Irreversible How often can you say that a band is so good at their genre that they would only water down a record by adding in a ballad? Barely Here is the blistering sophomore effort from Long Island hardcore band, Koyo, and they do what they do best by charging through ten melodic punk rock tracks with absolutely no ballads to be found. The second LP from Koyo sticks to the basic theme of wanting to find human connections at a time when attention spans seem to be at their shortest. Barely Here was produced by longtime collaborator Jon Markson (Drug Church, Drain, The Story So Far), and features two guest spots in the sequencing from Sammy Ciaramitaro of Drain and Marisa Shirar of Fleshwater. “I think we’d learned so much about our process from making Would You Miss It? that we knew exactly what we wanted going into this one and it came together with more of an instinctual kind of magic to it,” explains lead vocalist Joey Chiaramonte. “A lot of bands think their second album has to be this magnum opus epic that sews so many things together, and I think we’d actually taken more of that approach with our first LP. So with Barely Here we wanted to do the opposite of that trajectory–we wanted to refine our strengths instead of doing this purposeful departure. It’s a snapshot of what our band is in its most no-frills, perfected form.” I couldn’t agree more with Chiaramonte and his bandmates’ approach to their second full-length record, and it pays off widely on Barely Here.
The set blasts off with a dial-tone, to match the album artwork and concept of longing for connection, on the title track as Chiaramonte passionately sings on the chorus, “I swear you want me dead / Not far off from where I’ve been / Theres so much more to all of this / So I’ll duck my head.” As the track unfolds, Koyo make it clear that they’re out for world domination in the melodic hardcore scene that inspired them to make music in the first place. “Jet Stream Wish” begins with some speedy riffing from TJ Rotolico and Harold Griffin, before Chiaramonte ponders, “Can you still hear me? / I need you near me / And I can’t wait another second to get home / Do you still see me? / Needing you, pleading with the jet stream / Find quickest way that gets me to your door.” The longing for home and wanting to be at peace with others is a prominent theme on this record, and it comes across as authentic and relatable.
”Saying vs. Meaning” features Sammy Ciaramitaro of Drain, and the two lead vocalists trade vocal duties in a great-sounding track about the complexities of communication. The verse of, “I can’t believe I gotta say this / ‘We are not the competition’ / But if you want it, then you got it / Just look around / The room is vacant / Just like everything you say when it feels safe / I hope you hear this song / And panic every day,” is pointed, urgent, and packs a little bit of a punch to it. The song bleeds right into “It Happens To The Best Of Us”, a bass-heavy song courtesy of Stephen Spanos, while drummer Sal Argento’s hard-hitting approach behind the kit makes for a memorable way of getting to closer to the end of the front side of the record. It’s on the Side A closer of “You Hate Me” that Koyo hit a different gear and hone in on their band’s strengths completely. The mid-tempo track is the closest the band gets to slowing down their breakneck pacing, and the chorus of, “Caught up in a contradiction / Can’t you be happy with yourself? / Blurred lines of fact and fiction / Wishing that you were someone else” is well-written and straight to the point.
”Selden Mansions” begins the back half of Barely Here with a speedy punk track about life on the road and wanting to get back to a sense of normalcy when you return. The band find it hard to locate peace of mind as Chiaramonte admits, “Open roads leave a hole in my heart / I get home, and I blink, then I’m gone again / Yea those sidewalk-less streets / They’re so priceless to me / Get me on Long Island now.” The concept of “home” continues to weave the narrative on this record and makes for a very cohesive and memorable artistic statement. “Oxidize” features Marisa “Mirsy” Shirar on guest vocals, and the song is largely about wanting to be back with the person who makes us feel most comfortable in this crazy world. Lyrics like, “The shame of passing by your exit / You know, I instantly regret it / My heart breaks / From the guilt and weight / It’s the routine that I lay with / I’m being pulled in the wrong direction / You deserve my full attention,” talk about the sacrifices the band is making by chasing their dreams and the fractured relationships that can happen because of these choices.
”What I’m Worth” features a great, spiraling riff from Rotolico, while Chiaramonte continues to captivate in his visceral vocal approach. “Pace and Loiter” sounds a bit like a New Found Glory song meshed with I Am The Avalanche, but Koyo make it their own quite quickly and confidently. The set wraps up with the lead single of “Irreversible”, which is also a bold choice to make by placing the introductory track all the way at the end of your sophomore LP. That would’ve never flown during the days of before streaming reigned supreme and people had to go to Tower Records to listen to an album from front to back to see if the record was worth owning or not. The single ends with the sound of a phone hitting the receiver to bring it all back to the beginning of this cohesive LP that never slows down its pacing to “fit” industry norms.
I commend Koyo for staying true to who they are and realizing what they do best is this type of songwriting, style, and overall delivery to make for a memorable sophomore statement.