By: Ryan Martin
Remo Drive is a three piece emo band from Minnesota. They have been gaining recent exposure despite forming in 2013. They're currently unsigned and just delievered their debut album, cheekily titled Greatest Hits. I stumbled upon this band and after hearing their breakout single, "Yer Killin' Me", immediately bought the album. After a quick listen through, I wasn't disappointed. The vocals are crisp, the guitars are crunchy, and the drums are bouncy and full. These guys make fun, summery, punk rock that also feels confessional and personal. A perfect balance of emo and pop punk without favoring one genre more than the other.
You can tell in their debut that these guys have been jamming for a while. The album is full of instrumental breakdowns and group sing-alongs. The songs are memorable as well with poetic lyrics about hipster art school students, weed, and eating shit. I find with a lot of bands that want to incorporate some instrumental jamming into their songs, it's easy for them to overstay their welcome the first couple times you listen to the song. Remo Drive's breakdowns are very well placed and add to the dynamic and tone of the song rather than sticking around too long. They could work very well as a simple pop punk band, as seen in songs like "Art School" and the first half of "Yer Killin' Me" but as the second half of "Yer Killin' Me" points out, these guys are different. While they aren't necessarily changing the sound of the genre, they're one of the best bands doing modern emo music right now.
Remo Drive is a three piece emo band from Minnesota. They have been gaining recent exposure despite forming in 2013. They're currently unsigned and just delievered their debut album, cheekily titled Greatest Hits. I stumbled upon this band and after hearing their breakout single, "Yer Killin' Me", immediately bought the album. After a quick listen through, I wasn't disappointed. The vocals are crisp, the guitars are crunchy, and the drums are bouncy and full. These guys make fun, summery, punk rock that also feels confessional and personal. A perfect balance of emo and pop punk without favoring one genre more than the other.
You can tell in their debut that these guys have been jamming for a while. The album is full of instrumental breakdowns and group sing-alongs. The songs are memorable as well with poetic lyrics about hipster art school students, weed, and eating shit. I find with a lot of bands that want to incorporate some instrumental jamming into their songs, it's easy for them to overstay their welcome the first couple times you listen to the song. Remo Drive's breakdowns are very well placed and add to the dynamic and tone of the song rather than sticking around too long. They could work very well as a simple pop punk band, as seen in songs like "Art School" and the first half of "Yer Killin' Me" but as the second half of "Yer Killin' Me" points out, these guys are different. While they aren't necessarily changing the sound of the genre, they're one of the best bands doing modern emo music right now.
With modern pop punk today, there's a lot of factors into making a good album that most bands either follow too strictly or not enough. To name a few, you're gonna need the gang vocals. If you aren't able to scream back lyrics while listening to the album in your car or at a show, what genre even is this? You're also going to need some of the na-na's and woah-oh's. Now, be sure not to over do it on this. If you do, you could wind up creating something as astoundingly shitty as last year's California by Blink-182. Third of all, you're gonna need some personal lyrics, and probably some kind of reference to cigarettes or summertime. As an upcoming band in the indie rock scene, Remo Drive is combining all three of those factors with a fresh new sound. They sound hungry, they sound tight, and their production is honestly not that bad for something recorded in their parent's living room.
This album is infectiously catchy as well. I've found myself revisiting "Art School" over 15 times in the past week. As well as watching the music video, which is one of the many creative and fun visuals they put out to accompany the album. It's a perfect summer album with twinkly break downs to crunchy riffs with vocals bordering on yelling but never getting too raw. Which accompanies the themes of confused adolescence and heartbreak better than a pool on an 80˚ day.
If you're looking for an album to hold you over till summer, Greatest Hits will do you justice. It captures the anxiety of spring lasting too long and craving summer while also creating the atmosphere that everything is gonna be okay.
Remo Drive's Greatest Hits is available now through the group's Bandcamp
This album is infectiously catchy as well. I've found myself revisiting "Art School" over 15 times in the past week. As well as watching the music video, which is one of the many creative and fun visuals they put out to accompany the album. It's a perfect summer album with twinkly break downs to crunchy riffs with vocals bordering on yelling but never getting too raw. Which accompanies the themes of confused adolescence and heartbreak better than a pool on an 80˚ day.
If you're looking for an album to hold you over till summer, Greatest Hits will do you justice. It captures the anxiety of spring lasting too long and craving summer while also creating the atmosphere that everything is gonna be okay.
Remo Drive's Greatest Hits is available now through the group's Bandcamp
Ryan Martin
Ryan enjoys Rick and Morty, apple juice, and hates snow.