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Hey! Listen To Iona Grove!

I recently wrote on Facebook that no genre makes me scroll past a band’s name more than “progressive”. That was possibly a lie; it’s actually metalcore. Both genres

9 years ago

IonaGrove_Breathe


I recently wrote on Facebook that no genre makes me scroll past a band’s name more than “progressive”. That was possibly a lie; it’s actually metalcore. Both genres share the unfortunate malady of mislabeling. Almost all of the bands that use their names as a genre definition have nothing to do with the accepted sounds associated with the moniker. Not only that, but a lot of them are derivative and frankly, boring.
However, it pays to fight against first urges and once in a while risk hearing something stale. When you do that, you open yourself to the needle in the haystack, that one diamond among all the chaff. With that in mind, say hello to Iona Grove. I’m going to be honest with you: this is straight up, no holds barred Misery Signals worship. But it’s fantastic. It’s catchy, well written and produced and just down right fun. Head on over the jump to bang your head.

The EP is short but damn does it go hard. The familiar twang on the guitars sounds sincere, the emotional vocals deliver the lyrics perfectly and the whole thing just smells of a tight cadre of musicians, sitting down and writing music. Without the usual fixation with breakdowns, with the focus of early Misery Signals on delivery and execution, Iona Grove are paddling a tired genre in a fresh way.

A vigorous injection of youth, I’ve spun this three-track EP over and over again the past few days, wishing there was more. It just doesn’t age, sticking to the plan and the emotional range with every listen through. I’m all hope that these guys can catch some artistic windfall and release more music in the near future. Perhaps even an album? We’ll see. In the meantime, get into a car or onto a bike and blast this album for maximum velocity.

-EK

Eden Kupermintz

Published 9 years ago