The Marriage of Math-Rock and Emo:

Style, Aesthetics, and Genre in American Football

Benjamin D. Krock
Analysis of Popular Music, Spring 2014
Florida State University
 Hardcore, Emo, Desperation, and Sensibilities

In the mid-1980's, an underground subgenre of Punk emerged: Hardcore. Frontiers of the

genre include bands such as Minor Threat and Black Flag, bands that were fed up with the

growing popularity and industrialization of Punk. Their style was a return to the DIY sensibilities

of early American punk with its cheap production quality, anyone-can-do-it technical prowess,

and breakneck tempos. There is an inherent rage in the sound of Hardcore; highly distorted

guitars and chaotic drumming accompany un-pitched yelling vocals. But there is an even more

drastic difference between Hardcore and mainstream Punk: the lyrical content. One such

example is Washington DC-based band, Rites of Spring, whose lyrics encompass topics of

depression, suicide, and agony. An excerpt of the lyrics from "By Design," from their 1985 self-

titled debut, is shown in Example 1. The lyrics seem to be confronting another person, and they

are filled with imagery of self-harm and blame. At its heart, the Hardcore of the mid-80's was

full of emotion, and Rites of Spring gave birth to a new wave of underground music: Emo

(Novarra and Henry 2009: footnote 17, 822).

Example 1 – Lyrical Clipping from “By Design”

 By the early-to-mid-90's, Emo developed into a genre with musical characteristics that

drew influence from Hardcore as well as indie. A distinction between Emo and its parent,

Hardcore, was possible in bands such as The Promise Ring, Cap'n Jazz, Braid, and Texas is the

Reason. Each of these bands held on to the aesthetic of Hardcore, but their musical landscape

was no longer that of homogeneous aggression: acoustic guitars, intimate vocals, and harmonies

beyond power chords intermingled with and served as a contrast to the fast tempos and

screaming of Hardcore.

This new wave of Emo was championed by Seattle-based band, Sunny Day Real Estate.

Their debut album, "Diary," was released in 1994, and it exhibits the multi-faceted musical

landscape that is now a staple in the genre. True to the title of the album, many of the lyrics on

"Diary" read as if they were taken directly from the diary of a heartbroken teenager. Example 2

contains lyrics from their "Song About an Angel." This lyrical clipping is taken from the

beginning of the song and is accompanied by a single, clean electric guitar and bass, the

transcription for which is contained in Example 3. Intimate lyrics and vocals express loss and the

inability to forget that which is lost, followed by a hopeless acceptance of the situation.

Example 2 – Lyrical Clipping from “Song About an Angel”

 Example 2 – Beginning of the Verse of “Song About an Angel”

The chromatically sinking bass line is light and droning, its syncopated lulling set against

open string harmonics in the guitar for the first eight measures, after which the guitar begins a

one-measure ostinato. A quartal triad, G-C-F, rings out, followed by syncopated arpeggiation and

a structural upper-neighbor, F-G-F. Three of the four measures in the riff are repeated, with the

last measure reaching upward to the third of a G-major triad as the bass leaps to the root. My

reading of this excerpt centers the song in the key of G-major, with the tonic arriving in the last

measure of each four-measure pattern. Off-tonic beginnings are common in Emo, a choice that is

mirrored by the thematic content: tonic is a goal for which to strive, granting a sense of

instability and longing to harmonic language.

 First Wave Math-Rock

Math-Rock as a genre was coined after a rather snarky remark: "I was having trouble

following along until I took out a calculator" (source unknown). One of its early pioneers was

Pittsburgh-based instrumental trio, Don Caballero, and although they are not credited as the first

band in the genre, they are considered indicative of the genre. Their 1995 album, Don Caballero

2, is often cited as the most important album in the first wave of Math-Rock. Theo Cateforis has

published on their song "Stupid Puma," and he focuses on their use of odd-cardinality time

signatures, shifting meters, and destabilizing tempo changes (2002: 244). However, the

characteristics he discusses are all rhythmic, leaving a huge gap in terms of stylistic definition.

Rhythm certainly plays a role in the sound of the band, but I would like to posit that other

features are equally important. For instance, timbre, guitar lead-lines, pitch-based ostinatos, and

a lack of solos are further defining characteristics of the album.

