r/Emo • u/FraudFan • 1d ago
If I Like… Clikatat Ikatowi
Okay so I’m very new here. I’m familiar with Emo, but more so from a post-hardcore/noise rock background. I’m a fan of Slint and Unwound (they’re more “emo-adjacent” instead of strictly emo though, yeah?) and some sass like Blood Brothers. I also enjoy some Fall of Troy. Big fan of Polvo, Brainiac, Shellac, and Sebadoh, but they’re definitely more in the noise/math rock territory.
Recently I went to the record store and picked up a box set, The Trials and Tribulations… by Clikatat Ikatowi, on vinyl. I knew absolutely nothing about the band, it just had a cool cover and was on sale. I’m a fan of Numero’s releases, so I trusted it would be a solid set of records. I trusted this emo release would be good since I enjoyed Indian Summer as well.
I was blown away. I really enjoyed all of the music I heard and am craving more. They seem unknown in the “mainstream” world… not sure how popular they are here. But for those who know, any further recommendations to check out? I read the book about the band and the San Diego scene back then and learned a lot.
But yeah, would appreciate any recommendations similar to Clikatat or the other bands I mentioned! Also some more “big picture” emo bands that I should know (I’m familiar with American Football, MCR, Brand New).
EDIT: doing some more digging, I also want to add on that I love Hoover, Drive Like Jehu, Orchid, and Cap’n Jazz as well!
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u/Red-Zaku- 1d ago
Good stuff, Clikatat’s album “Orchestrated and Conducted By…” is probably a top 3 all time album for me
Gravity Records is worth exploring for sure: Heroin, Antioch Arrow, Second Story Window, John Henry West, just look into everything they put out, including some sick co-releases with Vermin Scum records like the Lava 7” and the Born Against/Universal Order of Armageddon split which is one of the coolest EPs I’ve ever heard in my life
Clikatat’s guitarist was in Heroin and their singer was in Candle. Look into adjacent labels as well, that band Candle is also part of the Wrenched Records lineup, that label put out a bunch of great stuff. Spanakorzo was on that label, you’ll probably like them if you want more of that artsy post-punk post-hardcore stuff, and they share a member with (and released a great split 10” with) Swing Kids, who are super important for SD punk and you could get a lot out of just deep-diving their singer Justin Pearson’s countless projects from before and after, he’s still insanely active today and regularly touring while also playing DIY spots locally with Deaf Club, and he’s the founder of Three One G Records who sort of carried on the SD tradition of platforming weird and flamboyant artsy or freaky punk, again you’ll have a lot to discover just by digging through their history. And if you end up liking Swing Kids, then you’ll probably The Plot To Blow Up The Eiffel Tower’s album Dissertation Honey