“A lot of bands think their second album has to be this magnum opus epic that sews so many things together, and I think we’d actually taken more of that approach with our first LP. So with Barely Here, we wanted to do the opposite of that trajectory — we wanted to refine our strengths instead of doing this purposeful departure. It’s a snapshot of what our band is in its most no-frills, perfected form.”

These were the Joey Chiaramonte put in print leading up to the release of his band Koyo’s sophomore follow-up to their 2023 breakthrough debut, Would You Miss It? The one part you might argue with him on whether the Long Island melodic hardcore band succeeded on that end or not? That would be in how their latest effort probably never needed to rely on much thinking outside of the box to begin with.

Raw, passionate emotion has been driving the thrill ride behind Koyo’s music all along. After spending a shit ton of time on the road, Barely Here takes stock of time loss as well as the wear and tear on the heart of living the rock ‘n roll dream you’re rewarded once those van wheels really start rolling. Missing the faces and places you love most back home (“Jet Stream Wish”), dealing with fake and flakes in the wild (“It Happens to the Best of Us”), and figuring out new ways to reel yourself in while you’re grinding to new peaks (“What I’m Worth”) get quite literally shouted out throughout the listen in all guts and no glory fashion.

Heavy weight hooks and a guest spot from Drain’s Joey Chiaramonte help draw the distinction between “Saying vs. Meaning” and that fine line between hardcore adjacent and pop-punk within Koyo’s sound. A bottomless supply of ascendant chorus anthems and big riffed melodies — best executed on the breakup banger “You Hate Me” and the burning memory of it on the Marisa Shirar of MIRSY and Fleshwater feature “Oxidize” — within their torch-bearing of the Long Island sound in spite of bottoming out ensures that every song Koyo writes leaves a permanent mark.

Highlights: “Jet Stream Wish”, “Saying vs. Meaning”, “Oxidize”

Koyo’s Barely There is available now on Pure Noise Records.

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