"Rollerblade Success Story" is the seventh track from the album. The song's initial

groove is in 7 and it features crunchy distortion with multiple, over-lapping ostinatos in the

guitar and bass. As it progresses, the metric issues brought up by Cateforis are foregrounded,

such as additive rhythmic processes, shifting meter, and asymmetrical groupings brought about

by seemingly random accents. The rhythmic technicalities harken back to the progressive rock of

the 70's, but the pitch material, timbre, and instrumentation point toward heavy metal influences.

However, as if anticipating any such remark, the liner notes which accompany the album state:

"Don Caballero is instrumental. Don Caballero is rock, not jazz. Don Caballero is free from

solos," which according to Cateforis is the closest to a math rock manifesto that exists. Within

the unofficial manifesto is a desire to distance harmonic complexities from those of past musical
styles, as well as to distance the virtuosity of the band from the wankery of guitar solos in metal

and rock. For Don Caballero, complexity is a genre-defining signifier, not a cause for idolization.

In his 2010 dissertation, "Anyone Can Do It: Traditions of Punk and the Politics of

Empowerment," Pete Dale identifies the emergence of Math-Rock as an outgrowth of late-80's

Punk. Dale's section on Math-Rock begins with a lengthy quote from Ramesh Gangoli's 2007

Perspectives of New Music article, "Music and Mathematics," which, in paraphrase, states that

musical creativity is centered around performance whereas mathematics is not meant for an

audience. Like Cateforis, Dale describes the genre as jagged and rhythmically complex, but goes

on to state that "perhaps this is only the surface of the mathematic element in math rock. The

hypothesis above is that mathematical creativity is more 'solitary' by nature than, by contrast,

musical creativity. Perhaps this, then, is in fact math rock's greatest difference from, say, regular

rock or more typical-sounding punk: the former is less concerned with straightforward

communication than the latter" (Dale 2010: 327). This is, of course, in reference to the first wave

of Math-Rock. Dale cites the bands' performances without speaking to the audience, lack of

vocal passages, and musical complexities ("sinuous, reflective, and subtle") as ways in which

math rock represses communication (2010: 327). So, if Math-Rock is unconcerned with

straightforward communication, then Emo is concerned with introspective journaling. Although

the two genres both eschew communication in favor of creativity, they seem musically

incompatible…that is, until American Football.

 American Football

This brings our near-sighted narrative to 1999 with the release of American Football's

self-titled album. The Illinois-based trio was fronted by Mike Kinsella, a former member of emo

power-group, Cap'n Jazz, and their sound was quite unique for its time. The album is often

referred to by “insiders” as a turning point in the stylistic tendencies of self-proclaimed Math-

Rock bands, and it represents a marriage of the first wave of Math-Rock with Emo. The

influence of Math-Rock on American Football can be heard in their use of odd-cardinality meters

and/or asymmetrical groupings within a meter or hypermetric group. Other aspects of Math-

Rock that seep into this release include instrumentation, multiple layers of guitar tracks, riff-

based composition, overlapping ostinatos, and metric dissonance (mostly of the grouping type).

Several of these aspects overlap with stylistic tendencies of Emo, including multiple layers of

guitar tracks and riff-based composition, but the aesthetic impulse of Emo does not include the

jaggedness of early Math-Rock. Whereas most early Math-Rock tends toward the chaotic and the

jarring, Emo is often relaxed and thoughtful. American Football’s self-titled album makes use of

the compositional elements of Math-Rock but tempers them with the aesthetic concerns of Emo.

A complete analysis of the album is beyond the scope of this presentation, but two songs

in particular highlight the distinctive sound of the band: the opening track, "Never Meant," and

my personal favorite, "I'll See You When We're Both Not So Emotional." My discussion will

center around five pillars of style in an attempt to illuminate the genre merger of Math-Rock and

Emo: aesthetics, lyrical content, rhythm, pitch-material, and form.

 Never Meant

Example 4 – Form Timeline of “Never Meant”

The overall construction of "Never Meant" appears to be a compound ABA, a timeline of

which appears in Example 4. Notice my use of the active verb “appears.” It is my opinion that

the underlying song is comprised of two large sections bookended by an instrumental intro/outro

pair that veils the underlying through-composed structure. This point will be returned to after a

more thorough discussion of the formal issues in this song. Example 5 contains the lyrics to

“Never Meant,” as well as the formal units that they comprise. A more nuanced form chart is

included in Example 6. Note: the outro is instrumental, and as such does not appear on this

example.

