“Cause I’m 12 states straight from where you now decay.”
One could write a list of bands that combine the pop-punk and hardcore genres, and it would likely take them all day. Hailing from Stony Brook, NY, Koyo would be one of the newer entries on that list. The group is a conjoined effort of established musicians from bands such as Typecaste, Rain of Salvation, Hangman and Adrenaline, and most notably, SeeYouSpaceCowboy. As of early 2022, they found their home on Pure Noise Records, not surprising given that their sound is so alike the rest of the label’s artists. And therein lies the crux of my feelings on their upcoming album, Would you Miss It?; that is, it does not do nearly enough to differentiate itself from its contemporaries, or even stand out as an above average album in relation to them.
I think the closest comparison I can make for Koyo’s sound on their first full length is The Story so Far’s earlier albums. Now, as one of the biggest and best pop-punk bands of all time, I’d imagine that’s a feat to be proud of, and I’d imagine many would be happy to have their Under Soil and Dirt sized hole in their heart filled. I, however, prefer new ground to be tread (not to mention I’m partial to The Story so Far’s more recent output). The sound that is all too persistent on this album lives there; it’s “point and yell at the barricade” pop-punk. There are a couple tracks here that are the worst offenders of that, such as the opener, “51st State”. Most of the runtime is dedicated to living in that aforementioned sound, and its attempt to divert from that within the bridge falls flat. I’ll mention too that “I Might Not” fits the bill here.
Another example would be via the first exposure to the album in single “You’re on the List (minus one)” which has a decent energy to it, at least. The vocals mesh well with the slightly chuggy opening riff, but the track then stumbles into the chorus, and I can only blame that on the song writing. Then the chorus itself cannot end soon enough.
“Life’s a Pill” is admittedly a solid track. The initial instrumental actually feels like it’s doing something interesting with being a pop-punk and hardcore mix, and there’s even a 90s twang to the tail end of it, like something off of Yellowcard’s Ocean Avenue. Once it kicks in, the topline comes across as much more aggressive and passionate, and the accompanying bassline is well produced. We get another middling chorus on this cut, but I think the verses are consistently fairly hard hitting.
“Flatline Afternoon” is polarizing for me. It does nothing interesting for much of its runtime, as it’s another track that falls back into pop-punk tropes with no care for being anything more. Anthony DiDio of Vein.fm fame does what he does best on the tail end of the track and lays down some fantastic screamed vocals. The band embraces their hardcore roots here instrumentally to accompany DiDio, and it’s their best use of that influence on the record. Lead vocalist Joey Chiaramonte has a bit of a back and forth with DiDio, though not to the point where he takes away from the feature, so that was well done. The momentum then continues a bit with “Anthem”. It’s just shy of two-minutes and maintains the energy of the previous track with high energy riffage that has some rhythm to it too.
“Sayonara Motel” is an interesting addition. The track is a bit more solemn than the rest of its cohort. I would not say it impresses me, or makes the album much better, but I commend what I can only observe as more meticulous song writing and a keen eye for switching up the tempo of the album at a good point within the track listing. Moreover, Chiaramonte’s lyrics here are also better than some other cuts, as they’re more minimalistic, but come across more personal at the same time. I think there are examples on the album where that isn’t the case, where the lyrics seem like they could come from any generic pop-punk record of the last 10 years.
“Message Like a Bomb” is where the album peaks for me. We get Chiaramonte’s best vocal performance as he skates between the hard vocals he’s usually stuck on, and softer vocal inflections. This track also boasts the only chorus I really enjoy on the entire album. The legendary Daryl Palumbo from Glassjaw graces the track on the bridge, and I welcome each feature on Would You Miss It? since it gives me a break from Chiaramonte’s all too consistent vocal style.
From there, the album concludes much in the same way it presented itself until then. Despite Koyo attempting to carve out a sound for themselves between pop-punk, emo, and hardcore, I don’t think the attempt on their first full length manages to channel any of the best parts from either genre. Instead, it feels like Would You Miss It? ends up coming off as white noise, lacking an identity, and more often than not, lacking enough substance to latch onto as a listener. I’m sure there are those out there that do not tire from the vocal style, and enjoy the onslaught of this song writing style, and this album would be for you.
4/10
You can pre-order the album here before its release this Friday, September 29th.