A little over 2 years after their debut demo, Poznań based emotive grungy punks REVIVE are finally back with a proper follow-up, their well-crafted debut EP called “Red Version”. The offering has such a wonderful and dynamic range that it sounds almost distant from the core of the national hardcore scene and compared to others in its realm. It rocks, gently tugs the heartstrings, and hows promise for the band’s future releases.
To celebrate, we caught up with the band to uncover some of their narrative and give you a quick track by track breakdown, offered by the band themselves. Check it out below and be sure to catch them live in Wrocław, Poland on December 21st.
“Red Version” is based around nostalgia, longing and the moment of transition into adulthood. Musically we tried to mix hardcore/punk energy, honesty and emotion with more experimental sounds and sonic diversity, taking influences from bands like Title Fight, Cowpers, Placebo or Braid. “
“Red Version” is available digitally and on tape via Sorry Hombre Records.
REVIVE features members of Thug X life, Contrail, Cervantes, Astrid Lindgren, and One Trillion Dreams.
„Oczekiwania” („Expectations”) started off with an intense-yet-melodic riff that matches the vocal melody, the rest was built around that. From the beginning I was imagining it with some phaser bits, and I think it adds some flavor to the simple riff. Lyric-wise the song touches the topic of looking for purpose and not necessarily finding it in your daily life, what often leads to frustration and the feeling of resignation.
The lyrics were partly inspired by The Legend of Zelda games.
„Escape Rope” is the slowest song on the EP, and the most experimental one. We fooled around with some spacey-sounds in it, as 90s alternative rock bands like for example HUM or The Smashing Pumpkins which are a huge inspiration for me. I wanted to replicate the nostalgic feeling of longing.
Lyrics are about the uncomfortable feeling of seeing someone who used to mean a lot to you.
„Hm03” has this almost 80s/90s post hardcore vibe. It turned out to be the heaviest one on the EP, it’s also probably the oldest. HM03 seems to be about slowly coming to terms with the weights of adulthood, when the illusion of “the grass being greener on the other side of the fence” slowly fades away.
„Ptaki Już Gdzieś Poznikały” („The Birds Are Already Gone”) is definitely the poppiest one. It’s a song about realizing that time constantly passes by and wanting to run away from that feeling. I’ve listened to a lot of Braid while writing it, but the sudden slow-down was definitely inspired by other 90s emo/indie band My Favorite Citizen.
