So about eight years into the hardcore movement, when a few DC bands got tired of stage diving and built their identities around yearning, poetic lyrics, and performed like they were about to burst into flames, they stood out. People even thought of a word for it. The term “emocore” (short for “emotive hardcore” or “emotional hardcore”) had been bouncing around the album review sections of publications like Thrasher, and with bands like Rites of Spring and Embrace, the term stuck.
