A Deep Dive Into the 2025 2nd Wave Emo Revival, Ft. Talks with Stitching and Milkcrate Merch

By Peyton K.

 

Every so often, a subgenre will seem to be revived out of nowhere, with new bands creating music that brings you right back to tunes from the genre’s conception. Over the past few years, I’ve seen large screamo, deathcore, youth crew, and mincecore revivals. With the increasing popularity of this harsher, grittier style of music, it’s no surprise that a softer, more instrumental style would eventually gain support and attention.

This is the story of 2nd wave emo, an emo subgenre that is currently seeing a budding revival across the country, and especially across the West Coast. 2nd wave emo side projects are becoming more popular than main projects, overseas labels are rushing to make physical media available to a larger audience, and bands are gaining hundreds of followers and fans on the daily. We’ll talk to one of the bands involved in the modern-day second wave sound, and a DIY label allowing more fans to discover these bands via merch and physical media.

But before we can examine the genre’s contemporary sound and artists, we must first go back to where it all began.

What is second-wave emo?

Emerging after the hardcore-punk-inspired reign of first-wave emo, 2nd wave emo expanded far past the DC scene where emo was originally born. This newer style of music took a softer (but not too soft) approach to songwriting and sonic elements. Louder, distorted guitars transitioned to twinkly guitars, unique rhythms, and varying time signatures. Inspirations shifted from hardcore punk and melodic hardcore to indie and math rock. But although the waves sounded different, 2W (second wave) still retained the same DIY Ethos and passionate emotional connection that first wave emo (or “emocore”) had.

This new style of the subgenre originally gained traction for its innovative mixture of the hardcore elements of 1W with elements of indie rock, but also for the creativity that permeated many bands. Many were open to experimenting sonically with elements that would not have been considered “emo” before. Bands such as Cursive incorporated instruments not typically or previously seen in emo, such as cello and piano, while bands such as P.E.E. incorporated violin.

2W broke onto the scene with bands such as Cap’n Jazz, Boys Life, Braid, The Promise Ring, Cursive, American Football, Mineral, Texas Is The Reason, Still Life, Christie Front Drive, and Jimmy Eat World. Influential smaller bands include Nymb, The Jazz June, Piebald, Jejune, Ribbon Fix, Penfold, The Appleseed Cast, Lync, The Pine, Julia, and Strictly Ballroom. Some of these bands are also colloquially known as “midwest emo”, a term more people may recognize as opposed to the broader “second wave emo”.

2W also had some early-screamo and emoviolence offshoots, but for all intents and purposes, today we’ll be focused on the lighter sound. However, if you want to check any of those bands out, I would recommend Indian Summer, Orchid, Saetia, and Antioch Arrow.

Original Second Wave Recommendations

In order to get a good understanding of where we ended up, it’s helpful to dive into where we started. Here are some songs I would consider quintessential to understanding 2W’s sound.

Little League – Cap’n Jazz

Traveling Theory – Penfold

Unfinished – Mineral

Planetary – Rainer Maria

Drive on To Me – Elliot

Marigold and Patchwork – The Appleseed Cast

All of the Negatives – Boys Life

Get on The Bus – The Jazz June

Killing a Camera – Braid

Father Fear – Endive

Typical Love Song – Nymb

Busman’S Holiday – Maggat

Trains in the Distance at Night – Strictly Ballroom

West – M.I.J.

Bruce Loves Big Star – P.E.E.

one last cigarette – ribbon fix

Now that we have dug into the roots of the metaphorical tree of 2W emo, let’s look at the new sprouts on its branches. As someone who keeps up with the current happenings of emo and hardcore music, I’ve noticed the increase in popularity and prevalence of modern 2W emo bands within the last 6-8 months.

This left me with many questions. As I always do when a subgenre suddenly gains popularity, I asked myself, “why?” What has led to an increase in traction for this niche subgenre?

I then had more questions about the 2W revival scene in general. If what is being released now is heavily inspired by second-wave emo, could it be considered second-wave? Does the term “second wave” refer to a style of music, or the time period in which it came out/the following movement? How do you even define the waves of emo?

