Remo Drive is a three-piece from Minnesota and this is their debut full length, Greatest Hits. Now, obviously, calling your debut LP Greatest Hits is either a sign of an unchecked ego, or its polar opposite, the kind of self-deprecating sense of humor that made most great indie/ emo bands of the late 90's and early 00's memorable and worthwhile; luckily, Remo Drive fall firmly in the latter. In fact, they even pull sonically from emo greats like Sunny Day Real Estate and early Brand New, all while injecting their music with peppier, more pop-punk affectations, so the listener never feels too down in the dumps. A more apt comparison, I feel, would be that of early Weezer, who had the tendency to wrap conflicted feelings of early adulthood angst with songs that had the ability to pull even the most edgy emo out of the depths of depression.
And I've gotta say, listening to tracks like "Art School" and "Summertime" (which is superior in every respect to the similarly titled recent Weezer track) gives me the same feeling that I got when I first put on an album like Blue or even Pinkerton, though the album never finds itself in as dark a place as the latter LP. Instead, Remo Drive present one loud, energetic and tuneful after another on this LP, which lends the title even more credibility, as this album sort of feels like a mixtape that your friend might put together to show you this really awesome local band that you've never heard of. This feeling is amplified through the lyrics and overall demeanor of the album as a whole, which come off as relatable and fun, I mean, just get a load of one of the music videos released prior to the album and you'll understand perfectly, these guys are just looking to have fun and write some killer tunes to enjoy life to, and I'd say they truly succeed in that endeavor on this LP.
If I had to identify the albums biggest flaw, I'd have to say that the production is not always the clearest, with a lot of distortion and vocals that always seem to ride the midsection of the mix, tracks like "Hunting For Sport" and "Trying 2 Fool U" take a couple of listens to pick apart. But the quality of the songs here is still undeniable, as not a single one of them could be considered as a "bad" track, maybe a little on the rough side, sure, but I'd rather they be rough then boring. And with all the instrumental change-ups and smooth transitions between tracks all throughout this album, boredom is just a non-existent problem on Greatest Hits.
Overall, this is an exceedingly solid debut album in pretty much every way. These dudes are definitely the band to cheer on in the emo/ indie scene going into 2017.
8.5/10
No comments:
Post a Comment