This review was originally written On March 26,2025 for Instagram:
The second wave was innovative for a plethora of reasons. But if I had to pick one, it was the perfection of emo pop. By the late 1990s, the genre was taking a multitude of different forms, and one of those was pop.
But not the pop you hear on the radio. It was emo pop, and it is unlike radio pop it had gravity and emotional weight. Bands like the Get Up Kids were seen as the catalyst for emo pop in their second record, "Something to Write Home About." In 1999. However, another band that should be credited for this is the Juliana Theory.
This is their first output on CD form, at least. And since the very beginning, they had that perfect balance of second wave sadness, with such awesome guitar riffs that carry that aforementioned sadness with such levity, and it truly rocks. This record, while very unpolished it doesn't shy away from what makes the band amazing. It includes their hit "Duanne Joseph" or D.J. for short before it was re- recorded, and it's great to hear this tune be more in line with the early second wave rather than late.
The entire portion of the Juliana Theory really reminds me of 4- Min Mile. Its delivery is absolutely raw, but it absolutely shreds and doesn't hold back in letting you know this band is emo.
The other side of the CD is pop punk outfit Dawson High, I couldn't find much on this band. But their sound is also synonymous with the second wave of punk offshoots that were still more emo rather than pop-punk.
It reminds me of early New Found Glory, a type of pop punk that still delivered emotional weight rather than talking about pizzas. And it oddly enough fits really well with the Juliana Theory.
This EP isn't well known. If you get a chance, I recommend you check it out. It has the best of what the second wave had to offer. I wish we saw this type of creativity in today's bands.
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