However, my largest question was, is this new revival taking inspiration from the original 2W to create a new sound? Or trying to return to a sound that once was?

In order to answer some of my questions, I first turned to Milkcrate Merch, a merch label making waves and helping to expand the current 2W emo scene.

Milkcrate Merch: DIY or CRY & 2W Emo

Milkcrate Merch is a Seattle-based label specializing in producing physical media and merch for your favorite bands. They work with a variety of bands ranging from multiple genres and popularities. The label’s goal is “to make DIY more accessible to its fans and supporters”.

I personally own a few items from Milkcrate, and the attention to detail and creativity is unmatched. In one CD order, freebie player cards that included various figures in the emo scene were included!

Today I had the chance to speak with Cullen, the creator and brain behind Milkcrate. However, I was not only interested in the merch/physical media aspect of Milkcrate, but I also reached out to Cullen because of something posted on Milkcrate’s story.

From a story posted on July 15th, 2025, Cullen stated, “2nd wave emo revival was my idea, and Reddit absolutely clowned on me for it”. Sure enough, as I sleuthed my way to the original post, Cullen was right. In his post about the budding ’90s emo revival, many were hesitant to get on the second wave train. Reddit users decided to narrow in on other aspects of the post, a perceived attack on the current emo sound, “fifth wave” and the current skramz revival, and disregarded the original point of the post, which was mainly about 2W emo.

One comment in particular stuck out to me. One Redditor stated, “I wonder if the second wave sound will ever gain traction again. The scene has been dominated by minimalist Midwest emo for a long time now.”

But this post was only about 8 months ago. What has changed from then to now, to where second-wave emo seems to reign supreme in the current emo scene and is consistently growing every day? To further discover what has happened, I asked Milkcrate/Cullen some questions.

Do you see any specific reasons for why the second wave emo revival might be gaining popularity in recent times?

“I think the popularity in the revival of the 2nd wave emo sound is due to the fact that 5th wave pushed the envelope too hard.
5th wave is too vast and almost doesn’t mean anything because there is no defining sound to it as bands simply use the genre as inspiration rather than a sound to sound like. Going back to the 2nd wave sound in a way brings emo back to its roots.”

In your opinion, are there any vast differences between the original sound created in the 90s vs the sound of the revival today? Similarly, do you see these new bands as a return to what once was, or something that’s building off of what has already been created?

“I don’t think there is too much of a difference in sound when it comes to the new bands vs the original. For the most part the older bands weren’t all the popular at the time or even up until 2 or 3 years ago. I found Everyone Asked About You on Sophie’s floorboard in 2018 and seemingly nobody knew about them until 2023.
So I think that the kids are kinda doing what the bands in the 90s would do and they are putting their own spin on the band that inspired them.
But, I also think it’s a way to take back the genre. Returning to what once was as you put, they’re going back to the raw sound and emotional lyrics that was so popular in the 90s.
A sound you can listen to and say “yeah. That’s emo” that’s not something you can necessarily do with the 5th wave scene.”

 

“I think that the kids are kinda doing what the bands in the 90s would do, and they are putting their own spin on the band that inspired them.”

 

Obviously we’re in a very different time now compared to when 2nd Wave Emo first emerged. Do you think social media and modern ways of finding music have contributed to this revival?

“I think social media absolutely has everything to do with the resurrection of the 2nd wave sound. I met the kid who posted Stella’s ‘Street Car Named Desire’ on YouTube recently, and I told him how after I shared it on my Instagram, it received a thousand more views in a day.

I also think that without Hotstuff*, First Day Back would have never gotten the attention that they deserve.**

Look at bands like Aspartame or Stitching. Both of them have the right sound, but they never received that social media spread that would give them the love they deserve.”

*Hotstuff Productions, a popular videographer who records live emo sets and posts them on his YouTube channel. The channel has gained a whopping 13.4k subscribers since its creation in 2023, and is known for highlighting smaller emo and other “core” bands. You can find it here.

