Expressing Anger Through Music: From Elliot Smith to Screamo, by Braeden Pelko

Anger is a feeling everyone deals with it in different ways. There’s always the classic taking deep breaths and counting to ten, but what can anger look like through artistic expression? In music, anger is usually equated with volume; the louder something is, the angrier. Therefore, the softer music is, the less it must be. However, anger is expressed in many ways by different artists, and it is important to know what exactly an artist is channeling their feelings through. 

Defining “Angry” Music

A while ago, I saw a TikTok of singer-songwriter Elliott Smith on a satirical morning show from 1995 when his self-titled debut album was released. In the interview, he describes his music as “not loud, but kind of angry.”. He then played a somber rendition of the song “Clementine,” which surprised the people interviewing him.

Elliott Smith performing “Clementine” on Breakfast Time (1995)

This got me thinking: how is anger in a song defined? As a metalhead, I’ve spent a good deal of time listening to music that is loud and aggressive. I’ve listened to death metal songs where the lyrics have a sarcastic tone about killing people in extravagant ways and doom metal songs slowly talking about the looming presence of death above all of us. However, thinking back on it, I wouldn’t necessarily describe them as angry. Instead, I would describe them as either satirical or poetic on a case by case basis. 

It is important to note that anger does not always equal noise. Going back to Elliott Smith, his music on first listen isn’t aggressive, rather expressive and emotive. The main source of expression in a lot of his songs is storytelling relating to deep introspection. Smith infamously had problems with drug use and depression. Songwriting was Smith’s way of channeling his troubling emotions, expressing his frustrations with the world around him. This is why I think it is important to take a deep look into an actual song’s meaning rather than focusing on the volume or type of music to know exactly what the artist is trying to communicate. 

Loud and Angry Music

Although angry music isn’t always loud, a good portion of loud music is easily defined as angry. As said before, metal music does not always have to be angry when it is loud. Genres like power metal tend to be fairly uplifting in their artistic expression. A lot of power metal is about triumph through slaying dragons or becoming a wizard on a magical quest. Despite this, a lot of what is presumed to be anger in loud music is actually an expression of strong emotions. 

The best example of strongly opinionated, loud music is hardcore punk. This is mainly because the majority of hardcore punk is very openly political through lyricism and image. Punk as a genre was born out of a general discontent with the status quo in the political world. In 1970s England, widespread unemployment, economic disparity, and political unrest birthed the punk movement. This period of instability provided a blueprint for the genre’s political themes. These themes often protested the current state of affairs in England at the time. All of bands that expressed these themes were not just upset, they were pissed.

In America, punk came around at the same time. However, the intense anger of the American wave of punk blossomed in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Bands like Dead Kennedys, Bad Brains, and Minor Threat pioneered the aggressive hardcore sound that would influence generations of new punk bands. The anger represented in their music was ultimately from the state of American politics and was meant to shock and inspire audiences. Fittingly, Washington D.C. had a thriving punk scene with the aforementioned Bad Brains and Minor Threat leading the charge. 

Bad Brains

Open lyrics and imagery that was anti-fascist, humanitarian, and anti-establishment was prominent in not just expressing dissatisfaction with  the state of the world, but showcasing the anger that was held against it. The music itself is loud, in your face and fast. Most of it sounds like a one to two minute tantrum of just outright noise. In a weird way, it is also kind of beautiful and inviting to anyone who has ever felt betrayed by the way everyday things were.

Anger is not only found in loud music with political themes about politics, but also through introspection. Going back to Elliott Smith, lyrics provide a great portal into what anger can be expressed as. A poetic song can make anyone connected to an artist’s emotion, depending on the eloquence of the writing. In my opinion, the best genre that is loud and introspectively angry is screamo. 

If you grew up listening to heavy metal around people who didn’t listen to any heavy music, you’ve probably heard those people define any remotely heavy music as “screamo.” It is important to note that screamo is not metal. Screamo was born around the early 1990s as an offshoot of the emo scene, which was an offshoot of the 80s hardcore scene. While emo took the more emotional parts of the hardcore scene, screamo, unsurprisingly, took the aggression and ran with it. The music is meant to be incredibly distorted and as loud as possible, with unintelligible lyrics that scream at you, which is where the genre really gets its name. 

Although you can barely understand what they are saying, a lot of screamo lyrics are actually quite thought provoking. Think of it as slam poetry that’s spoken with a high pitched scream. Most screamo lyrics are about looking at one’s current self or past self and channeling those feelings into words. In my opinion, the best screamo band that does this is The Lazarus Plot. 

The Lazarus Plot was a short lived female fronted 90s band from Illinois. A lot of the songs have a slow build up with spoken word lyrics about past relationship trauma and self loathing that eventually evolve into a screaming ending. The anger found in this music is representative of frontwoman Laura Laurent’s built up emotions from personal relationships and struggles. It’s the beginning of silently bottling up all your emotions that eventually spills over into a full on crashout. 

Other screamo bands are similar in the cases of what kind of anger they represent. The anger is similar to Elliott Smith, showcasing it through lyrics of personal issues and frustrations towards the world in general. The screamo sound is similar to the anger from hardcore punk, meant to be a direct reaction to the current state of how things are. Other introspective screamo bands worth mentioning are Frail, Indian Summer, and Jeromes Dream. 

How to Identify Angry Music

Overall, anger is expressed in many forms of music and  in all types of music. Anger is not a surface level thing: it can be found buried deep within an artist’s psyche or overtly showcased in what they represent. In order to properly describe music as angry, you should ultimately look at the lyrics, not the sound itself. Although a loud sound can indicate anger, it is not always the case. Most of the emotion is packed into poetic lines demonstrating the true feelings of who wrote it. Music provides an unlikely way of showcasing emotions most of us don’t know how to openly express. It’s normal to be angry at the world, yourself or others, but it’s not okay to keep those emotions hidden. Expressing your anger is important for your wellbeing, and you should be angry in whatever way you choose (as long as you keep yourself and others safe).