Some albums feel made for gloomy months. Something about Would You Miss It? feels both comforting yet empowering, and it carries a melancholy undertone that just feels right for this time of year.
Koyo address hypocrisy, flaky friends and bittersweet nostalgia on this long-awaited debut. It crams in plenty of big and stomping instrumental offerings, brushed with gravelly vocals from Joseph Chiaramonte. Opener 51st State is busy from the beginning, with lyrics of, ‘How’d it get so bad?’ and a change of pace that melts the track away, it’s a multi-faceted intro that sets the mood of sourness and the release of an inner tension.
Standout You’re On The List (Minus One) follows suit, with contrasting climbing and falling vocal melodies and a tormenting earworm riff, it’s one that rings around your head after listening like the remnants of a chiming bell. Drummer Salvatore Argento goes utterly ham on his snare during Flatline Afternoon, a more murky track which isn’t apologetic about its feelings of resentment and regret. The energy is exciting, and to see more of this would have been a treat.