**Hotstuff recorded First Day Back’s set from the Santa Cruz stop of Febuary and bulletsbetweentongues’s “Straight Shot Through the West Coast” tour (hey, I was there!). The video gained attention across multiple platforms and sits at 16k views on YouTube and over 4k likes on Instagram.

You’ve worked with 2W-inspired bands such as mybetterhalf, Stella, First Day Back, and more on releasing physical media to a wide audience. How does physical media play a hand in spreading this revival?

“If I’m being honest, I don’t think that physical media helps at all when it comes to the growth of a sound or band. Sure you can say that people showing their friends their CDs or Tapes can help get someone into a band, but on a grand scale of things I don’t think it does much.”

Can you explain the importance of physical media in an era where music and subcultures are becoming increasingly digitized?

“The importance of physical media is more that it is the best way to support the band. Most bands don’t see any money from Spotify. Buying a CD or a T-shirt from a band you like will financially support that band more than your whole lifetime of paying Spotify and streaming their music ever will. Also, it’s good for archival purposes.

I’m putting out a reissue for an old 2nd wave band called ‘The Hue of Two’. They weren’t on Spotify, and aside from a YouTube video, their music wasn’t online. One of the members had to track down a CD from 2004 just to even be able to get the digital files for their music.

In a world where we only have streaming, we lose so much music. If there are no physicals, it may as well not even exist.

Also, Spotify’s CEO funding AI military is a crazy thing. (Source)

I recently had a kid reach out to me to say that his school banned cellphones, so now he brings his CDs and Tapes I made because he can’t spin pottery without some music playing.”

 

You can find Milkcrate’s Instagram here and their website here.

*This interview has been slightly edited for clarity and concision.*

stitching: I Wanna Be a Rockstar When I Grow Up

Although Milkcrate had given me distinct ideas of how second wave emo might have come to gain popularity today, I still wanted to talk to someone more directly involved in the music and performing side of the revival. In order to deepen my inquiry, I spoke to stitching, an Arizona-formed band involved in the current 2W revival scene

First of all, who makes up stitching, and when did you guys form?

“Stitching is Aimee on drums, Cheyenne on bass and vocals, Foster on guitar and vocals, and Kaden on guitar and sometimes vocals, too. We formed in November of 2024 in Flagstaff, Arizona.” – Foster

 

You recently released your self-titled EP in March. What second wave bands had the largest impact on your creation of the album? Did any bands outside that sphere influence you as well?

 

“Actually, we started out as a Saetia worship band, but when we started writing and jamming together, we kind of landed more in the second wave revival stuff. I don’t think it was ever our intention, it sort of happened naturally. I’d say, once we started going, our influences were Rainer Maria, The Lazarus Plot, Elliott, Indian Summer, Suis La Lune, obviously Saetia, and all of our friends in Febuary, Journal, and My Friend My Urn. We also try to add a bit of Pavement, Pixies, Modest Mouse, and The Dismemberment Plan. I think, now, we take a good amount of inspiration from math rock like Don Cab, or (I don’t wanna call them Midwest emo in case people come to my house and kill me) stuff like American Football or Newfound Interest in Connecticut.” – Foster

 

“Personally, Braid and The Get Up Kids lended the biggest influence to me instrumentally. Rainer Maria, like Foster said, has a lot of vocal influence for us, too. I take a lot of inspo from the 90’s lofi scene as well like Built to Spill, Sebadoh, and of course Modest Mouse. I feel like second wave shared a lot of that same quirky charm, and it’s cool to include them in our writing process.” – Cheyenne

 

“I’m so bad at putting emo bands to their respective waves, but I think the ones I know influence me the most are Rainer Maria + The Reptilian + Texas is the Reason + FAC era Braid. Outside of that, I think Lord Snow, Nayru, and Crochet had the biggest impacts for me for that ep, and I’m always taking inspiration from my friends in their awesome bands like My Friend My Urn, Clay Birds, Feel more less, and many others!!!!” – Aimee

 

“My inspirations for the album are taken from all over the place, but 2nd wave (I think) bands I can name are American Football, Mineral, and Empire! Empire! (I was a lonely estate). Other than that, I have been  inspired by Title Fight, Strictly Ballroom, Everyone Asked About You, Suis la Lune, Aspartame, Girlfriends, and Breakwater for this band specifically.” – Kaden

 

How does second wave emo impact your songwriting and style? Does its influence show up in your lyrics, sound, art for physical releases, or somewhere else?

