the way to save what we call "emo" as an artform is to write really elaborate lyrics, which is what la dispute was able to do, at least at first. stupid songs about getting dumped by your girlfriend aren't the same thing as hour long shakespearean epics with detailed character development, even if the end point of the hour long shakespearean epic is, in fact, getting dumped by your girlfriend. it's the same basic criteria: if you're going to create music as art, it has to actually qualify as art. there wasn't a lot of this that came out in the late 00s/early 10s, and it hasn't sustained itself because it's a difficult task, but there was a little bit of it. in hindsight, these are really exceptions in a genre that is almost impossible to work with.