The beauty about punk rock is that there are so many sub-genres that it's not a surprise new ones show up everyday in all corners of the world. It can take influences from one particular music or event or culture, put it's own spin on it, export it to the rest of the world and unknowingly create new scenes and in effect new bands and music (take Operation Ivy for example).
And so we have Reminder, an alternative/skate punk band hailing from the northern suburbs of Toronto with a cool, clean sound that makes an interesting listen for fans both new or old, local or international and from any culture.
This 4-piece independently released an E.P entitled Of All The Things You Are earlier this year in January and it's not a disappointing one for sure. Tracks can range anywhere from pop punk to alternative to even ska influences which cover some really interesting genres in such a short span of time (6 tracks under 17 minutes to be exact).
Take the track "Think Back," for example. It starts off with a ska-influenced intro reminiscent of Less Than Jake but then moves onto a more straight punk sound in it's chorus that may remind you of The Lawrence Arms. It's a pretty standard layout in terms of writing goes with an intro-verse-chorus form minus the bridge but the transitions between each part change smoothly enough for you not too even notice or mind for that matter.
"Feline Fine" gives me more of a Blink 182 kind of feel, especially in the introduction. While the overall production of the whole record is top notch this track stands out with clear-cut vocals and perfect mastering of the vocals and background vocals, it's not too overdone and work in unison perfectly. I've been playing this one on repeat, a tight track and one of the best of the whole release.
The longest track off the whole E.P, "Honest Things" has got that cool mix of punk meets alternative and as previously mentioned they come in different parts and blend in really smoothly. This is one of the highlights from this band, they seem to effortlessly bunch up a wide variety of genres and make it seem like it's nothing at all, that's great songwriting for you right there. My favourite part in this whole song is the ending, the climactic end solo to the slowly fading outro that seems to almost go on forever but eventually dies out in an empathetic sound and a tremolo guitar effect that bounces back from one ear to the other, highlighting another plus on this recording - the production of the album.
This is definitely a quality recording from both a songwriting and technical production standpoint. We need more bands like these, influenced by almost any relatable artist in the punk and alternative/indie genre and putting their own spin on it.
A pretty active and promising band, only time will tell how far they will go. Be on the lookout for these guys.