 

“I don’t think it’s something we think about too much, although we like the focus on melody and that almost pop song mentality of building pretty, catchy lines that you find in a lot of emo, especially when that’s mixed with more abrasive screamo stuff or weird math rock. I think we also try to use a lot of hardcore elements since we’ve all been or are currently in hardcore/post-hardcore-adjacent bands. Funnily enough, though, I think Jack from Clay Birds, who did the artwork for our self-titled EP, took inspiration from Breakwater for the font and style. In terms of lyrics, I’d say we’re trying to move away from the sappy emo stuff that’s typical of second wave and move towards more meaningful responses to what’s going on in the world. Our good friends in My Friend My Urn have really inspired us and shown us that emo/screamo can still be a form of rebellion; it can still be political music.” – Foster

 

“I love the storytelling that happens in a lot of second wave, and I think we were able to capture that in the EP. Although, Foster is right that we are moving in a more political direction lyrically. I think in other forms of songwriting, I love the freedom that second wave gets when throwing in different shit while still sounding awesome, which is where a lot of the blast beat, dbeat, just weird parts in general come in.” – Aimee

 

“I second everything they said. I just love writing with complexity of melodies and sections mixed with a wholesome feel to it. which is not what I’m used to, but it is such a good feeling.” – Kaden

 

 

How did you discover second wave emo?

 

“For me, I found second wave online in high school, listening to Newfound Interest. I also found Rainer Maria in that time, but it wasn’t until within the past two or three years that I really found an appreciation for it.” – Foster

 

“Probably through a slew of memes and topsters on Instagram in 2018. Although, I have really early memories of Jimmy Eat World permeating my life in subtle ways. I was a fan of their biggest commercial success, ‘Bleed American’, throughout my youth but returned to their debut and sophomore records, wondering why they were so criminally underrated. Clarity, you have my heart. My other earliest memories of second wave were likely Promise Ring’s ‘Nothing Feels Good’ and Elliot’s ‘False Cathedrals’.” – Cheyenne

 

“As an Arizona kid, you are indoctrinated into Jimmy Eat World before you can form sentences, but I found other bands in the genre much later, getting really into The Reptilian in high school and most of the other legends like Rainer Maria, Promise Ring, etc, about two years ago.” – Aimee

 

“I was lucky enough to have friends from this band and previous bands to put me on to certain things that led to my own deep dives and beloveds. My rabbit hole begun when I was in high school I believe. I remember finding title fight and American football before meeting any of them though.” – Kaden

 

Do you see any specific reasons why the second wave emo revival might be gaining popularity in recent times?

 

“I’d say that screamo, metalcore, deathcore, whatever, has kind of dominated for a year or two, so these bands popping up that are embracing the beauty in their music, even if there is still harshness, and replacing some of that machismo with humility are naturally really refreshing for the scene. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a lot more of it coming, especially in light of all these horrible things going down at and to DIY venues all over the country. The scene now just breeds a violence that I think this form of emo is slowing starting to tear down.” – Foster

 

“I feel like second wave has an air to it that doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s a bit nerdier than other post-hardcore genres and in my opinion, it can be a lot more inclusive. Hardcore has exploded in popularity again in the past few years, which has been awesome to see and be a part of, but naturally the idea of a post hardcore had to come from somewhere. I think it’s only natural when a scene is so aggressive for a decent amount of time, musicians wanna challenge themselves to play with other genres. I personally feel like second wave is a rotating door of whatever musical devices you can throw into an emo song and make it interesting. There’s so much room to experiment and fluctuate and I’ve been really inspired by the creativity I’ve seen from other second wave bands during this revival.” – Cheyenne

 

“I think that the emo revival taking place since the pandemic has mostly been dominated by the saddest/most aggressive forms of the genre but since that’s getting played out, a lot of people are revisiting second wave and other subgenres and enjoying the wide range of other emotions and beauty that only they can capture.” – Aimee

 

What’s your favorite song off your EP, and why?