Example 5 – Lyrics/Form of “Never Meant

 Example 6 – Nuanced Form Chart for “Never Meant”

After a joking sound-check, the drummer clicks off six beats before the band enters,

suggesting a 6/4 time signature. However, the accents in the drums divide the 12-beat pattern of

the song's main riff asymmetrically into groups of 4+3+3+2. Set against this asymmetry, the

guitar lead-line fits nicely in 6/4, creating a grouping dissonance that drives the hypermeter. At

first, the riff is comprised of a guitar lead-line and drums, but after four repetitions, the bass and

a second guitar part are added and the riff is repeated another four times, as shown in Example 7.

Although each individual part is its own ostinato, the bass seems in control of the harmony with

its cyclic repetition of F-G-A-G. Against this, the guitar ostinatos outline a C-major triad,

grounding the song in the key of C-major. Harmonically, then, the progression is IV-V-vi-V.

Finally, the voice enters to complete the accumulation of parts and to launch us into what I have

labelled the independent verse

 Example 7 – Intro from “Never Meant”

The lyrical content of the song is similar in thematic content to the diary-esque style of

Sunny Day Real Estate's "Song About an Angel." It is a one-sided conversation (or letter)

addressed at an ex-lover. Mike Kinsella's musings form a narrative arch, starting with a memory

of better times in the relationship, through an autumn night of realization, and culminating in a

silent plea for both halves to forget everything…the good and the bad. His vocal style is light and

intimate; it lacks the aggression of Rites of Spring, melding smoothly with the clean, creamy

tone of the electric guitars.

As the song progresses into the transition, guitar one's ostinato goes unchanged but the

harmony remains statically on the IV chord. Mike Kinsella's slowly delivered text culminates in

the line, "we were falling out of love," and signals a formal move into what I have called the

interlude. At this point, the harmony shifts to vi. The text is then delivered in spoken word over a

harmonic oscillation between vi and V. Due to the weight given to the IV chord in the song so

far, this oscillation seems as if it is pulling down to IV…a goal which is finally achieved,

preparing the arrival of the climax. A transcription of the interlude is provided in Example 8.
 Example 8 – Interlude from “Never Meant”

Before continuing, it is important to revisit some of Brad Osborn's formal methodology,

specifically his idea of autonomous and non-autonomous sections. He defines autonomous

sections as “only the verse and chorus, with a provisional extension granted for particularly

memorable interverses” (Osborn 2010: 66). Conversely, non-autonomous are defined as “formal

structures […] that connect and flow between the autonomous verse[s] and chorus[es], much like

transitions between themes in sonata form" (Osborn 2010: 68). Further, the formal functions of

non-autonomous sections are best explained in terms of their surrounding sections. One last point

Osborn makes: songs must have at least one autonomous section, but can exclude non-

autonomous sections entirely (Osborn 2010: 68). This last point combined with the definition of
non-autonomous sections leads me to believe that any two consecutive sections cannot both be

non-autonomous.

What I have labeled as an independent verse is autonomous, but the following two

sectional divisions are non-autonomous. The transition functions as a harmonic resting point (IV)

for the previous verse, highlighting its importance as the goal of the A section's riff ostinati. In a

sense, the energy that was achieved by the layering of ostinati flows into the transition, its

momentum crashing like waves on a shore. However, the instrumental interlude functions to

rebuild the energy lost by the brief reflective quality of the transition. The previous grouping

dissonance between the drums, bass, and guitar is replaced by a 4/4 meter. The hypermeter

accents the harmony vi as it oscillates to and from V—building energy against a backdrop of

muffled, spoken lyrics—before finally falling, through V, to IV. The arrival of IV serves as a

dominant function, pointing toward the arrival of the much-anticipated tonic harmony that begins

the climax. In a sense, the interlude section picks up the pieces of the transition, concludes the

entire A section, and is initiatory in terms of the B section's arrival.

