A Look Back at 2000s Pinoy Emo: Tonight We Sleep, Maryzark, And More

With Underoath having concluded their first-ever show in Manila last February, Saosin, Hawthorne Heights, Dashboard Confessional, and The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus performing in the country this week, and the much-awaited Philippine Arena concert of My Chemical Romance happening this November, it can’t be denied that nostalgia for emo music from the aughts (when bands actually didn’t like being called “emo”) among Filipino fans is at an all-time high.

We wouldn’t call it a resurgence, as local torchbearers Typecast and Chicosci have been at it since the genre’s heyday, while more recent underground acts like Irrevocable, Warpten (and its offshoots emma bot and Mindless Pop), The Mind Is A Terrible Thing, Lindenwood, Tidal, and more have offered different variations of the sound to younger ears. (And let’s not forget the American Football-influenced math rock scene that included the likes of Run Dorothy and tide/edit in the 2010s.)

Here, we look back at some notable homegrown bands that existed during the height of emo, and while some of them are still actively gigging, most remain either dormant or sporadically releasing new music, while others have thrown in the towel after years of playing shows and making records (for them, it was just a phase). Dive in and let their music take you back to when skinny jeans, chain wallets, and To Write Love On Her Arms t-shirts were all the rage.

Tonight We Sleep

Before singer-songwriter Argee Guerrero tugged heartstrings with an acoustic guitar as I Belong To The Zoo, he did the same with chugging, distorted riffs as the frontman of Tonight We Sleep, a post-hardcore quartet that formed in 2007. While they never classified themselves as such, Guerrero’s apparent Dashboard Confessional-inspired lyricism and the band’s melodic guitar arrangements conveniently put them under the “emo” umbrella. Despite Guerrero’s current focus on his other project, Tonight We Sleep haven’t officially called it quits, and fans are still hoping for new music or a comeback show from the band.

Plane Divides The Sky

Initially influenced by metalcore bands like Poison The Well, The Dillinger Escape Plan, and the like, Plane Divides The Sky’s music caught attention with its intricate, almost jazzy guitar work and singer Alexis Sarmiento’s impassioned, melodic vocals, which were all over their 2003 debut record Panic In The Skies. Second album The Campaign To Capture was released in 2006, and the band is currently in the studio completing its long-awaited follow-up.

Angulo

Manila-based quintet Angulo (Filipino for “angle”) chose their band name as a reflection of their diverse perspectives on music, but as a unit, they were tight and dynamic, honing their craft gigging with the likes of Urbandub and taking pointers from their heroes during their heyday. The band released their only album Blur The White Lines in 2006, produced by Urbandub’s Gabby Alipe, which featured fan favorites like “FLS,” “The Best Mistake,” and “Salita.” The band played their final show in October 2023 as a benefit for drummer Niko Dinglasan, who sadly passed away last December after a long illness.

13 Needles

Notable for having not just one, but three lead singers, 13 Needles were also among the few bands that publicly proclaimed that they were emo, having personally witnessed co-vocalist Chowie Antonio declare “Emo kami (We’re emo)” to the audience at an early 2000s show. While not much information on the seven-piece band exists on the Internet, their lone EP and the music video for “Cab One” (with camera work by future Heneral Luna and Goyo cinematographer Pong Ignacio) can be streamed on YouTube.

Maryzark

If an artist could leave a lasting mark on Filipino music with just one song, then Maryzark should have become stars on the basis of “Kai” alone. Distinctly armed with orchestral keyboards that set them apart from the pack, Maryzark came up with a grandiose and anthemic brand of emo that recalled late-‘80s Pinoy rock hitmakers After Image as much as it drew the black-clad, skinny-jeans-and-sideswept-bangs crowd. Additionally, most of their best tracks are sung in Filipino by charismatic frontman Ice Gecolea, giving their music a distinctly local flavor and appeal.

Effinboiche

Paramore were so influential to local musicians in the mid-2000s that almost every female-fronted pop-punk band was in danger of being labeled as a Paramore clone, and Effinboiche were no exception. The winners of a brand-sponsored nationwide school band competition in 2006, Effinboiche silenced naysayers with sheer talent and singer Alex Fuentes’ undeniable set of pipes. The band reunited in 2019 after a 12-year hiatus and has since released three singles that showcased a darker and more mature sound.

Blue Boy Bites Back

Formed in the mid-2000s, this quintet that leaned more towards the pop-punk side of emo didn’t release their debut album until 2013, but that only made Hello Stranger, Goodbye Stranger a product of years of gigging, sharpening their songwriting, and lineup changes that resulted in a more cohesive unit. Often lined up with scene-mates like Jejaview, Chicosci, and other bands in Nick Automatic tees, Blue Boy Bites Back have oddly not posted any updates on their Facebook page since May 2020, leaving their status up in the air.

Walk Me Home

Laguna has long been regarded as the ground zero of Filipino emo, being the birthplace of many of the country’s earliest emo bands (like On A Day Like Today, Mellow Del Prado, Too Late The Hero, and of course, Typecast). Much of the Laguna scene was heavily influenced by second wave (or “Midwest”) emo acts like The Get Up Kids, American Football, The Promise Ring, and more, and San Pablo City’s Walk Me Home is no exception, serving up melodic post-hardcore that’s both sonically nostalgic and lyrically vulnerable.

Nyctinasty

One all-female quartet that was excluded (or saved) from Paramore comparisons was Nyctinasty, but that’s partly because singer/guitarist Noodle Perez’s vocals bore a resemblance to Coheed and Cambria’s Claudio Sanchez. Their songs were similarly epic, heavy, and mindblowingly technical, as the band brought a high level of musicality and consistency to their live sets. Nyctinasty released one excellent album (2010’s Camping Indoors) and several singles before reformatting as a trio — now calling themselves Thirds — in 2018.

Save Me Hollywood

On the other hand, one now-defunct group that did sound like Paramore is Save Me Hollywood, an emo supergroup fronted by singer-songwriter and media personality Julz Savard. Whether or not the homage was intentional, their records (2013’s Your Story To Tell and 2015’s Headlights EP) were positively catchy, and while arguably derivative, the band possessed a degree of scene credibility by having members of April Morning Skies, Chicosci, and Typecast in its lineup.