The band’s pedigree is well known, as guitarist Trevor de Brauw, bassist Colin DeKuiper, and drummer Steven Hess have spent the past 20 years playing in bands that all but reshaped the sound of aggressive music. With RLYR, they expand that approach, making the most anthemic, catchy instrumental music that’s been released so far this decade.
Media Jeweler's latest single, "Splayed Wayside" is full of their bright and aggressive tendencies, a song that jostles itself to life with a stuttering stop and start intro. The band work their magic, tumbling into a caustic groove, the guitars stabbing at the fractured rhythms as the lyrics come in quick couplets
There's still plenty of kaleidoscopic wonder, but the heart rests within Cooper's lyrics and personal approach. Home of Bread is an eclectic record, mining his influences in the form of stunning originals, collaborations, covers, and sound collages, each offering a unique texture to a singular vision.
It's been less than a year since that album's summer release, but the band are back with another mind-expanding record, the caustic Clean It Up EP. Tagged "#weirdpunk" by the label, their latest is a jaw-dropping set of unpredictable fury, a storm of flailing notes and spastic rhythms that draw as much from prog as they do post-hardcore, math rock, and no-wave.
