Emo breakdown

A harmless youth fad or a danger to society? The rise of emo youth culture has alarmed the bigwigs in the Russian Duma. By Yelena Shuster Special to The St. Petersburg Times In a basement studio in northern Moscow, singer Valentin Ayedonitsky screeches about his broken heart, his asymmetrical bangs flapping with every beat. “Things have become so lonely, nothing interests me anymore / Daylight, but light is lacking, around there is only dark night.” Dressed in tight jeans, a hooded sweatshirt and skull-adorned Vans, Ayedonitsky, 22, looks more Brooklyn than Moscow. But he and his band, MAIO, are part of the country’s burgeoning emo scene — a subculture coming under increasing government scrutiny. Teens sporting emo couture — black bangs, eyebrow piercings, pinned shoulder bags — have become a ubiquitous sight in Moscow, St.... [read full story]