The LA band Senses is trying to breathe life into an old genre.

By: Julian Harvey

Photo via Sophie Trad

The Paramore acolytes are building some buzz online with their take on emo-pop.  They’ve recently hit the road as an opener for Leah Kate and I had the chance to sit down with them in the studio during their stop in St. Louis. 

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​We talked about everything from tour life to the lead singer's family ties to St. Louis. We also talked about their new EP, Take Me Out of Here. The record deals with angst, heartbreak and helplessness as you would expect from an emo band. The band certainly borrows some musical and lyrical tricks from their predecessors but it comes across as a sort of homage rather than a lack of originality–the same move Olivia Rodrigo pulled on Sour. 

In preparation for the interview, a bunch of us at KSLU dove pretty deep into the “Senses'' catalog and, in truth, I can’t say any of us were too impressed by what we heard. After speaking to them, though, Senses is not phoning it in. They couldn't have been nicer and more genuine! 

The contrast between their samey approach in music and uniquely authentic energy in person got me thinking, and I have come up with my own little postulation. In literature, there is the concept of genre fiction where books are meant to fit into a certain structure for the purpose of recognizability. There are some tropes in sci-fi, romance, or crime novels that are followed because the fans of those genres expect and appreciate those tropes. They don’t necessarily make sense to people on the outside which doesn't matter because that’s not who they are for. 
Pop punk or emo seems to fall into that same category. Melodramatic lyrics, big pounding drums, even the fashion and aesthetics of it all seem rooted in the conventions of the genre. Maybe there’s a sort of person who is so enamored by all the trappings of this sort of music that they will fall in love with Senses just like they once did with Avril Levigne. 

There are certainly also lots of fans they will garner on tour who will fall in love with the genre for the first time. For them, the Take Me Out of Here EP serves as an excellent entry point. At the end of the day, I am rooting for Senses. The snobby indie kids at KSLU might be too cool for them but if you look back fondly on Blink-182, go to your local emo night and know the word to “sk8r boi,” I think you should check them out.