Review: Mercy by Remo Drive released via Epitaph

Released in 2017, Greatest Hits, Remo Drive’s first record is seen as a modern emo classic. I’ve heard the record plenty but never anything beyond then and was warned by fans to stay far away from the later releases. To me, emo fans can be really stubborn and critical to a fault. I figured any new album by this band was probably fine, just different from the original. So, dear reader, I listened to Mercy to prove a point.

Only my point was wrong, and I’m here to explain why.


I think in Remo Drive’s case the problem isn’t a shift in genres, it’s the genre they shifted to is done poorly. Opening track “Please, Please be Smart” has all the makings of a band who wants so badly to be classic pop and writes as if they understand what being an everyman is supposed to be. To this point, the track isn’t really about anything. It pantomimes everything a song like this is supposed to be; the grand little chorus with distinguishable backing vocals, the extended post chorus, the grunt. It understands, on a surface level, what makes classic pop rock work but hasn’t the first clue how to execute it. The guitar tone at the end of the track doesn’t even go with the song, the mood, or the actual part it's attached to.


I won’t get too into the lyrical side but it’s all just weird Happy Days idioms which fail to really say anything. One of the big points a chorus on this record makes is “if you’re chasing your tail around all you’ll ever catch is your ass.” I don’t even have a flowery way to tell you this lyric sucks ass. None of the lines on Mercy actually mean anything; they're all just what someone thinks a cool guy would say.


I think there was an attempt, I also think it was so poor I couldn’t finish the record to write a review of it. I got through it twice; the third time almost broke me. They knew what they were trying to do, and I genuinely think they felt like they were doing a good job. Part of the problem, at least by my assessment, is when you’re a band with so many fans telling you “it isn’t like your old stuff” it’s hard to feel like anyone is going to like anything you put out. I think a lot of these songs are the beginning of something but not a single one comes out fully baked.

Our score of Mercy is 3/10.

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