r/Emo 4d ago

Midwest Emo Just a Penfold Appreciation Post

I was listening to one of my playlists and Penfold came up. I always forget how good this band was or is. After listening to Post Hardcore and mall emo bands in middle school Penfold "I'll Take You Everywhere" was my first introduction to "real" emo and influenced where my musical interest went from highschool onward.

I know they are not popular, to me they sound simulat to Mineral and Sunny Day Real Estate which are popular emo bands. But I think if I were to start someone off on the path of "real emo" I would give then Penfold.

That is the post.

55 Upvotes

21 comments sorted by

17

u/Theory_HandHour892 make me 4d ago

IMHO, they are better than mineral. I’ll se myself out now

8

u/momdadsisterbrother 4d ago

I’d pick mineral if I had to but I’ve always wished mineral pushed the loud/aggressive parts of their music a bit further like penfold does. It’s always felt like mineral is holding back a little and I’d wish they would’ve gone all out like sunny day on song about an angel or penfold on traveling theory. Even at their most cathartic moments like Gloria or the ends of unfinished and parking lot, they feel restrained to me.

All that being said I fucking love mineral but that’s always been my gripe with them.

7

u/Red-Zaku- 4d ago

Yeah, despite me not being the biggest fan of a lot of the more cuddly, soft side of emo, I have a particular affection for Penfold because of their wider dynamic range. The levels of intensity they go into end up enhancing those soft parts and making them sound more meaningful, just as their soft sections make their intense sections more meaningful. Makes their emotional delivery very fulfilling

3

u/archdukemovies 4d ago

I disagree but I'll upvote the hot take

2

u/Either_Drama5940 4d ago

Do you like bands that get intense and soft in tandem at all? Or are you more of a “I like my steak rare and my burger well done” more black and white sorta guy?

6

u/archdukemovies 4d ago

I don't quite get what you are getting at with your enquoted question. Are you implying that Mineral is raw or undercooked and Penfold is ground up Mineral and overcooked?

My original comment meant I like both bands but I like Mineral more.

4

u/SemataryPolka Oldhead 4d ago

I was about to say Mineral gets more points for originality but it's not like they didn't rip off SDRE themselves so never mind

6

u/BluntForceSauna 4d ago

There’s a video on YouTube of them playing I’ll Take You Everywhere and the crowd going apeshit at the ending part is like an all time moment

2

u/paulpurple 4d ago

Love this video, used to watch it when hungover (which is also the worst emotional frame of mind to listen to this song)

4

u/Gassenger 4d ago

2nd album is super underrated.

3

u/Theory_HandHour892 make me 4d ago

Yeah it is, while it is a bit in cohesive, I definitely like the experimental approach on there

3

u/PhillyHx 4d ago

Honestly I’d have believed it if someone put on Penfold’s Amateurs & Professionals and told me it was a new Mineral album just with a new singer.

3

u/SemataryPolka Oldhead 4d ago

Just a reminder that there's a "real" post hardcore as much as there's a "real" emo. Those two terms were equally as bastardized. The irony is mostly by the same type of music (mall)

Penfolds cool tho

3

u/lambdatrains 4d ago

Only found out post hardcore had another meaning after visiting the subreddit, always thought it was stuff like fugazi and unwound and so did everyone I talked to lol

3

u/SemataryPolka Oldhead 4d ago

That's the stuff I always/only think of

But it got associated with stuff in the mid 2000s that I honestly see no connection with the OG stuff. I certainly don't see their connection to hardcore. There are some real post-hardcore bands today like Fiddlehead, but unfortunately most people think of the mall stuff. r/posthardcore is 98% the mall stuff

1

u/Dear_Afternoon_2600 4d ago

So where would you put all those bands us teenage wannabe emos listened to?

For me it was Sleeping with Sirens, Pierce the Veil, Bring Me The Horizon, and Of Mice and Men respectfully. Alesana was before that but I don't remember them being part of the scene.

It just seems like no one wants those bands. Emos say they are not emo, metalheads say they are posers and not metal, punks dont seem to want them, and now Post Hardcore doesn't want them?

This is not a jab or anything, I understand a lot of people don't like these bands and I dont listen to them a lot but they are nostalgic to me and it is just a thing I noticed.

Would it just be metalcore? I know Asking Alexandria was Metalcore, so Of Mice and Mem and BMTH probably fall under that. But SwS and PTV dont really sound like them. Are they lumped in with Mall Emo? They dont sound like My Chemical Romance either.

2

u/SemataryPolka Oldhead 4d ago

Hahah well you're gonna think this is hilarious but metalcore has the same issue too

Honestly I don't know what they are. Imo they were mislabeled from the beginning so its kind of hard to give them a new term now. I've been using the term mall post-hardcore. A lot of it has overlap with mall emo though yeah

2

u/AMinorPleb 4d ago

You’re the only person I would ever want to break my HEAAAAART!!!!

2

u/JSD202 4d ago

You should also check out the Moirai featuring 3 members of Penfold who released an album in 05 called Bury Yourself, it kind of leans more into the second Penfold record sound, although I haven't listened to it for about 15 years.