There is no doubt that both of these sections are non-autonomous: the transition is

completely static in terms of harmony, and the interlude is instrumental (with spoken lyrics heard

at a low dynamic). The duality arises not in their status as autonomous or non-autonomous, but

in their functions as non-autonomous sections in relation to their surrounding sections. Dualistic

formal functions like the ones described above are common in the new wave of Math-Rock.

However, they are not products of bands trying to be overly complicated; a certain amount of

ambiguity fits the aesthetic.

As the song progresses from the IV chord goal of the interlude into the climax, tonic

finally arrives. Despite the drummer's accents, the climax is felt clearly in 4/4, tonic is prevalent,
and the emotional expression is optimistic. The guitar lead-line is a two-measure ostinato; its

first measure outlines the perfect 5th between C and G with an incomplete lower neighbor on

beats 1 and 3. In contrast, the second measure features an upper neighbor pattern E-F-E-F before

arpeggiating down an A-minor triad. The first four measures of the climax are shown in Example

9. However, set against a one-measure harmonic rhythm in the other guitar and bass, the climax

is less straight forward hypermetrically; each of the two repeats is made up of 12 measures with

multiple hypermetric interpretations. My hypermetric interpretation of choice places downbeat

emphasis on tonic arrivals, creating a 5+7 asymmetrical grouping, as shown in Example 10. This

asymmetry causes an offset between the 2-measure lead-line ostinato and the hypermeter, with

the arrival of a hypermetric downbeat occurring in the middle of the lead-line.

Example 9 – First 4 mm. of the Climax from “Never Meant”

Example 10 – Hypermetric Dissonance - Climax

 Musically, this truly feels like a climax: tonic is finally attained, the guitar lead-line is in

the upper register (and feels "too happy"), and the drums keep a steady backbeat. Veiled by the

hypermetric dissonance and sparse vocals, the climax is, at heart, a pop song. The 12-measure

pattern of the climax makes two complete repetitions and begins a third before dropping into the

post-climax (shown in Example 11). Doubled harmonic rhythm, a new, stepwise descending

lead-line, and the constantly interrupted flow of energy every two measures are all contributing

factors to the Affect of struggle in this section. Emotions run high, and Mike Kinsella's voice

strains to get out the words, "so let’s just pretend, everything and anything, between you and me,

was never meant." This is the lyrical high-point; it is, in a sense, the revealing culmination of the

song's trajectory. Yet, its arrival does not coincide with the musical climax: an alignment that

could never be.

Example 11 – Post-Climax from “Never Meant”

As the last of this line is sung, the end of the post-climax is elided with the beginning of

the outro, highlighting the return of previously heard material. However, I suggested earlier that

the song is a hidden through-composition. My reading of it as such is based on the narrative

trajectory, in which Mike Kinsella urges his ex-lover to forget their entire relationship. In a
sense, the outro is a forced remembrance, an obsession, even, of a time before the two lovers

were together, a time before physical, emotional, and formal tensions existed.

I’ll See You When We’re Both Not So Emotional

Example 12 – Form Timeline for “Emotional”

Unlike "Never Meant," "I'll See You When We're Both Not So Emotional" ("Emotional,"

from here on out) is much more straightforward in terms of formal construction. There are two

large sections, as shown in Examples 12 and 13: Section I is comprised of two repetitions of a

three-part unit and Section II is a terminal climax1. The lyrics mirror this construction, as

evidenced by Example 14: the first two stanzas are four lines long and structured the same way,

followed by a two-line stanza. Similar to "Never Meant," this song's lyrical content is a one-

sided conversation directed at a soon-to-be ex-lover. Mike Kinsella seems concerned with topics

such as honesty, misunderstanding, motivations, and regrets, topics that seem fitting for

introspective journaling.

1Brad Osborn defines Terminally-Climactic Form as a phenomenon wherein “a single

autonomous, non-recapitulatory section at the end functions as the song’s most memorable
moment” (Osborn 2010: 108).
 Example 13 – Nuanced Form Chart for “Emotional”

Example 14 – Lyrics and Form for “Emotional”

Several aspects of the first subsection contribute to my reading of it as a verse. Lyrically,

the verse introduces the narrative of the song, and the melody is rhythmically unstable. The first

harmony heard is tonic in first inversion, but other than that, tonic does not occur on a strong part

of the verse’s hypermeter. Overlapping ostinati (both pitch-based and rhythmic) in the guitars

and bass drive the section rather than harmony, which is a characteristic of American Football’s

style, but the syncopation in the bass contrasts the expected “quarter-note drive” of a typical

chorus. Example 16 shows the first eight measures of the verse.

