beforeyouleave
Photo Cred 📷: @pasaboof
Gosh, I hate "Take me Home, Country Roads". It's up there with "My Heart will go on" and "Last Christmas" when it comes to most annoying songs ever. Thanks beforeyouleave, for putting that awful tune in a new light and wreckin' it up in good screamo fashion how it already should be done 50+ years ago.
beforeyouleave are a three-piece from California. And while they're reciding in Los Angeles, they're definitely inspired by and connected to Apple Valley. This rather small city was the birth place of a new movement in Screamo and it probably began with the formation of self versed records, the success by vs. self (who's guitar player Kyle runs said label) and the hype around widowdusk.
What followed was an exciting 2023 with lots of young bands spawning from the fruitful floor in Southern California. Bands like So Concerned, Versera, Hedonic, letsmakenothinghappen, September (istheonlytimeidontthinkofyou), Enertia and Undercard, among many others. Some of them you might not know if you're not local yourself. Could be that they already played a show without creating any social account for their band. That might seem kinda strange in 2024, but this SoCal scene is pretty oldschool in that regard. They don't care much about Social Media and rather set up some shows with their friends. It's a very youthful movement built on pure passion. But as it is, you don't know what they have in store tomorrow. They could suddenly disband without posting about it or they could put out a double LP... nah, scratch that... it's still Screamo!
Musically all of those bands are totally lo-fi and wild at their attempt of playing instruments, writing songs and screaming into microphones. beforeyouleave do it just the same way. When the heroic demolition of "Country Roads" is done, they have three more tracks to fuck shit up. If you're familiar with the mentioned bands before, you'll eat this EP up!
It's frantic and slightly chaotic, with distorted guitars, raw mosh parts, breakdowns and harsh screams that battle all those instruments which are mostly higher in the mix. In terms of rhythms and in terms of their love for apocalyptic melodies, they took notice of the real greats in screamo. Of Jeromes Dream. And Orchid. They even mix things up a bit with the title track, that closes the EP. Halfway through they throw-in moody, spoken words by a female voice and go back and forth between them and ugly blasts, before ending it abruptly. A more than promising debut, that is.
Speaking of Orchid, Jeromes Dream, local scenes, youth and all that stuff, this new movement gives me nostalgic feelings and let's me think about the Californian scene in the early to Mid-90s, where everything revolved around Gravity and Ebullition Records. Where all those young, passionate bands played bold and edgy music and eventually invented screamo without having the faintest idea.
If you want a physical version of the EP, be patient. The first run of tapes and CDs sold out, but the band has some at shows and more are on the way. Follow BSDJ on Instagram for more information.
Checkout the EP here : beforeyouleave
Writer : @borderlinefu
Editor : @just_reidz
03/25/24
