KOYO's debut album, 'Would You Miss It?', encapsulates a genre-blurring mishmash of sonic brilliance, showcasing their unique blend of progressive hardcore and nostalgic post-hardcore influences. Not just a band on the rise – they're a force to be reckoned with. Check out our latest Upset cover story.

Words: Rob Mair.

"When you're in the middle of it, even if you try not to, there's always these moments where you compare yourself to your peers and think, 'Damn, no one cares about our shitty little band'," says Koyo's amiable and entertaining vocalist Joey Chiaramonte. "But I often forget just how much this band has grown in such a short time."

Joey's not wrong, either. Koyo are on the cusp of going supernova, and there's no question they haven't earned it through some serious graft these last two and a half years.

Formed in 2020 as a lockdown project, the headline stats speak for themselves: more than 100,000 monthly Spotify listeners, a slew of EPs and singles that need frequent repressing, and two trips to these shores already. The melodic hardcore champs have done more than most bands could ever dream of in two years.

And they've done all this before dropping their debut album proper, 'Would You Miss It?'.

One reason for this is that the hardcore landscape has fundamentally changed since Turnstile blew the roof off the scene. There's more attention on the genre than ever before; whether that's the Revolution Summer sound of One Step Closer, the hazy indie-kissed vibes of Militarie Gun or the Black Flag bite of Scowl, there's a new wave of bands all breaking through and searching for their place in the sun.

And although Joey might find himself casting envious glances at his friends and peers, music isn't – and shouldn't be – a competition. Instead, the current crop of hardcore bands have been eager to drag each other up, with grassroots labels putting new bands in the spotlight and more established acts willing to elevate the undercard. It's an ethos that goes back to the 80s but is serving today's rabble-rousing acts well.

"I think, for some people, this can create competition, but not so much for me," considers Joey. "Like, I can be competitive personally, but at a hardcore ethos level, we're very much in the lane of 'How can we all come up collectively?'

"And that's a real positive component to this era of hardcore. Turnstile led the way, and now an army of people on the same side are coming up together. There's definitely a lot of positive sentiment around the collective come-up. You talk to friends and peers, and they'll all agree – it's cool to see everybody winning."

The strength of this movement can be seen in its diversity, too, with Koyo finding themselves at the more palatable, melodic end of hardcore. Indeed, the quintet – completed by guitarists TJ Rotolico and Harold Griffin, bassist Stephan Spanos and drummer Sal Argento – are just as indebted to emo, indie and punk rock as traditional hardcore. All these influences get ample space to shine on 'Will You Miss It?' to make a genre-blurring mishmash of sonic terrorism.

Take, for example, opening cut '51st State'; it's a manifesto for the 11 songs on 'Would You Miss It?' and serves as the perfect introduction to the band's bouncy, hook-laden melodic hardcore; it's not a million miles away from the sound refined on singles 'Drives Out East' and 'Painting Words Into Lines' but a layer of polish elevates it to the next level. Equally, 'Life's A Pill' is a punchy pop-punk blast with a pit-friendly chorus, while 'Sayanora Anthem' finds the band heading into more discursive emo territory, reminiscent of bands like Errortype:11 or Garrison.

But, what's most striking about 'Would You Miss It?' is how it successfully treads a fine line between forward-thinking, progressive hardcore and nostalgic post-hardcore. Being from Long Island – pretty much the epicentre of the noughties emo boom – it's perhaps little doubt that Koyo's sound would be indebted to this storied piece of history, but it's how Joey and Co navigate this relationship that makes 'Will You Miss It?' special. Too progressive, and it would have lost the link to the past, too nostalgic, and it's little more than hero worship.

"There's definitely been a time or two when we'd be like, 'Oh, this riff is a little too on the nose', so we have to talk ourselves down," laughs Joey. "But what I think has allowed us to pay homage to that scene without being a worship band is that we write a lot on gut instinct. We're not interested in repackaging the same thing over and over again. A lot of it is down to intuition.

"We try not to think too hard about what's been written, but, to the same point, we don't try and limit ourselves, and that's the real key. Like, if you look at our catalogue thus far, it's a pretty massive spectrum. We're willing to have one song with a crazy beatdown next to a song that's all acoustic with a violin. That's allowed us to build our own identity. I guess we don't try and micromanage the music too much."

Not that Koyo haven't managed to pull off a little hero worship on 'Will You Miss It?'. Musically, at the very least, 'You're On The List (Minus One)' sounds like prime Drive-Thru/Vagrant era emo-punk, while some telling guest spots by The Movielife's Vinnie Caruana ('What's Left To Say') and Glassjaw's Daryl Palumbo ('Message Like A Bomb') tie things back to the scene's noughties breakout beautifully.

Again, Joey talks about wanting to ensure these things weren't too on the nose, but there's no doubt getting a couple of big hitters to add their vocal talents adds credence and credibility to the project. The question for Koyo, however, is how to include them without making a fun little easter-egg homage a pastiche. Like many of the roads walked on 'Will You Miss It?', it's one the quintet have navigated perfectly.

"Having them co-sign and their willingness to be a part of what we're doing, it creates this full-circle, refreshing component to it," says Joey. "It's not like we wrote Vinny a Movielife song or Daryl a Glassjaw song. They lend themselves to our songs, and that's a beautiful and very appreciated thing.

"And, of course, there's an anxiety that comes with that. Will it appear too worship-y or too tropey? Like, if the song kicks into a Movielife part for Vinnie to sing on, that could run the risk of either being really corny or really awesome. I like to think we landed on a good place with the guest spots."

What these two guest spots point to – alongside that of Vein.fm's Anthony DiDio – is the different wells from which Koyo are drawing their influences from. This is even more clear when considering the bands they've played with. Their debut UK tour saw them lining up alongside Silverstein, Comeback Kid and Senses Fail – and not looking out of place with their crunchy melodic hardcore. In the States – and in a more extreme example – they toured with Knocked Loose, Movements and Kublai Khan. In short, Koyo have the knack and the nous for slotting in seamlessly on diverse hardcore bills.

"Those scenarios are our speciality," laughs Joey. "I think shows like that encapsulate every bit of our DNA. We all grew up with a love of emo, but we also have a taste for hardcore, so I think we have something that speaks to every sub-set of those audiences."

In truth, Joey's assertion makes perfect sense. At their heart, Koyo have all the fundamentals of a hardcore band – and you only have to witness their high-energy live show to understand this – but they play melodic, emo-indebted music through blown-out speakers and maxed-out amps.

Unsurprisingly, his gateway into alternative music came through Taking Back Sunday – something of local heroes done good for the Long Island native. As a formative experience for a teen, their meteoric rise off the back of the landmark, now platinum-selling 'Tell All Your Friends' is the sort of good news 'local boys do good story' that cannot fail to inspire future generations. Koyo are testament to this and have hit upon a similar formula to strike gold.

"For me, personally, the bands that lived under that collaborative house – the hardcore kids making emo music, or that band with the one hardcore guy in it – just where you get that little contrast – it's the ultimate pairing. That's why The Movielife and Taking Back Sunday spoke to me so much at such a young age.

"When you get that little extra grit and all the drama, that's the chef's kiss." ■