In this, the decade of emo’s revival, with young bands refashioning the sound as a vital component of contemporary indie-rock and the 90s bands that inspired them playing reunion shows to larger crowds, it’s been encouraging to see folks reexamine the genre’s past. Finally, after decades of the midwest largely (and perhaps rightfully) being remembered for emo projects associated with the Kinsella family, young listeners have the tools to get a better sense of all the other bands who’d fill out weekday shows at the Fireside Bowl in the mid-90s—and see those bands too. In Giants Chair, a Kansas City band that dropped a couple LPs on crucial Nebraska label Caulfield before bowing out in 1997, emo’s midwestern aesthetic found a strong spiritual link to San Diego’s influential posthardcore community—the three-piece cut forlorn melodies with serrated guitars like Pennywise chomping after children in It. Giants Chair reemerged earlier this year, playing a benefit show in February and uploading a couple of lean brand-new tracks to Bandcamp in June; “Featureless Horizon” and “The Streets” cost a buck each, and according to the group’s Facebook page, each sale goes toward paying for the recording of Giants Chair’s forthcoming third full-length. v
Kansas City three-piece Giants Chair show how some 90s emo bands went hard