“For me, my favorite has to be Medford. It kind of held a weight a little heavier than the other tracks and felt like the best conclusion.” – Foster

 

“My favorite’s rockstar, I love all the sections and changes we put into that one and its so much fun to play!!”  – Aimee

 

“Mine is probably Birchwood, We wrote it in a freezing cold workshop out in the dead of Flagstaff winter with only one heater that I would stand in front of the whole time. I think that’s still part of the charm for me.” – Cheyenne

 

“I think rockstar is my favorite as well. It’s so fun to play and everyone’s parts are so sick. I remember foster writing the ascending riff while we were in a cold ass shed and there was a lot of emotion that day and it felt so good to write.” – Kaden

 

If you could perform with any second wave emo band (together or broken up/on hiatus), who would it be?

 

“Man, for me I’d kill to play with Newfound Interest In Connecticut. I think there’s always been a debate on whether they’re actually second wave, but that one record they have is probably what got me into emo in the first place way back when.” – Foster

 

“Definitely Jimmy Eat World for me. Or Braid.” – Cheyenne

 

“The Reptilian 🙂 .” – Aimee

 

“Strictly Ballroom. I think they are second wave…” – Kaden

 

Obviously, we’re in a very different time now compared to when 2nd Wave Emo was first emerging. Do you think social media and modern ways of finding music have contributed to this revival?

 

“Absolutely, I think that it’s a bit of a double-edged sword because on one hand there’s a massive database at your fingertips of these incredible bands that you can probably see playing in your area a lot of the time. But, at the same time, there’s a built-in bias based on followers and Spotify listeners. I think people see that and immediately turn it away, especially other bands and musicians. Like, of course there’s a measure of fame when it comes to popularity, but now there’s this whole other level of internet clout and influencer celebrity that I think is an enormous detriment to bands getting their footing in the scene. The bands that make it out of that usually just make friends, be real, and go out there in person.” – Foster

 

“For sure, It’s incredible to me how connected the web of bands across the country has become. I’ve watched this band and the bands of my friends get really awesome opportunities and form friendships with bands across the country through the power of an Instagram DM. It’s a lot more streamlined to set up shows and build a base  now than it ever was during the early days of the 2000s. But to piggyback off what Foster said, It can be a detriment to the integrity of just making music. I think with the resurgence of heavier genres online, I think bands always need to be cognizant of what music you want to make and the type of scene you want to cultivate. The spontaneous and boundary pushing musicians end up deciding where the scene goes next more than the what’s popular online. Enjoy the vibrant scene in your city while it’s around, the internet will always be there later.” – Cheyenne

 

“Definitely!! The popularity of modern diy scenes through the reach of the internet has made the music that much more accessible compared to 25 years ago and popular compared to even 5 years ago.” – Aimee

 

“I definitely think social media has turned a lot of eyes onto the scene and it is very cool to witness and be a part of.” – Kaden

 

I’ve noticed that you guys heavily lean into a more traditional, diy style reminiscent of cardboard cd covers and flyers from early emo bands. Do you incorporate other visual or design elements from the second wave into your work/flyers?

 

“To be honest, I just love the 90s-2000s post-hardcore and emo aesthetics and think they look cool, so try to make everything I design look like that, haha. Tanner of Geek USA, who makes a lot of our flyers, too, I think shares a similar sentiment. so they end up being pretty consistent.” – Foster

 

“Foster said it best!! I’m also just a sucker for anything cut and paste/physical which we try to incorporate even if just through inspiration.” – Aimee

Are there any current bands embodying that second-wave sound that you think need more recognition?

