Written by Kep
Yosemite in Black – The Pursuit Of
> Metallic hardcore
> Georgia, US
> Releasing August 16
> Terminus Hate City
It doesn’t happen often, but every now and then I come across another heavy music fan at my day job. The most recent time was a few months back, in May, when a student approached me after a recital, nodded to my sticker-emblazoned water bottle, and said, “Okay, now I have to know who your favorite band is.” We chatted a bit and he told me he wasn’t much into death metal but was wanting to listen to more of it, so I gave him some bands to check out. Then he told me some of his favorites, and one of them was a band I’d never even heard of: Yosemite in Black. He talked them up so much I decided to check ‘em out on the drive home that day and discovered to my pleasure that they play a brash, hardheaded brand of hardcore with shades of bands like Knocked Loose or Trapped Under Ice and plenty of metallic edge. Six days later, the promo for The Pursuit Of hit my inbox. Talk about timing.
The four-piece, who somewhat confusingly hail from Atlanta and not, y’know, somewhere near Yosemite, have a string of single releases going back to 2020, some of which are included in last year’s Pretty as a Peach EP, their first true release. Checking out their back catalogue wasn’t a lengthy process, but it turned out to be a particularly gratifying one when I came across “No Knock”, the anti-cop banger that closes the aforementioned EP. Riffs rule and breakdowns will get my body moving, but a moral compass and spite to spare for those who hurt others? Now you’ve got my attention.
So, despite not reeeeally being a hardcore guy—I depend almost entirely upon our own Ellis to find hardcore shit I like, and if it’s not metallic the chances of me enjoying it are slim—I decided to dive in on The Pursuit Of, and I’ve had a great time jamming it. It’s the kind of record that doesn’t ask much of you aside from being ready to bang your head: it’s not complex stuff, with catchy straight ahead riffs that don’t fuck around and songs that don’t overstay their welcome (a mere two of the eight tracks make it beyond three minutes, and only one of those two is longer than 3:01). It’s a brisk listen, too, at only 22 minutes, so it’s ripe for repeat plays.
Yosemite in Black’s take on hardcore is high octane, a surprisingly effective dichotomy of feel-good energy and pissed-off furor. You’ve got upbeat chunk and run riffs, bright popping snare, a magnetic vocal performance from frontman Luke Marlowe (plus a dose of your classic hardcore gang yells), and, perhaps most interestingly, a number of textural and rhythmic shifts that keep the songs dynamic. Songs like “Warmer Weather”, “Just This Once”, and “Cold Shoulder” benefit greatly from shifting gears midway through their respective runtimes, opening up space in the sound by dropping out instruments and changing meter in the first two cases, breaking out into a monster slowdown and starring a murderous descending guitar line in the other. “Kitsch” does some cool things with rhythm also, slyly alternating measure lengths in one section that barrels forward with quick chugging energy.
When it comes down to it, these tracks are just a damn good time, which is what you really want from hardcore. I love closer “Fade Out”, which is tailor-made to close a live set with the maximum amount of devastation possible, all sludgey southern riffage and elephant stomps, plus the deepest growls Marlowe has in his bag. Crushing breakdowns abound on the album and they’re nothing to sneeze at, of course—there’s a great one at the end of “Robber Baron” that I’d kill to catch live soon—but the riffs and licks from guitarist Dylan Beard do some real active and fun stuff across the runtime, too. Bassist Cody Jenkins rocks and rolls all over the tracks, shining with punky swagger in those classic bass-and-drum textures, and drummer Michael Ferrara delivers the beatdown as well as you’d hope. The entire record is self-produced by the band as well, which makes the endeavor even more impressive.
THE BOTTOM LINE
I may not be an expert in the hardcore department, but I know good riffs and a good time when I hear them, and Yosemite in Black delivers all that and more on The Pursuit Of. It’s a promising start for these Georgia punks and a hell of a way to spend 22 infectious and energetic minutes.