The Most Important Screamo Songs of All Time

by Hugh Schmidt

Bulletproof - Scary Kids Scaring Kids

Taking their name from a song by whitebelt legends Cap'n Jazz, Arizona skramz legends Scary Kids Scaring Kids released one of the best screamo EP's of all time with 2005's After Dark. Contained on this EP is "Bulletproof". which is an absolute ripper of a track and betrays the heavy powerviolence influence on the genre at this time (other tracks on this record like "My Knife, Your Throat" have a steady build and rise to a crescendo, showing the influence bands like Envy had on them). Vocalist Tyson Stevens shows incredible vocal range on this track, from melodic cleans to throat shredding screams. These vocals are supplemented by screams from keyboardist Pouyan, which themselves would have a great influence on The Blood Brothers record Young Machetes. "Bulletproof" itself is marked by fantastic guitar work and steady double bass drumming, and it's a song that they simply couldn't top on their next few records.

Stick Stickly - Attack Attack!

Proving that you can be Christian and skram at the same time, Attack Attack! were an incredibly influential band in the scene and aspects of their sound can be found in modern day Christian screamo acts like Soul Glo and Ostraca. Unknown to most, this project was actually started by Orchid vocalist (and Pitchfork writer) Jayson Green, who was replaced by Austin Carlile in the early stages of its existence. "Stick Stickly" is an incredibly important track, and one that greatly improves on the style of screamo that Orchid pioneered. With heavier and sicker riffs than that band ever had, it is punishing and unrelentless. It combines heavy, chugging guitar riffs with eurodance production, something which had never been seen before. This track pulls through with lyrics that put other emo bands to shame: "Bow your head, Go on live/ This is the time to let yourself go/ Lord, pick me off the ground". A band that wrote better lyrics that Billy Werner ever could manages to worship our Lord and Savior at the same time? Let's see more emo bands like this in 2018, please.

Ohio Is For Lovers - Hawthorne Heights

With those legendary lyrics "cut my wrists and black my eyes", Hawthorne Heights solidified their status as skramz legends with "Ohio Is For Lovers". Hawthorne Heights, despite operating in relative obscurity for most of their existence, are extremely important in the genre's history. A beautiful love letter to their wonderful state, this song shouts out the things that make Ohio great, like the Columbus Metropolitan Library System and U.S. President Warren G. Harding. With slow, building verses that explode into the heavy downpicked choruses, the band manages to pay homage to their predecessors like Still Life and Policy of 3 while simultaneously exploring new territory for the genre. With haunting guitar lines and vocal melodies, this song inspired many young kids to pick up some white studded belts and start their own bands.

Never Meant - American Football

American Football's "Never Meant" is a song that would forever change the world of skramz as we know it today. This is screamo at its most unrestrained and wild, with high pitched "bird screech" vocals cutting through the frantic and technical din provided by drummer Steve Lamos and the octave chord riffage from guitarist Steve Homes. Vocalist Mike Kinsella (formerly of Indian Summer) produces some of the most bone-chilling screams I've ever heard to this day, and with a runtime of a minute and a half this song leaves the listener wanting more. The screamo community as a whole certainly couldn't "just forget everything said" in this track, as it continues to influence bands to this day. In fact, if you listen closely, last year's Massa Nera effort Los Pansamientos De una Cara Palidais actually just "Never Meant" but played slowly enough to take up an entire LP. Kinsella and co. may have disappointed us with their 2016 comeback record, but this song stands the test of time.

by Nathan Sheridan