Three Minute Poetry

Three Minute Poetry were a German band from Wuppertal, formed in 1998 and active until around 2004. They released their first album on legendary German label Defiance Records. Like their label mates Reno Kid, Three Minute Poetry played midwest emo. But where Reno Kid were a pure example of the genre, Three Minute Poetry were primarily an emo pop/midwest emo cross, and they were very good at it. Their strong midwest emo influence gives the pop-oriented bent of their music a more classic emo feel than many of their emo pop contemporaries, and the backup screaming vocals add a patina of hardcore.

Emo fans who are already familiar with Three Minute Poetry will likely have heard their excellent first album, Slowly Learning That Love Is Okay, released in 2001. Their second album, We're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat from 2004, is much rarer, perhaps because they were no longer on Defiance. It also strays more into traditional pop punk territory, leaving behind a lot of the midwest emo influence, which is a shame. That said, it's still an enjoyable album that remains emo pop. Their only other release was a split with Tribute to Nothing in 2002.

Slowly Learning that Love is Okay & we're gonna need a bigger boat