Straight out of Chicago’s south side comes Detour North, dropping a new EP July 27, called It’s History, It’s Poetry. These guys are unsigned, which is kind of hard to wrap your head around because their sound is tight, energetic, and substantial.
The four-piece band consists of Emmanuel Roldan (vocals, rhythm guitar), Danny Klus (drums), Anthony Esparza (bass), and Kem Mastey (lead guitar). Detour North’s sound conjures up visions of early Fall Out Boy, before they went all glitz and gentrified, fused with the heady dynamics of Blink-182. In other words, their sound is full of hormonal exuberance, keen pizzazz, and raw, unbridled resonance.
The EP encompasses seven songs, starting off with “DEAD,” a peppy pop punk tune with beau coup compact power chords, and tough drums. Roldan’s vocals inject just the right amount of skater-slacker-nonchalance into the lyrics. It’s voice made-to-order for pop punk, proximate and impressively rasping.
“Blackmail” grinds and growls with brawny guitars and a machine-gun beat of rat-a-tat-tat intensity. “July” opens with bright vocals and a staggering rhythm settling into a laser-like punk melody. Klus’ drumming propels the music with vicious snapping thwacks, giving the tune Jovian potency, as the guitars shimmer with knotted snarls.
“Autumn Bloom” takes things down a couple of notches, offering a punk-lite flavored tune with sparkling pop facets. It’s a good song, but frankly, Detour North is much better when they’re punching it out. The title track shifts back into punk-overdrive-mode, with flashing guitars and an achingly powerful bassline. I love the arrangement of the rhythm and lead guitars, layered over each other in chromatic harmony.
“You Look Like Hell” starts out easy with an acoustic guitar and Roldan’s voice. Even though the instrumentation is Spartan, Roldan’s passionate voice manages to inject the tune with residual energy. “You’re A Saint/I’m A Nonbeliever” really lays down a rictus of punk oomph. Roldan’s vocals rocket off into the dynasphere, as the dirty guitars project a wall of beefy sound.
It’s History, It’s Poetry is heady stuff. Detour North undeniably has it going on! Would some label sign these guys, already?