 

“First Day Back, The Ritornello Form, Stella, My Point of You, My Better Half, Febuary, Gapyear, Clay Birds, the list goes on but that’s all that I can think of now. I think The Ritornello Form is the best emo band around right now. They deserve all the love. While I’m here, shoutout Mildred and My Friend My Urn, the other two best bands in the country right now.” – Foster

 

“Can’t stop listening to first day back + at first at first + ritonello form + stella, the last 2 whom we played with last month and they are the biggest sweethearts ever.” – Aimee

 

“Yeah, we really can’t say it enough but The Ritornello Form is absolutely the coolest band around right now and I hope everyone gives their new split with Stella (also incredible) as soon as they can.” – Cheyenne (I second this, listen to the split now if you haven’t already!)

 

“I just need to add Punxsutawney to this even tho they don’t have vocals.” – Kaden

 

Can you explain, in your opinion, the importance of physical media in an era where music and subcultures are becoming increasingly digitized?

 

“The way I see it is, as a listener, streaming services make mistakes all the time and your favorite band could be gone from the internet forever. It’s always better to have their physical stuff. As an artist, too, you actually make money and get supported by these physical releases, whereas you’re lucky to make anything off of streaming.” – Foster

 

“I think physical media allows bands to express themselves artistically. Getting to create your first CD or your first cassette is so much more fun and rewarding than your first Distrokid login. Streaming accessibility is unfortunately pretty necessary these days, it’s just what everyone is used to now, but physical media directly supports your local bands and appreciates their creative effort while doing it.” – Cheyenne

 

“I think the fragility of digital media and the lack of “true” ownership that comes with it is becoming a lot more concerning, whereas physical media ensures a consistent way to access your favorite things(like awesome second wave emo music) while also ensuring that it can’t be blocked or taken from you on a whim!! Additionally, buying music physically goes multitudes farther for small bands and artists such as ourselves than the fractions of pennies that streaming services graciously offer. As far as subcultures, I think certain parts of diy culture have been lost to the instant gratification of the modern day and listening to music physically helps to bring some of that back and is ultimately just more rewarding + enjoyable!!” – Aimee

You can find stitching’s Instagram here and listen to their EP here!

*This interview has been slightly edited for clarity and concision.*

Modern Day Recommendations

 

Stella

Named after another second wave emo band (Braid) song, Santa Cruz’s own First Day Back is bringing that classic second wave sound to the modern day. Their June release “Forward” quickly became a favorite of many looking for that nostalgic sound. I’ll let one comment they received on the previously-mentioned Hotstuff productions video speak for itself…

“One of the only modern bands I’ve seen successfully pull off 90s emotional hardcore without sounding too messy or like they’re copying someone else. they could only have this gig played and break up instantly after and they’d still have made a more extensive and original sound than the majority of new-wave emo.”

My favorite song from them is Twelve Mile Train Tracks.

 

my better half

Aspartame

An older (but not necessarily old) band on this list, Aspartame has been inspiring and influencing the scene since their first released track in 2020. Familiar faces in the band include Etta Friedman from the band Momma and Cooper Winterson, a popular indie skate videographer.

Originating in Brooklyn, NYC, they are also one of the only East Coast bands on this list.

Although not very active today, Aspartame was one of the very first bands I heard of when originally getting into the 2020s emo scene. At a time when screamo/”skramz” was reigning supreme, they pushed the envelope with a more 2W-inspired focus. Because of this, I think it helped them age better than some one-off skramz bands, and also brought a level of authenticity to their music.

My favorite song by them is Untitled.

at first, at first

San Antonio-based band at first, at first has permeated the lining of my speakers since their first release, “The Courage of Shutting Up”, in March of this year. Their 5-song EP ranges from distorted guitars and screaming vocals to softer, layered vocals and slower guitar work.

The EP is widely impressive considering this is their first released work. I’m excited to see what they have in store for the future.

Similar to what we spoke with stitching about earlier, AFAF’s first CD release resembles the early 2W emo style of DIY materials for physical media releases, which I thought was interesting.

My favorite song by them is It’s About Vampires (but I’ve found it has varied over time).