genius breed

Genre labels are a tricky thing. Some music critic will deploy a new turn of phrase in a review and just like that, it enters the social consciousness and sticks, even (or perhaps especially) if we don't want it to. I kind of doubt all the artists in the early 90s who were fusing classic rock with punk cared to be called 'grunge.' Similarly, the term 'emo' has been fiercely contested by many bands who have been branded part of the genre. And, yeah, 'emo' is kind of a dumb word. But so is 'rock,' honestly, and 'techno,' and 'house,' and pretty much every other genre name. 'Alternative rock.' Alternative to what? 'Regular rock?' Personally, I just embrace it. Genres always have dumb names and emo is no exception. Be emo and be proud.

I bring this up because Genius Breed were a midwest emo band from Finland, which goes to show that even by the lame standards of genre labels, 'midwest emo' is problematic. It's much too specific, making it geographically dubious at best. It's always struck me as odd that Mineral, the most midwest emo-y band of all, was from Texas, which is decidedly not the American midwest. And if Texas isn't, then Finland sure as hell isn't. Maybe I should be introducing Genius Breed as a post-emo band, then, but the fact of the matter is that term just never stuck. So they're midwest emo, despite being about as far away from the midwest as you can get.

The fantastic For Ivadell blog described the band as "an incredible mix of Texas Is The Reason, Sunday's Best, Strictly Ballroom, etc." I think that's a pretty fair analysis. They put out two EPs and a 7". There's been word of a proper discography release for years now, but when I talked to one of the band members it was still in the works, so no idea when that will be released.

The band's first release was the 21 7" in 1998, followed by the Days of October EP in 1999 and the take-offs and landings EP in 2000. The band's history following that stretch is vague; at some point they recorded two more tracks that were released online. The date given on the site to which they are posted is 2005, which seems likely enough given the band bio from that site say they were active from 1997 to 2007. I'm assuming the five-year gap between recordings was a hiatus, but they may still have been touring.

genius breed discography