Koyo – ‘Would You Miss It?’

Old punks turn into country singers as they age, but those in the hardcore scene? They regenerate like Time Lords, constantly reinventing and growing more youthful with each album. Koyo might only be three years old as a band, but its formed of luminaries from Typecaste and SeeYouSpaceCowboy. Their sound grinds together Taking Back Sunday, TheMovielife and the melodic dust left in Brand New’s wake. For all their freshness, they’re a slow burner; ‘Would You Miss It?’ is their debut LP in their current formation. “This record was a labor of love,” says vocalist Joseph Chiaramonte. “Not just because of the work that went into it, but because of all the life experiences that shaped it. The record was a life-fulfilling, life-affirming thing to make, but it hurt a little bit to make, too.”

On a track like ‘Life’s A Pill’, the most quintessentially Koyo song on the album, that pain is close to the surface. Bass droplets support a desperate wail of frustration which evolves into a chorus that will reverberate around your head long after you hear it. “That song is about a family member of mine passing away from a drug overdose when I was on my first full U.S. tour,” says Chiaramonte, and the feeling of being stuck far away from a problem which has no solution is what he broadcasts in every lyric he roars. That’s the thing to remember about Koyo; they’re very honest about how they see the world they inhabit. On ‘You’re On The List (Minus One)’, the friends from Long Island confront their ‘fear of being overlooked’. “I fall for it every time,” cries Chiaramonte while drummer Salvatore Argento beats his heart out onto the skins. Short-burst track ‘Anthem’ rips your skin off like a sticking plaster, rapidly exposing you to the rawness of their quick fire riffs. 

The motif of brotherhood and friendship flickers in and out of view throughout ‘Would You Miss It?’, and that’s not just limited to the five members of Koyo. Anthony Didio, of Vein.FM and onstage vomiting fame, joins the team for ‘Flatline Afternoon’, a desolate track that builds to a hopeless crescendo, and Koyo’s collaboration with Daryl Palumbo of Glassjaw, ‘Message Like a Bomb’, is incredibly aptly named. They’re spoiling for a fight, about to start ‘tearing down your reality’ and squaring up to anyone who’s doubted them. Holding back from outright fight music, they hold a mature distance supported by vocals at contrasting tempos which whip and whirl with each shred. Vinnie Caruna from aforementioned hardcore legends TheMovielife pops up too on ‘What’s Left To Say’, a song of acceptance filled with long, sunset chords that linger like the memory of a broken bond. There’s no romantic love songs on this album, which is refreshing. There’s enough ‘she doesn’t get me’ songs out there, but a number like ‘Crushed’ which channels the frustration of having a friend who never bothers to call you? That’s far more interesting. Celebrating the ties that bind music fans and bands together is a central and beautiful part of ‘Would You Miss It?’, and you’re left with a feeling after listening that Koyo fundamentally understand us. 

Koyo also know exactly who they are and where they’ve come from, positioning themselves squarely in the middle of the Long Island emo-punk-hardcore Venn diagram. While that might lead to accusations of being unoriginal, there’s a charm in adding quantity as well as quality to a sound that we know and love. While you won’t get lyrical trickery and playful puns from Koyo, their honest, down-to earth songs about the reality of growing up in a specific musical milieu are a genuine pleasure. Chiaramonte roots his vocals in his lived experience, and there’s a pervading sense that this album is a perfectly balanced team effort. “Thank God I’m not afraid to see this through,” he sings on ‘Postcards’ and we can all be grateful that Koyo stuck to their guns. They’ve made a solid debut and a firm footprint onto the mud of a crowded scene. 

KATE ALLVEY