Are the Jonas Brothers an emo band?

This definitely was not a post you were expecting to see today.

But, just stick with me. I think we might be on to something here.

The Jonas Brothers, one of the biggest names in music today, have been on the block since 2005. The group consists of three brothers; Kevin, Joe, and Nick Jonas.

And today, I am here to prove to you, that The Jonas Brothers are in fact, an emo music group (or at least were, and had the ability to become one).

1. They grew up in New Jersey, which, as we all know, is the Mecca of emo music.

The great state of New Jersey is where we get bands and artists such as The Front Bottoms, Senses Fail, Saves the Day, Thursday, Halsey, Major League, and of course, My Chemical Romance.

Now, Geographical origins do not really have anything to do with the style of music one creates, but, I would say that the music scene in one area has the power to influence the people around it. Growing up in New Jersey, and having the opportunity to go to home shows by the artists and bands listed above, it definitely could have the power to breathe some life into a fan local to that scene.

Have the Jonas Brothers ever explicitly said that they were “inspired” by bands like My Chemical Romance or Senses Fail? No, not directly; but listen to their first-ever record.

2. The Jonas Brothers’ first album is heavy, relatively speaking.

The Jonas Brothers released their first studio album It’s About Time in 2006. The record held songs like “I Am What I Am“, “What I Go To School For” and “Mandy“. It is their heaviest album relative to the others they have released.

If you haven’t heard those songs, listen to them first before you continue reading. “I Am What I Am” has all the sounds and elements of a pop-punk song. Fast and angsty guitar, quick lyrics, with a catchy melody. It’s definitely more in the neon realm of pop-punk, and it’s very upbeat, but with lyrics about embracing originality and loving who you are, I think it would hard to argue that if it’s not pop-punk, it at least has the makings and potential to be pop-punk.

“What I Go To School For” is a cover of a Busted song by the same name. Busted is a rock band, so, by default, it’s a pop-rock song. If you consider pop-rock under the emo umbrella as I do, then this is an emo song.

“Mandy” is a song about singer Joe Jonas’ ex-girlfriend. Writing a song about an ex is a total emo music move. Really, it’s an any music genre move, but consider the timing of the song. Released in 2006, and it was their first-ever music video. I’d like to draw your attention to another song that came out in 2006, titled “Hey There Delilah” by the Plain White T’s.

So, why did I make this connection to “Hey There Delilah“? It’s because the early 2000s was when everyone was seemingly writing songs about girls they were in love with or involved with. “Hey There Delilah” was a smashing success, and it played and played on radio stations all summer long that year. The Jonas Brothers continued the trend. Plus, the song is fast, the guitars are gritty, and the drums are loud. To me, this is an emo song in my eyes.

Plus, this album gave us “Year 3000“, and I know you still know all the words.

3. They grew and changed like all bands do.

The timing of It’s About Time was during an era where pop-punk and emo music was mainstream, relatively speaking. So, once that scene died out of popularity, and they signed with Disney, they had to change their sound to stay relevant.

The change proved to be monumental for them, as their self titled sophomore album placed fifth on the Billboard Hot 200 chart the first week it released. It’s definitely different than It’s About Time, but it still has songs with some rock influences.

“S.O.S” and “Hold On” are the more rock-sounding songs on the album. They are also two songs that the Jonas Brothers are most widely known for because they were such smash hits. If we take this in the context of the growing change in the music world, then one could say they used tracks like those two to pay homage to the sound that got them discovered.

The Filming of Camp Rock put them on the map from a Disney standpoint. Being a face for the Disney Channel probably played some role in a switch up of their sound, but I couldn’t find anything to back up that claim, so I am just basing my assumption on the way we know Disney acts as a company. Which, at the end of the day, is to make moves completely for financial gain. Since Camp Rock was so successful, they wanted the brothers to continue to write music they could premiere on the network. They gave them cameos on other shows and showed their music videos. The Jonas Brothers were arguably one of the biggest bands in the world amongst children and teenagers in 2008 because of Disney. More popularity means more money in Mickey Mouse’s pocket.

4. The Breakup and the Reunion

Now, we are definitely bouncing around here, because there are two albums I am skipping. It’s not that those albums are bad in any sense, but they don’t really add anything to the claim of them as an emo band. They both sound very similar to the self titled album. A Little Bit Longer gave us “Burnin’ Up“, another iconic song by the brothers. Lines, Vines, and Trying Times is the album I have the least experience with, simply because I didn’t list to it much growing up. I had moved on from them at that point. The record was released in 2009, and it felt rushed to me. Releasing three albums over the course of 3 years is a risky thing to do because you risk rushed work and mistakes, and that’s what I thought of them both.

The band formally broke up in 2013 due to “creative disputes” and each member went on to pursue different things. Nick Jonas had a solo career, and Joe did as well for a short period of time. He was also the lead singer in band DNCE (the band who made “Cake by the Ocean”). Kevin studied music production.

So, why am I saying this makes them emo? Well, all great bands split up. My Chemical Romance, Blink-182, Fall Out Boy. I’m not saying it’s an emo band trait, but it’s definitely (unfortunately) a common trend.

But, It makes the reunion even sweeter. Six years later, the Jonas Brothers were back together in 2019.

5. Older, Wiser, Smarter, and Authentic

Happiness Begins released in 2019, and this album feels the most authentic to their sound. I’m not saying that all the previous albums were not authentic to them, but the brothers are older now. They have grown up, and they have explored different genres of music. Now, they know the kind of music that they want to create.

The record has a lot of electric influence, but not like an EDM sound. It’s definitely a pop record and widely loved by loyal Jo Bro’s fans. To me, this feels like the most real Jonas Brothers album aside from It’s About Time.

So, did I change your mind? Probably not.

Are the Jonas Brothers definitively still emo? No, but now you might know that their songs and their older work had a heavy side to it. That is something that most people probably wouldn’t expect if they only heard their recent work.

I hope that I got you to think about some of the more popular artists in music, see where they come from, what their influences are. Relatively speaking, they might be more punk than you think.

 

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