Dare You To Move" from The Beautiful Letdown (2003)
System Of A Down
Most popular song: "B.Y.O.B." from Mezmerize (2005)
Taking Back Sunday
Most popular song: "MakeDamnSure" from Louder Now (2006)
The Academy Is...
Most popular song: "The Phrase That Pays" from Almost Here (2005)
The All-American Rejects
Most popular song: "Dirty Little Secret" from Move Along (2005)
The Almost
Most popular song: "Say This Sooner" from Southern Weather (2007)
The Ataris
Most popular song: "The Boys Of Summer" from So Long, Astoria (2003)
The Audition
Most popular song: "Warm Me Up" from Champion (2008)
The Blood Brothers
Most popular song: "Love Rhymes With Hideous Car Wreck" from Crimes (2004)
The Dresden Dolls
Most popular song: "Coin-Operated Boy" from The Dresden Dolls (2004)
The Early November
Most popular song: "Ever So Sweet" from The Room's Too Cold (2003)
The Exit
Most popular song: "Don't Push" from Home For An Island (2004)
The Fray
Most popular song: "How To Save A Life" from How To Save A Life (2005)
The Get Up Kids
Most popular song: "Overdue" from On A Wire (2002)
The Hush Sound
Most popular song: "We Intertwined" from Like Vines (2006)
The Maine
Most popular song: "Into Your Arms" from Can't Stop Won't Stop (2008)
The Offspring
Most popular song: "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid" from Rise And Fall, Rage And Grace (2008)
The Pink Spiders
Most popular song: "Little Razorblade" from Hot Pink (2005)
The Postal Service
Most popular song: "Such Great Heights" from Give Up (2003)
The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
Most popular song: "Face Down" from Don't You Fake It (2006)
The Rocket Summer
Most popular song: "Do You Feel" from Do You Feel (2007)
The Spill Canvas
Most popular song: "All Hail The Heartbreaker" from Sunsets & Car Crashes (2003)
The Starting Line
Most popular song: "The Best Of Me" from Say It Like You Mean It (2002)
The Used
Most popular song: "The Taste Of Ink" from The Used (2002)
The Weepies
Most popular song: "World Spins Madly On" from Say I Am You (2006)
Thirty Seconds To Mars
Most popular song: "The Kill" from A Beautiful Lie (2005)
Thursday
Most popular song: "Understanding In A Car Crash" from Full Collapse (2001)
Underoath
Most popular song: "A Boy Brushed Red Living In Black And White" from They're Only Chasing Safety (2004)
Waking Ashland
Most popular song: "I Am For You" from Composure (2005)
We The Kings
Most popular song: "Check Yes, Juliet" from We The Kings (2007)
Yellowcard
Most popular song: "Ocean Avenue" from Ocean Avenue (2003)