TX2 has been a heavily circulated topic in the emo and alternative music scene for a few years now. I have followed them since about 2022 because I was captivated by their promotion and the frontman’s persona. 

In more recent years, many more people have been hating on them, calling them and their fans “posers”. I remained neutral on the topic, as I followed them because of their promotion and catchy snippets.

I considered attending their show in LA in late February, as I love going to concerts and tickets were only $30, but didn’t end up going, mostly because it would be too difficult to find someone to go with me.

A few weeks ago, my brain did the thing where it thought of a title out of the blue, but I was unable to think of the song it was. I typed it into Spotify and found that “I Would Hate Me Too” was a TX2 song, the one that many refer to as the “5’4, man wh***” one. 

I decided to ignore the social backlash I would receive, put my Airbuds on ghost mode, and listened to it. Ignoring the cringey and overplayed parts, the rest of the song was very catchy and relatable. 

I went to the artist on Spotify and shuffled songs. I find that I enjoy a lot of their music and it doesn’t deserve the hate it receives. 

The true die-hard TX2 fans have a reputation of being exceptionally cringey and annoying, but I haven’t had any personal encounters. I understand that everyone is allowed to have different opinions, however I don’t understand the excessive hate on their music.

The band has had their fair share of controversy, mostly just from people calling them “cringe” or “posers”. However, the most logical criticism that I have seen is how some of their promotional TikToks and Reels fetishize goth women. 

I, personally, disagree, but I could just not be looking into it hard enough. The closest thing that I have seen is in their promotional videos for “Heaven Was Full (I’m Headed Straight to Hell)”

Most notably, they posted a video in which frontman Evan Thomas poses as a Jahova’s Witness and knocks on bassist Corky Howard’s door, who was dressed in a goth fashion.

When she answered the door, Thomas’s character froze in awe and repeated “goth dommy-mommy”, to which Howard’s character closed the door. 

Thomas’s character then began to sing the song on her doorstep, which I found entertaining and on-brand for TX2. Of course, people that dislike them didn’t take it that way.

Many people were talking bad about the promotional content, and TX2 had kept the bit going, as any engagement is free promotion. They have never seemed phased by the hate. 

These TikToks that people were making had led to TX2 sampling one of someone saying “if I have to hear TX2 talking about goth dommy-mommies one more time, I’ll shoot myself” in their song with Johnny 3 Tears, “Vendetta”, to which he replied with “do it! F*** you!”. 

Of course, they had received even more backlash for this. I found the response funny and perfectly on-brand for them and many other emo and alternative bands. 

Another “controversial” move of the band was sampling or straight-up copying other artists’ songs, most notably songs by Get Scared, Set It Off, and the Used. 

I find this take annoying, as many artists sample songs from other artists, and is rarely ever that serious, unless it’s a direct copy of the song (think “Ice Ice Baby” vs. “Under Pressure”).

Another way TX2 has spited their numerous haters is by releasing a song with one of the most iconic metal bands on the scene, Ice Nine Kills, entitled “MAD”. 

This quickly became their highest-streamed and most-hated song on their discography, and I’m here to watch everything unfold.

The band continues to upset people, make social and political statements through their songs, and get more and more popular. It has been an honor watching them grow and release new music and promote older songs.

TX2 has only grown in popularity, growing their fanbase so much so that they will be playing at Vans Warped Tour. 

I never thought of TX2 as a problematic artist in any way. Their music is no ground-breaking addition to the music industry, but I happily have several songs of theirs saved, and they don’t deserve as much hate as they get.