 Example 16 – mm. 1-8 of the Verse from “Emotional”

The verse is tonally ambiguous, playing on the relative major/minor relationship between

B-major and G#-minor. Already showing my hand (so to speak), I mentioned that it begins on a

first inversion tonic; I hear it in B-major. However, there are arguments for both. Other, less

tonally ambiguous sections of the song are in B-major, but that doesn't rule out the possibility of

an expressive modulation at some point. The guitar ostinato is clearly prolonging a G#-minor

triad with a seventh, but it could be interpreted as tonic (with an add6) prolonged by an

incomplete neighbor 6/4 in B-major2. Measures 9-16 are the second 8-measure grouping of the

verse, and G#-minor is the hypermetrical downbeat (Example 17). Regardless of the initial

2The G5 could also be read as a superposition of an inner voice, in which case B-major would be
prolonged by means of a passing tone between F# and D#.
ambiguity, by the end of the verse there is a strong sense of B-major, and the arrival of the next

formal section, "This," solidifies a B-major tonal center.

Example 17 – mm. 9-16 of the Verse from “Emotional”

In the second subsection, “This,” two new guitar ostinati emerge making use of scale-

^ 2-
^ 3^ and 1-
^ 7-
^ 6,
^ respectively, at a rhythmic ratio of 1:3 (Example 18). Additionally, the
degrees 1-

bass is tacet, the drums cease to play a "beat," and the harmonic motion (though implied in my

form chart) is static: one of the guitar parts fills in the major 3rd between 1^ and 3.
^ Both the strong

beat arrival on tonic and the rhythmically stable melody create the sense of arrival as the verse

moves into "This." The trouble of understanding the relationship of the verse and "This" comes

into play with the duality of expectations that are simultaneously realized and conflicting.
Whereas the texture, dynamics, and stasis signify "This" as a non-autonomous section, the

memorable and rhythmically simple melody (as well as its verbatim repeat of text later) point

toward hearing this as serving the function of a chorus. In a perfect world, a dualistic

interpretation would be preferable, but dualistic functions are not accounted for in traditional

formal labels. I have opted to consider this section as being non-autonomous since,

hierarchically, it concludes the verse and leads into the following section, "That": It has both

ending and transitional functions.

Example 18 – “This” from “Emotional”

The return of the bass's rhythmic ostinato from the verse marks the beginning of "That,"

as shown in Example 19. Additionally, the texture is bolstered even more by the return of a

steady beat in the drums and strummed chords in the guitars (which had previously been focused

on ostinati). In these ways, "That" is similar to the verse. However, harmonically, “That” differs

from the verse; it features vi moving to IV before arriving at bVII. Retrospectively, the

subdominant harmony is understood to be a secondary dominant of the goal harmony, bVII.

Mark Spicer states that bVII often substitutes for V as a dominant in rock music (Spicer 2004:
44), and that seems to be the case here. Harmonic and melodic issues are, however, not the

analytically challenging aspects of "That."

Example 19 – “That” from “Emotional”

As explored in the discussion of "This," the formal function of "That" is difficult to

pinpoint: it seems to be a logical move after "This," but the similarities and dissimilarities with

the verse create a disconnect of fulfilled expectations. Its connection to the verse—the bass’s

rhythmic ostinato—creates the illusion of “That” as a reminiscence of the verse, but its shorter

length, slower harmonic rhythm, lack of independent lyrics, and transitional harmonies suggest

that it is non-autonomous. If "This" is heard as being non-autonomous, it carries with it an

expectation to hear an autonomous section immediately following it. However, the brevity and

directed harmonic motion of "That" mark it as transitional, and it does, in fact, return to the
recapitulated verse. Once again, the duality of functions apparently at work in "That" defy

traditional formal labels.

