Screamo in Coffee Shops and Pizza Joints: A Critic's Case Against Loud Music in Food Service

Key facts

• Courtney E. Smith visited San Antonio in 2024 to explore its food scene and found a vibrant coffee house culture tied to six colleges and four community college systems.
• Stranded Coffee, now closed, featured a spring menu with orange-infused coffee options and a mostly patio seating area with cream walls and terracotta orange cups.
• At Stranded Coffee, second-wave screamo from the 2000s, akin to Hawthorne Heights and Senses Fail, was playing loudly at 9-something a.m., with staff singing along.
• Talespin Pizza in Houston, a neo-Neapolitan-style spot with only two high-top tables and a takeout focus, also blasted screamo music.
• Screamo vocals using fry screams and false chord screams reach 95 to 105 dB, while normal speech is 60 to 75 dB and soft rock averages 70 to 85 dB.
• Classically trained opera singers produce 95 to 105 dB, and 100 to 115 dB is equivalent to a power lawn mower or a car horn.
• Music can manipulate consumer moods: grocery stores play soothing songs, fine dining plays jazz or classical, and Starbucks opted for Beck and Norah Jones over Sonic Youth.
• High-arousal music with fast tempo and strong beats triggers the sympathetic nervous system, increasing heart rate and making waits seem longer and more aggravating.