January Star

January Star were a band from Ibbenbüren, active from the late 90s to the early aughts. While always dedicated to emo, they changed their sound slightly with each release, morphing between genres gradually. They began life as a melodic hardcore\pop punk act, their first, self-titled EP in 1997 being a rough-edged slice of pop punk. By 1998 they had transitioned to midwest emo, the Pneumatic 7" sounding a lot like a more midwest emo-focused Four Minute Mile-era Get Up Kids. Perhaps logically, their next progression took them in the direction of Jimmy Eat World's seminal Clarity. 2000's Home Without A Heart, the band's only full-length effort, takes most of its cues from Clarity, while retaining a lot of midwest emo influences from elsewhere. Their last release, the Some Brighter Days EP in 2001, swerves heavily into the emo pop side of their sound (if Home Without A Heart is their Clarity, then Some Brighter Days is their Bleed American).

By 2003 the band's website was taken over by another project, The Boys No Good, a hardcore band, and while it refers to January Star as still being active, it seems like there was no further activity on that side of things. At some point the site started to redirect to the website for the band Force of Change, so members were probably shared on that end too. Whatever the case, the website went offline in 2005 and I presume January Star ceased to be sometime between then and 2002.

January Star Discography

Stay Focused

In terms of representation, this blog tends to bias towards bands from the US. There's a few reasons for that. For one, the US is both a very large country and the birthplace of emo, and therefore the majority of emo bands are from America. Another reason is that bands from the US are simply more visible from within the country, on the internet and otherwise. It's very difficult for me to find bands from local scenes in other countries, especially non-English speaking countries. With the advent of Bandcamp and other online platforms, this is not so much the case anymore, but I know that there are many bands from other countries who existed in the 90s and 2000s that are now inaccessible to me. Despite this, I try to cover bands from everywhere, and like to think that this blog is a testament to the international appeal of emo.

Carrying on the spirit of the legendary German emo scene, Stay Focused are a band from Limburg, active from 2015 to the present. The band was formed from the ashes of two other projects, melodic punk outfit Whiteout Alley and the metalcore band As Seconds Become Centuries. They take inspiration from the contemporary bands of the emo revival, citing Hot Mulligan, Free Throw, and Tiny Moving Parts as direct influences, all of which can be heard—at least on their latest album. Stay Focused's sound changed considerably over the band's nearly decade-long existence.

Their first album, Contrasts, was released in 2018 and although there is a strong emo influence throughout the record, it primarily sounds like a combination of the two previous projects, blending melodic hardcore with a great deal of metalcore (their demo, released in 2015, even features a guitar solo). Over five years later, the band released their second LP, Values, in 2024. On this album, the band embraces the emo revival, leaving behind the metalcore (outside of a few select moments) but not entirely abandoning the melodic hardcore. They are a less twinkly band than most of their influences, leaning on heavier riffs and only rarely getting noodly in the Kinsella manner; good comparisons could be made to Kayak Jones and Arm's Length.

I hope these guys get some more attention within the ongoing emo revival, because I think Values is a great album. I really love the opening track, "Old Wounds", as well as "New Picture Frame." On a more personal note, I relate pretty hard to some of the lyrics as well. If you're at all a fan of contemporary emo, give them a listen.

Values

Stay Focused on Bandcamp

but if we never change our ways, we can only stay the same

The Oliver Twist

 

The Oliver Twist (later to be known as The Oliver Twist Band and then Eine Oliver Twist Kooperation) were a band from Cologne, Germany, active from 1999 until 2006. Their changes in name reflected a steady changing of their sound over each album release, starting in emo before moving into post-punk\dance-punk and finally ending at electropunk, moving them beyond the jurisdiction of this blog. But I've assembled their first three albums, all of which include emo to a varying degree.

Their first album, 1999's sweet, sweet and coffee talk, is pure 90s midwest emo pop, sitting somewhere between The Get Up Kids and Cap'n Jazz, with the vocal performance leaning heavily towards the latter. Just prior to the album, the band also released a split 7" with Colt with two songs, one of which was rerecorded for the LP. This first LP is my favorite of the band's releases, a great slice of late-90s emo pop. The band also contributed a track to the great Achtung Autobahn compilation, along with Reno Kid. Another band on that compilation, The Robocop Kraus, may have proven very influential, given The Oliver Twist's future direction.

Their next album, 2001's Automatic Construct Kill, isn't too far removed from the first in many respects—depending on the song. It brings in a lot more influence from post-punk and post-hardcore, being a bit harder-edged in general and showing early signs of the band's eventual sound with additional usage of synths and electronic beats. Two years later, the band would release their third album in 2003, which saw them moving an even greater distance from their emo roots. This change was marked by different branding; they became The Oliver Twist Band, a less abstract and slightly more formal version of the same name. While noticeable traces of emo remain, especially the emocore revival of the aughts, new tricks and traps is really a post-punk\dance-punk album.

In 2006, the band would rename themselves again, this time to Eine Oliver Twist Kooperation, and embraced an electropunk sound that is well outside this blog's focus. If you're interested, you can find the album on Spotify. New tricks and traps is also on streaming, but for some reason is missing the ninth track.

The Oliver Twist

audreys dance

 Audreys Dance were a short-lived midwest emo band from Germany; I believe they were based in Nuremberg. They formed from the ashes of Jennifer Eight in the late 90s and were active for an indeterminate amount of time after. They appeared on a 2001 compilation but that could have been posthumously, and it's possible they weren't around past the turn of the millennium.

It's an continual emo tragedy that far, far too few bands have tried to sound like Christie Front Drive. Perhaps this is due to that seminal band's fundamental ineffability, as even the handful who have made the attempt never truly sound like CFD. But some have come close, and Audreys Dance came closer than most. Their mercilessly small discography is a straight shot of pure mid-90s midwest emo and in its best moments comes tantalizingly near to sounding like B-sides from Anthology.

The band's entire recorded output consists of three songs. The first two are on the self-titled 7" released on the great Millipede Records in 1999. The third is a compilation track, also from Millipede, on the love still has its meaning comp. According to the owner of the label, the band has live material that has yet to be digitized, so here's hoping that sees the light someday.

audreys dance