After a repeat of the three-subsection unit, the energy built up by "That" dissipates: the

texture drops to two, soft guitars, the driving 4/4 is replaced by a lulling 6/4, and the lead-line

ostinato wanders aimlessly as it prolongs a B-major sonority (Example 20). After four repeats,

what I have called the chorus arrives. The one-measure ostinati in both guitars remain, set now

against a two-measure harmonic rhythm. Lyrically, the chorus is the turning point of the story; it

is a confession of leaving--both informative and reflective, reaffirming. The chorus progression

(IV-I6-V64-I) repeats twice, with the final V-I resolution elided into a coda (Example 21).

Tonic's arrival in the coda is held motionless for two measures as Mike Kinsella slowly states,

"I'll see you when we're both not so emotional." With the arrival of "emotional" in the lyrics, the

bass leaps to scale-degree 4, followed a quarter-note later by the trichord E-B-D# (EM7 with no

3rd) to end the song. True to the last line of text, there is no real resolution (Example 22).

Example 20 – Climax Intro from “Emotional”

 Example 21 – Climax Chorus from “Emotional”

Example 22 – End of Chorus into Coda from “Emotional”

 Conclusions and Further Research

Aesthetically and stylistically, American Football represents a marriage of Math-Rock

and Emo. The asymmetrical groupings, lead-line ostinatos, interlocking guitar parts, and odd

hypermeters of Math-Rock coexist with the intimate vocal cooing, thematic content, harmonic

simplicity, rhythmic flow, and clean guitar tone of mid-90's Emo. Many of the issues covered in

this analysis are present in other tracks from the 1999 album, suggesting a thoughtful

homogeneity. And although this analysis can serve as an insight into the style of American

Football, I find it more useful as a specimen against which other, later Math-Rock and Emo

bands can be compared. For instance, similar features are present in the music of bands such as

empire! empire! (i was a lonely estate), The Speed of Sound in Seawater, This Town Needs

Guns; just to name a few. In a sense, American Football's marriage of Math-Rock and Emo is a

literal marriage; the majority of bands in the new wave of Math-Rock make heavy use of certain

aesthetics from Emo.

Genre studies is a touchy area in post-millennial music. With the advent of the internet

and the sharing capabilities it possesses for musicians, the wealth of musical discoveries to be

made is open to all. Such accessibility at all times gives bands a wide range of styles to listen to,

since geography, money, and travel are no longer issues. Websites such as last.fm provide users

with a tool for discovering bands with similar styles using genre tags. These tags are, I believe, a

much more fruitful way of discussing genre in the 21st-century. As we saw with American

Football, the intricacies of musical homage, borrowing, and stylistic tendencies are not always

straightforward, and subaltern bands are not concerned with adhering to one style alone.

In 2005, Ryan Hibbett published his article, “What is Indie Rock?” He spends minimal

time discussing musical characteristics, focusing instead on social issues—fitting, given the
journal in which it is published. Indie rock is not only categorized based on musical

characteristics, but also "as a method of social differentiation as well as a marketing tool"

(Hibbett 2005: 55). Hibbett conjures social theorist Pierre Bourdieu's notion of "cultural capital"

as a means of describing the need for indie bands to constantly challenge conventions: "Cultural

capital can cease to have value as it becomes increasingly accessible" (Hibbett 2005: 64). While

this is true for the underground music of the 90's and early 2000's, it does not seem true for

second wave Math-Rock. Post-American Football Math-Rock bands vary drastically in

individual style, but their experimental attitude is mostly concerned with how to incorporate

other styles into their own sound. This runs contrary to the aesthetic proposed by Hibbett, who

shifts the focus away from experimentation and toward rejection of a corporate sound.

To make a return to the question I posed earlier: If Math-Rock is unconcerned with

straightforward communication, and Emo is concerned with introspective journaling, then what

is second wave Math-Rock (post-American Football) concerned with? I answer with another

question: just what is second wave Math-Rock? The bands mentioned above are shockingly

difference in aesthetic, style, and content…yet the term “Math-Rock” ties them all together.

Perhaps Math-Rock is not a genre, but rather a tag.

As a closing thought, I would like to stress that I do not believe in thick histories.

Individual actors and accounts of their actions are not a valid method for discussing trajectories

in music, genres, or anything else. My approach, instead, has been one of Foucauldian

genealogy, wherein aspects of the past are prone to re-appearing without the need for invoking

the anxiety of influence. With a method such as this, the field of genre studies in post-millennial

subaltern music has a fighting chance.

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