Philadelphia, PA · emo · math rock · midwest emo

Algernon Cadwallader

3 upcoming festivals

Beloved and long-dormant Philly emo pioneers back from reunion — noodly twinkling guitars, yelped vocals, and pure basement-show joy that a whole generation of Midwest-emo revivalists learned from.

Algernon Cadwallader were a Philadelphia trio active from the mid-2000s until 2012, whose two albums, 'Some Kind of Cadwallader' and 'Parrot Flies', became reference points for the revival of interest in 1990s Midwest emo. The band paired intricate, bright, tapped guitar lines with a loose rhythm section and Peter Helmis's strained, half-shouted vocals, drawing openly on the example of Cap'n Jazz.

They played largely in basements and small venues and released music through small independent labels, but their influence spread widely among younger bands in the years after they split. The group reunited later for live shows, playing the same catalogue to audiences considerably larger than those of their original run.

emomath rockmidwest emo