Stream Koyo’s Heavy, Catchy New EP Drives Out EastStream Koyo’s Heavy, Catchy New EP Drives Out East

Last year, a bunch of members of extremely heavy hardcore bands — including Typecaste, SeeYouSpaceCowboy, Rain Of Salvation, Hangman, and Adrenaline — got together to form the new Long Island supergroup Koyo. Koyo are not an extremely heavy hardcore band, though they have their moments. Instead, the band taps into a rich historic vein of Long Island emo and melodic hardcore, including poppy stuff like Taking Back Sunday and the Movielife. They’re awfully good at that stuff.

Last year, Koyo released their debut EP Painting Words Into Lines. Today, they’ve followed it with a new one called Drives Out East. We’ve already posted lead single “Diamond One,” which features Life’s Question singer Abby Rhine and which gives a good indication of what’s happening here. Just about everything about Drives Out East — the title, the cover art, the fact that one song has strings — calls back to a specific moment in circa-2000 rock history. But Koyo have the urgency that this kid of music needs, and they also have songs.

The first three tracks on Drives Out East all hit hard, in ways that evoke serious nostalgia. Meanwhile, closing track “The World We Claim,” the one with the strings, is a genuinely lovely ballad, though even that one has heavy parts. It’s going to be a trip to see this band playing these songs at hardcore shows, but it’s going to work. Listen for yourself below.

Drives Out East is out now on Triple B Records.