Rites of Spring

Rites of Spring formed in Washington, D.C. in 1984 from within the same Dischord Records-affiliated hardcore scene that had produced Minor Threat, but pushed the music toward something more emotionally raw and less rigidly aggressive. Guy Picciotto's lyrics and vocal delivery — vulnerable, almost confessional, delivered with the same intensity as any hardcore frontman — combined with Eddie Janney's melodic, unconventional guitar playing to produce a sound the DC scene began half-jokingly calling "emocore," a term that would outlive the band by decades.

The band existed for barely a year before splitting up, releasing only their self-titled album on Dischord, but its impact on the scene around them was immediate: drummer Brendan Canty and Picciotto both went on to form Fugazi, carrying Rites of Spring's emotional intensity into one of the most influential bands in American underground music. Picciotto has since repeatedly rejected the "emo" label the band is credited with originating, but the record's combination of hardcore urgency and open vulnerability remains the acknowledged starting point for the genre.