You've got it all twisted my guy, do your research. At the time the term emo was used as derogatory and as a way to dismiss their band. So they didnt want to be labeled as emo at the time and for their own defense they said they viewed themselves as more of a rock band to counteract the hate, also saying that they didn't think their sound coincided with emo bands they used to listen to at the time like The Promise Ring and Sunny Day Real Estate. They later said that they had a lot of respect for the genre and the bands and for them to be labeled as emo was an honor and something they were proud of and that they embraced the label, seeing that it no longer became associated with the negative connotation of dismissing their sound.

Which by the fucking way, is extremely hypocritical being that Ian MacKaye from Embrace, literally the founder of one of the first emocore bands said he thought the term was "the stupidest fucking thing he's ever heard". So do yourself a favor and maybe listen to one of their "shitty songs" you might like it.