在1980年代晚期與1990年代早期,看見這些成立並漸漸引人關注的樂團不僅是和早期的表演者諸如Fugazi和Shellac這些有關,同時也包括Girls Against Boys[40](他原本只是Brendan Canty和Eli Janney的side-project,但之後和Soulside幾位成員合作)、The Jesus Lizard[3][41][42](由幾位Scratch Acid前成員所成立的)、Quicksand[43](創立自Youth of Today與Gorilla Biscuits的成員Walter Schreifels)、Rollins Band[44](由前Black Flag主唱Henry Rollins所領軍)、Tar(由硬蕊團Blatant Dissent剩餘的成員組成的)[42][45]與Slint[46][47](包含一些Squirrel Bait的成員)。Shellac和Louisville的Slint被視為數學搖滾(math rock)發展的影響樂團,[48]前者的特色為「在奇特時間點的拍號和侵略性的特色」,這成了描繪數學搖滾的「一個既定的見解」, [48]而後者呈現了「演奏性音樂從戲劇性的緊繃橋段流溢出來但又有固定的吉他結構樣式與重複性的打擊聲,這樣制式的方法」。[48]根據評論家Jason Arkeny,Slint的「靈巧,像是激進者操控音量、節奏與結構,使他們成為後龐克運動的先驅。」[49]
Allmusic曾提起這些較年輕的樂團「結束了中學時期所組的龐克樂團,成熟轉型成後硬蕊樂團」。[1]在華盛頓特區,新樂團如Hoover(相關的樂團The Crownhate Ruin)、Circus Lupus、Bluetip與Smart Went Crazy都成了獨立廠牌Dischord的旗下成員。[50]Hoover曾被雜誌記者Charles Spano譽為一個「在後硬蕊音樂上有極大影響力」得樂團。[51]在紐約,除了樂團Quicksand以外,後硬蕊樂團諸如Helmet[7]、Unsane[7][42]、Chavez[3]與Texas Is the Reason[52]也都紛紛出現。此外,Quicksand與Helmet樂團都和另類金屬有些關聯。[3][53][54]芝加哥樂團Midwestern United States Chicago同樣也對數學搖滾有重要的影響[48],同樣諸如Shellac、Tar、Trenchmouth這些樂團[7],以及獨立廠牌Jade Tree所發行的樂團Cap'n Jazz作品也都是。[55](還有之後相繼的樂團Joan of Arc[56],他們的發行也是透過Jade Tree唱片公司) Steve Huey主張Cap'n Jazz過去發行的專輯《Analphabetapolothology》幫助樂團將他們的影響力散播到「非原始聽眾群」,同時也他也認為,這個樂團也影響了獨立場景的Emo發展。[57] 同樣在伊利諾州的香檳也以獨立樂團著名,給了樂團Hum、Braid和Poster Children機會發展。[3]在美國西北部也能見樂團如Karp、[42]Lync[58]和Unwound,[7][42]這些樂團皆來自華盛頓州的奧林匹亞地需。後者的音樂被評論家John Bush認為是結合了「Sonic Youth更加粗重的噪音橋段」與「更甚Fugazi的少有旺盛天資」。[59]德州則有樂團The Jesus Lizard(之後轉陣到芝加哥)以及...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead[60],他們來自奧斯丁,還有從艾爾帕索來的At the Drive-In。[3]最後個樂團正以他們在表演與音樂的熱力著名,他們「駕馭旋律的龐克riffsr,融合較寧靜的交錯點撥」。[61]
這個類型也在美國以外的地區看的到,如從瑞典于默奧場景來的Refused。[62]這個樂團早期是以大量的硬蕊聲音而聞名,[63]1998年發行的專輯《The Shape of Punk to Come》,正是受樂團The Nation of Ulysses激發而成,[64][65]同時加入氛圍音樂、爵士式的breakdown、[65]金屬和電子音樂進去他們的硬蕊聲音。
^Robbins, Ira; Sprague, David. Saccharine Trust. TrousserPress.com. [2011-03-18]. (原始内容存档于2016-03-05). Too early to be post-hardcore but too uncommon for any simple classification, this Southern California quartet doesn't try to create a blizzard of noise — they go at it more artfully, but with equally ear-wrenching results. [...]
^Grubbs, p. 22. "After hearing the phrase 'revolution summer' at the Neighborhood Planning Council, Dischord employee Amy Pickering had an idea. [...] With the idea of celebrating a new scene's birth, she sent out anonymous letters stating that Revolution Summer was coming and people should be ready. The summer of '85 was indeed that."
^Foster, Patrick. Gray Matter - Biography. Allmusic. [2011-03-19]. The recordings, which revealed the influence of early-D.C. punk ('Gray Matter', 'Caffeine Blues'), also warned about the dangers of punk nostalgia ('Retrospect') and featured a surprising cover of the Beatles' 'I Am the Walrus' was the first hint of the band's strong pop streak.
^Prindle, Mark. Guy Picciotto interview. Markprindle.com. 2003 [2011-03-19]. (原始内容存档于2012-01-27). Well, first of all, I don't recognize that attribution. I've never recognized 'emo' as a genre of music. I always thought it was the most retarded term ever. I know there is this generic commonplace that every band that gets labeled with that term hates it. They feel scandalized by it. But honestly, I just thought that all the bands I played in were punk rock bands. The reason I think it's so stupid is that - what, like the Bad Brains weren't emotional? What - they were robots or something? It just doesn't make any sense to me.
^Bradley, Stephen. Concert review: Kevin Seconds. The Washington Times Communities - Riffs. 2010-09-22 [2011-03-21]. (原始内容存档于2011-07-21). [...] Where most punks from the '80s hardcore scene made the transition into hard rock or post hardcore outfits like Rollins Band and Fugazi, it still seems natural that he would make the jump into the acoustic side of things. [...]
^Bradley, Stephen. Music Review: ...And You Shall Know Us by the Trail of Dead - Tao of the Dead. The Washington Times Communities - Riffs. 2011-02-28 [2011-04-01]. (原始内容存档于2011-07-21). The Trail of Dead has been known as something of a sprawling band ever since the band's first release in 1998. They've always been able to incorporate elements of noise rock and art rock into a post-hardcore foundation that allows for them to wander sonically not only from song to song but within each song itself and never losing the listener's interest in the song.