Rites of Spring

"Rites of Spring might be the most influential punk group that pretty much no one has ever heard of. [...] The example they set – their conduct, their attitude, and of course their music – would be hugely influential. A model, if you will, for how hardcore punk might grow up."

"Rites of Spring prides itself as one of the great hardcore punk bands, but many professional music critics and punk historians claim this beloved Washington D.C. outfit to be the first emo band. Mainly because the band's lyrics were more personal and in-depth than any of its hardcore punk contemporaries. Though Rites of Spring didn't want anything to do with the emo label, the band's only studio release has stood the test of time and got the ball rolling on a movement."

"The grandaddy of them all, Rites Of Spring arguably kicked off the entire [post-hardcore] movement with their sole album. With the hardcore scene in their hometown of Washington DC flourishing but becoming increasingly thuggish, they stepped away and changed things up, keeping the breakneck punk pace but displaying their own vulnerability and fears in the lyrics and whipping in something the genre was sorely missing: proper tunes."