Ok-so I didn’t come up with that title on my own. But man did it make me chuckle…and think. At the same time. Uncomfortable. Anyway. There are so many categories we put music in. Emo, Emo-punk, punk, indie, indie emo punk, and so forth. I got to thinking: with so many genres in the music “biz”, as they say, how can we make sure we pigeon hole our songs correctly? Here’s a guide to music categorization for the layman and lay w0-man. Understand I wrote the entire thing from my own cerebral resources. Non of this is official, documented, or probably even factual. Enjoy.

EMO

The genre for today’s skinny-jean wearing bleak-tivist. To be honest the only thing I really know about emo at all is that emo people wear skinny jeans and are prone to self poking. As far as music…I’m pretty sure Death Cab for Cutie falls into this group. I think its because their name comes from a Beatles movie and emos LOVE the Beatles. Yes. That must be it

Indie

This genre is th one that confuses me most of all. I hear the term tossed around mostly to mean “music that nobody but me has heard of so I’m cooler than you”. I just listened to a never before released version of the Kool-Aid jingle. Does that make it Indie? Probably. The word itself creates problems in my brain. It comes, I’m assuming, from the word “independent” but there is nothing independent about the music. An indie film is one not produced by a studio, usually low budget, and watched mostly by “emos” (Ooooo…a cross genre pollination!). But indie music is produced in a studio by a record label. Maybe the band members “go commando” while recording. That would be independent. Ew.

Punk

My favorite genre because its so ambiguous. I was in the car the other day listening to “The Pixies” (awesomeness) and then turned on the radio and heard a Blink 182 song. Very different styles. Both “punk rock” indeed, but completely varying sides of the music coin. The Pixies, in my very uninformed opinion, were the original punkers. Since them no one has come close to capturing the true spirit of taking off your shirt, diving into crowd of wild kids, and being trampled to death. Pure Punk.

I’m sure people much smarter than me (it should be “I” but what the hell) could give all sorts of defining reasons each song and band falls into the category the record label or the listener gives it. But I just say: listen to what you like and let the genre worry about itself. Unless its county. Then we must all run. Run far far away. The end.

This is Pixies at their best. I was at this reunion concert in Palm Springs. So great.

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