Review Summary: Are Here To Help You
Someone had to pick up the slack when Dad Thighs broke up. Emo has been more or less dead and buried for years now, and Dad Thighs’ lone full-length record was like a zombie's hand shot out of the grave, trying to pry out the rest of the scene in vain. The only emo bands thriving currently are of the very undesirable “dude, bro” variety, and I’d rather listen to the same Dad Thighs record on repeat than subject myself to mom jeans. Dad Thighs had it all - a soul-piercing female vocalist, music with actual dynamics, and killer arpeggios for days, but they broke up, and my soul died with them. Until I heard Overo. Overo is here to save the day. Overo features Lindsay and Mercy from football, etc. and Brendan from Perfect Future, and it’s fair to say they sound like a mix of those two bands.
Overo is heavy, but not oppressively so, there’s a definite balance with screaming and distorted bass complimenting cleaner, delicate sections. Adding to the dynamics is the give and take dual vocals. The vocals are low in the mix, and the overall production is raw which mixes perfectly with the aggressive songwriting. There are moments of levity to be sure, but there’s nothing I’d call bright or plucky. "Summer Wheat" is the crux of the album, with an extended instrumental opening that cascades into a furious performance from Lindsay and Brendan. The haunting use of strings bring the track over the top, and its delightfully depressing vibe makes it an easy candidate for song of the year.
Overo is not the most original album - Brendan often sounds eerily similar to The Saddest Landscape’s vocalist, and it’s in many ways a heavier version of early football, etc. - but considering how barren the emo landscape is, and the overall quality of the songwriting it gets a pass and a half. Moments like the driving chords that crescendo into harmonics in "Joseph" point to an illustrious career as long as Overo improve even slightly going forward. But this is emo we’re talking about so odds are they’ll break up and shatter my heart once again.
