Game music album publisher GameChops has come up with an unexpected one. If any of you thought a Pokemon cover album in the 2000s emo style would never exist, well, joke’s on you. The appropriately named Poké Emo comes from multi-instrumentalist and sound designer Tune In With Chewie and re-renders the series’ mos familiar and iconic tunes in an angsty, alternative style that brings to mind a hair-dyed pubescent Ash slamming his bedroom door and sulking angrily on his bed while blasting Jimmy Eat World.
So which Pokemon songs sound best in emo? Lavender Town HAS to be here somewhere, right? You guessed correctly; it’s not only there, it’s there twice. Pallet Town, the Pokemon Center, the surf theme and the main title have also been redone. Chewie says some of the covers were inspired directly by his favorite emo bands; the main theme, for example, takes its chord progression from Sunny Day Real Estate’s “8.”
“Pokémon has been a series I’ve wanted to do an album on for a long time, but I just never got around to it,” comments Tune In With Chewie. “After the success of Zelda’s Midwest Emo Mixtape, I knew I wanted to do Pokémon in this style. I love this style of music and always have. I grew up listening to a lot of Midwest emo like Mineral, American Football, and Sunny Day Real Estate, as well as 2000s emo like My Chemical Romance, Jimmy Eat World, and Thursday. I even sprinkled in some math rock, something I didn’t really get to do much of on the Zelda album.”
01. Pokémon Theme
02. Pallet Town
03. Littleroot Town
04. Route 201
05. Pokémon Center
06. Slumbering Weald
07. Emotion (An Unwavering Heart)
08. Surf Theme
09. Undella Town
10. Cianwood City Theme
11. Jubilife Village
12. Pewter City
13. Jubilife City
14. Lavender Town
15. Lavender Town Pt. II
16. Lacunosa Town
17. Outro
Poké Emo is out now at the storefronts linked through this page.
