Give Until Gone were a Californian band, active from 1997 to 2001. Their sound is heavily influenced by midwest emo, to the point that they've sometimes been considered part of that genre. It's not hard to hear why—a song like "fors." is almost pure midwest emo, as are several of the songs on the EP. The LP moves their sound more towards emo pop and indie rock, but even so, midwest emo is very prevalent. They never fully commit to it, however, which is probably why they aren't usually included in the canon of midwest emo bands.
Their first release was a self-titled 7" in 1997. I haven't heard it, but both songs on it show up on the following EP, though they may have been rerecorded. The Whatever Works EP was put out in 1998 on Dim Mak. Their final release before calling it quits in 2001 was the Settled For The Art Official LP. Most of their compilation tracks appear on the album and EP, but there is a live recording of a song that doesn't appear anywhere else on the 1998 Pickle Patch Compilation 1. For download, I've made available the album, the EP, and the unique comp track.
In the conversation about second wave emo, Europe's contributions to the scene are often omitted. This isn't that surprising considering the obscurity of those bands. It used to take at least a couple years for any given musical wave to cross the Atlantic in either direction, second wave emo being no exception. Most European bands working within the genre appeared near the tail end of the wave and never saw much exposure outside their own countries. These days, social media and music sites allow scenes to easily hop borders—look no further than the attention Russia'samazingemo scene is gaining in the US for proof.
Bearing the well-earned title 'The German Mineral,' Reno Kid were a midwest emo band, active from 1998 to 2002; here's a video of them playing in 2001. They arrived much too early for the internet to propagate their music and have never made the leap to digital, keeping them a hidden gem. As their moniker claims, they were indeed the German version of Mineral, and in fact one of the best takes on that sound that's ever been done outside of the originator. Reno Kid nail every aspect of this kind of midwest emo, from the bursts of energy to the quiet beauty. They released their only LP on Defiance Records, part of that record's legendary oeuvre along with like-minded bands Three Minute Poetry and Soulmate. This is first-rate midwest emo and Sun You've Got To Hurry ranks among my favorite albums of all time. In my opinion, there just aren't enough bands trying to sound like Mineral, but Reno Kid aren't trying: they're succeeding.
Reno Kid's first release was in 1998, a four-song split with Soulmate. They followed it in 1999 with another split, this time with Drifts Get Deeper. This release is interesting because it's actually two splits, one with six tracks on CD and a two-track 7". The 7" has a unique track on it apparently by accident, as it was not the intended song. 1999 saw the release of the incredible Sun You've Got To Hurry, not quite forty-five minutes of pure midwest emo. Sadly, this is the band's only full length release. The following year, they put two tracks out on different compilations and that was it. Considering the two year gap between the comp releases and them calling it quits, I have to wonder if they were recording new material that went unreleased.
Reno Kid's discography is made available courtesy of How Nothing Feels.
From the fertile punk grounds of Washington D.C. came Durian, formed in 1997 and active until around the turn of the millennium. Their sound would most accurately be termed a fusion, in that it represents all of its parts more or less equally. I had a hard time tagging their second LP, Sometimes You Scare Me, but settled on math rock \ post-hardcore \ midwest emo \ alternative. I think it could be argued that I should have also added 'progressive.' The vocals alone would lend that argument some weight; they're dramatic, almost operatic at times, heavy on the vibrato and attitude. The midwest emo portion of that wild mix comes and goes, but can be heard clearly at times. "Press Stop" is close to sounding like something off Sunny Day Real Estate's LP2, and at several points they start playing poppy emo chord progressions that wouldn't sound out of place on a Promise Ring album.
According to the band's bio, they released their first album in 1997, shortly after forming. Titled Tomorrow 6:30, it's a much more lowkey work than the aggressive second album. In 1998 they put out a 7" and the following year put a track on the great Pocket Bomb compilation. In 2000, they released Sometimes You Scare Me and disbanded at some point afterward.
With Every Idle Hour were yet another emo band out of Long Island's incredible scene. There's little point in delving into their history—just read this. Their sound follows the course of a lot of emo bands in the late 90s who stuck together through the millennium, gradually discarding the emo\post-hardcore elements in favor of poppier tendencies. For that reason, their first LP is what I consider to be their best work, though I doubt they feel the same way. In an interview, the lead vocalist described Finally as, "…that transitional period between like…ripping off Quicksand and ripping off Sunny Day Real Estate." This is not an entirely accurate dismissal: They were mostly ripping off Jimmy Eat World.
The band was around in 1999, contributing a track to a compilation, and then released Finally in 2000. As I said, it may be taking from Quicksand and Sunny Day Real Estate (you can hear both in there), but it primarily sounds like a tribute to Static Prevails. The band would release a follow up, The Distance Between, in 2003. The second album sands off most of the midwest emo and post-hardcore elements in favor of emo pop. Before disbanding, they recorded the rough mixes for an unreleased third album that was put up on Bandcamp in 2018; previously, it was only available on the To Live and Die on LI blog.
