5 Underrated Emo Songs From the Early 2000s

The standard emo playlists on your various streaming services are a who’s who of early 2000s bands like My Chemical Romance, Underoath, and Dashboard Confessional.

Even though there’s comfort in listening to “Helena” for the 4 billionth time, don’t you occasionally want the list to switch up and play some stuff you forgot about or maybe never heard at all?

I’m going to assume you answered with an emphatic “yes!” and offer you five, count ’em, FIVE… emo songs from the bygone era, that you absolutely should give another chance, or hear for the first time.

Further Seems Forever – “Monachetti”

There’s just too much lore to fully unpack here, but suffice it to say: Elder Emos will remember that, years before he started Dashboard Confessional as a solo project, Chris Carrabba was the frontman for emo-rock band Further Seems Forever (which emerged out of the defunct hardcore band Strongarm). He left the band after their debut album, The Moon Is Down, but later returned and sang on the band’s fourth album, Penny Black (2012), which is, for lack of a better phrase… so fucking good.

Anyway… that first Further Seems Forever album is deeply underrated (all of them are, honestly), but maybe none of the songs are more unfairly overlooked than “Monachetti,” the fourth track. It’s literally a perfect emo song, full of desperation, sung to a hectic melody and ending on a painfully throaty scream.

Armsbendback – “The Arms of Automation”

Among the deluge of bands like Taking Back Sunday, Emery, and Story of the Year, there are bands like Armsbendback, who just couldn’t seem to claw their way to the surface, even though they wrote songs just as good as their more popular peers.

“The Arms of Automation” is a song that I’ve always felt would have been bigger if it had just been able to reach a wider audience. It’s catchy and has an infectious, crunchy guitar riff that you cannot help but nod your head to.

Mae – “This Time is The Last Time”

Is Mae underrated? I mean, in comparison to many of their peers, yes. But, in terms of their music having a loyal following, I would say they were — and continued to be — pretty successful.

While their sophomore album, The Everglow, is generally considered to be their best work, you gotta go back to Mae’s debut album, Destination: Beautiful, for what I think is one of their most underrated songs, “This Time Is the Last Time.” It builds so perfectly, and you could even call it an archetype for the acoustic emo-rock sound from that era.

A Thorn for Every Heart – “February”

Look, I genuinely hate doing comparisons — even though I’ve done like 3 of them on this list already — but if you love bands like Silverstein and Hawthorne Heights but haven’t heard of A Thorn for Every Heart, you simply have to rectify that now.

Their whole 2004 debut, Things Aren’t So Beautiful Now, has been tragically slept on, but if you only hear one underrated song from this underrated emo album, it needs to be “February.” Complete, with well-crafted dueling vocals and a driving sing-along chorus, this track absolutely holds up against all of the early 2000s emo competition.

Waking Ashland – “Hands on Deck”

OK, so if you’ve read any original features I’ve done over the last few months, you’ll know I tend to cheat a little on these lists and occasionally get a tad personal, which I’m 100 percent going to do again here.

I discovered Waking Ashland in 2005, maybe about half a year into dating my wife, Shandi. I’m literally just realizing as I type this that we first found out about them when they opened for Mae at a show at The End in Nashville, TN. They played this song, “Hands on Deck,” a very slow, somber piano tune about a painful breakup, so obviously it became our song, because nothing is more us than finding beauty in sorrow, apparently. How Emo, right?

Months later, I proposed to her while the band played the song, after dedicating it to her at a show she didn’t even know I was at. When I found out they were going to be back in Nashville, I emailed their record label and explained my situation, that I wanted to get in touch with the band and see if they would help me propose to my girlfriend.

I eventually got an email back (shoutout to whoever at Tooth & Nail answered that message because without you I’d have been shit outta luck), and was put in touch with Waking Ashland’s tour manager who got me on the phone with the band’s singer/main songwriter, Jonathan Jones. He was very confused as to why his song about gutwrenching heartbreak had found a hopeful meaning in our relationship, but was still super excited and offered to help me make the proposal happen.

Ahead of the show, I told Shandi I had to work but that she should still go with her friends. What she didn’t know was that they were in on it and knew I would be there waiting for my moment to propose. The guys in Waking Ashland were very cool and let me hang out backstage until their set, so she wouldn’t see me. Everyone was super nice and made me feel comfortable when I was INCREDIBLY nervous.

Finally, it was time for Waking Ashland’s set. Jonathan and I had worked out a plan that he would dedicate the song to Shandi, and that’s when I would propose. I still vividly remember him saying, “There’s a lot of beauty in this world and we’re always happy when we can be a part of it and, for that reason, we’d like to dedicate this song to Shandi.”

I emerged from the side of the stage as I watched her trying to make sense of what she had just heard. As I approached her, she greeted me with an endearing, “Shut up!” (This is also kind of a great analogy for our relationship.) I got down on one knee, asked her to marry me, and the rest is two decades of history. Roughly a year later, she walked down the aisle to “Hands on Deck” at our wedding.

All that to say… I feel very strongly that, even if the others don’t land for you, this is one underrated emo song I know I’m not wrong about.