Breathe Carolina and the Politics of Cringe
If you were at all cognizant in the year 2011, there is no doubt you’ve heard the song “Blackout” by Breathe Carolina. I was 13 years old at the time and already deep into emo culture, but somehow I managed to miss this release. Truthfully, I was born just a tad too late to truly experience the height of Scene Queendom, but I spent several years watching from the periphery and I liked what I saw.
However, I was born just in time for the tail end of Myspace music to really begin flourishing. The Ready Set was a staple in my playlists. NeverShoutNever threw me on a peace and love trip that inspired me as well as millions of other middle schoolers to pick up a ukulele. My crush and I would post “Romance On A Rocketship" songs on each others’ Facebook walls with captions like “raWrz o.0 di5 m4k3 m3 t1nk of y3wwW <333 ;3 x.x.” All of this would make me the prime target audience for Breathe Carolina’s 2011 club skramz masterpiece Hell Is What You Make It.
I came across the song “Blackout” on TikTok semi-recently and was blown away. I have vague memories of hearing snippets on the radio or on friends' iPods, but the fact that I hadn't fostered a deeply personal relationship with this track seemed honestly foreign and out of character for what I know about myself. I knew I had to right my wrongs before it was too late, I wasted no time and got to listening.
I was immediately outraged at myself for not giving Breathe Carolina a shot sooner. This album was everything I could have asked for or wanted out of a 2011 dance record. I’ll admit, there is a nostalgia factor for me. But regardless of my own personal sentimentality, at the end of the day it just slaps, and there is nothing I can do about that.
The large majority of these tracks are straight ear candy. They are “tasty tasty brain scratchy yummy sounds,” to put it simply. Like an absinthe-soaked sugar cube: she's sweet and she’ll take you for a ride.
Sure, the album is not perfect. The dubstep can sound corny and outdated, the lyrics sometimes feel clunky and awkward, and some would argue it’s vapid or worse–cringe. This is part of the reason I avoided it in my youth. Almost like it shouldn't be good; I was suspicious of its integrity. The magic of it is that despite it all, it is absolutely fantastic. It’s unpretentious and it’s fun for the sake of fun and I think that's beautiful! It's luscious luscious trash.
It's been interesting watching emo culture make such a comeback now that I am an adult. Frankly, I don't think it ever went anywhere, just changed and mutated into something new. Thus, the inevitable cycle continues. I like that the kids still hang out outside Hot Topic scaring normies. It is an excellent pastime. I have no qualms with emo Soundcloud rap or hyper-emo or whatever emo kids are listening to these days. What I miss about my heady days of youth is the painful sincerity of the music.
What I mean by sincerity is the unabashed way those artists way back when would express their feelings without feeling the need to water them down. Not to sound like a curmudgeon, but so much of what I hear these days strikes me as being overly self-conscious. The emotions are hidden beneath 12 layers of detached irony.
There is nothing inherently wrong with that. It's still good music. But I think it stems from the fact that kids today are deeply concerned with the cringe factor. And honestly, that's how I would describe much of that 2009-2012 era’s music: Cringe. And I don’t think we should be afraid to say it. Do I get yelled at when I play Owl City on aux? Almost every time. Am I embarrassed to listen to NeverShoutNever without headphones in? Kind of, yeah. I hate that. Just because something is cringe, doesn’t mean it's bad. I believe that to be cringe is to be free.
And that's the thing about this album. It's free. Like I can sit here and pontificate all night long about the virtues of clean production, well-written hooks, and artfully structured beats. But at the end of the day, all of that is secondary to the sheer elation radiating off of these tracks. These songs make me feel positively gleeful. This album is a good goddamn time! Why is it so wrong to have a good time?
Even where the tracks drag, what saves them is its unabashed sincerity. They are not holding back on any part of this album, even if they sometimes should. They are making a genuine attempt at self-expression and its payoff is a smashing dance-pop record.
And isn’t that what emo is all about? Being so radically honest that it makes everyone a little uncomfortable? Whether the honesty's “My girlfriend dumped me because I’m ugly and now I want to do a bunch of drugs and jump off a bridge” or “I love everyone so much my friends and I are just like these bugs on a leaf enjoying the sunshine :)” Earnestness can be off-putting, but at least they are being straight up. Personally, I'd rather be enjoying myself than cowering in fear of perception. The lesson to be learned here is there is strength in sincerity.