Recently I was listening to an episode of the excellent emo radio show Sadder Star, in which the host was playing early material from bands who then went on to define the mainstream emo-pop and mall screamo boom of the 2000s. The roughshod quality of demo material by bands like The Used and Silverstein had a low-fidelity charm that would be later smoothened away by the slick sheen of major label production. The raw sound also made it more clear how this music developed from the softened midwest emo sound that evolved out of early emotional hardcore. From this perspective emo-pop looks more like a logical next step from bands like The Promise Ring, Lifetime, or The Get Up Kids that injected a poppier sensibility into their hardcore rooted sound. I suppose the subsequent hot topic-ification of the genre should be blamed on the industry rather than the bands it swept up.
I’ve long had a soft spot for pop music with the raw aesthetics associated with punk and indie. Its power lies in how the grandiose gestures of crafting a big chorus crashes up against the limitations of small studio DIY recording. Some tape hiss and distortion makes a catchy chorus that much sweeter, especially when bands lean both ways to crank up both the noise and the pop. While such sounds are readily available from acts taking indie rock into a noisier direction, the merger of hardcore with intentional noise usually looks to maximize confrontation through abrasion. One exception, which sees melodic post-hardcore seeping through the cracks of a blurry Wall of Sound, is the latest release from Los Angeles band Let Them Eat Horses. While their previous demo saw the band operating in a sassier metallic screamo lane, on Tres Tres Tres the group serves up three expansive emo-pop odysseys subsumed within a blown-out production style that invokes the buzzy textures of shoegaze. Finally, something smack dab in the middle of the ven diagram for enjoyers of Loveless, Psychocandy, Tell All Your Friends, and What It Is To Burn.
The dense swirling cacophony of Tres Tres Tres is an intriguing departure from most music in the hardcore milieu that often builds its foundation on punchy driving rhythms that a droning buzz would otherwise smear out. Sonics aside, the biggest strength of this record are the earworm hooks begging for a room full of scene kid revivalists to yell back at the band. The unique aesthetic and strong songwriting chops of this band leave me eager to hear more from them. I wonder what the ceiling is for a band that could appeal to the larger crowds coalescing around mall screamo revival acts like I Promised the World, as well as those watching the shoegaze revival looking for something more immediately catchy than the vibey wallowing of a group like Glare. The crossover between the two sounds might be too niche for mass appeal, but stranger things have happened, and this release sounds fresher than a lot of modern post-hardcore.
May 2, 2026