EP REVIEW: A Sure Disaster, by SeeYouSpaceCowboy & If I Die First – Worlds Literally Collide in a Chaotic Emo Masterpiece

SeeYouSpaceCowboy are a hardcore/metalcore band coming out of San Diego, California. They`ve quickly become a staple in the community, having played in the ever-growing LDB Fest, and soon playing the anticipated return of Furnace Fest. Their members range all corners of the scene, in bands such as Wristmeetrazor and Buriedbutstillbreathing. If I Die First, a myspace-emo revival band from Los Angeles, California, with members of From First To Last, two emo rappers (Lil Lotus, lead vocalist, and Lil Zuban, clean vocalist), and two Ghostmane touring members on drums and bass.

A collaboration born completely out of left field, but accepted with completely open arms.

A Sure Disaster.

The EP as a whole was conceptually birthed from Connie’s mind. Not only is she the vocalist of SeeYouSpaceCowboy, she’s also a creative artist found under the name A Little Less Than Half. On Instagram, Connie says, “This was the first project I developed creatively and visual for all aspects and it was so rewarding having a vision and being able to make it happen across all visual elements in a cohesive manner.” The music video that was released alongside the first single, bloodstainedeyes, features the two bands standing on opposing sides, with a backdrop of two colors split down the middle. The video explodes as members from each band literally collide and fight with each other. The EP cover itself has Connie and Lil Lotus side by side, from their noses down, in the same outfits they each roughed up during the filming the music video, except each of their shirts features a spray painted logo of their respective band names. I’ll take three of each.

The creative concept then extends into the track listing itself. It’s a 5-track EP of all new material from each band, with the first two tracks coming from SeeYouSpaceCowboy, the final two tracks from If I Die First, and the one right in the center, the third track, splitting the two – bloodstainedeyes, the massive undertaking of the two artists coming together as one. As Thanos would say, “Perfectly balanced..as all things should be.

*Clap, clap* starts us off with a classic Myspace sound; Painting a Clean Picture from a Unreliable Narrator, predominantly featuring choruses, not a norm among SYSC songs, with Tay, the bassist of the band, has one of my favorite breakdowns to come from the band, a style I’ve been waiting for them to try – a resounding mosh-call of, “so shut your fucking mouth,”; I can already hear somebody’s jaw popping. You might assume that having a heavy hitting chorus feature on a SYSC track is just repeating what they did on their lead single, but you’d be incorrect. While the single is a collage of the best styles of both bands into one cohesive piece, each track from SYSC is wholeheartedly their own with clean vocals thrown into the fray.

Listeners of SeeYouSpaceCowboy know two things. 1) That their vocalist, Connie, has an interesting vocal technique come to be endearingly known as “sass-core”, and 2) their last album, while fantastic, all but did away with this style.  It is back and better than ever. “That’s pretty sassy,” says presumably a fellow band member with a laugh at the tail end of the song. Modernizing the Myth of Sisyphus. Say that five times fast. Clean vocals once again on display in this track, providing a really refreshing contrast to Connie’s chaotic vocal style. Towards the end of the song, Connie flirts between sass and growls, layered nicely over a crushing breakdown; an incredibly fun time, and one of my favorite things they’ve done.

I’ll be the clouds. I’ll be the rain that’s never ending.

Bloodstainedeyes is a five minute long epic showcasing each band’s talents in full, and beautifully weaving between each of the vocalists – including each band’s backing vocals! While the first two tracks of the EP mark the return of sass-core, previous fans of SYSC would have noticed the triumphant return of the style in this release first. Bouncing back and forth between crazy, bouncy SeeYouSpaceCowboy riffs, the increasingly catchy If I Die First choruses, and each harsh vocalist absolutely laying in to each other, all while having breakdowns fly left and right is one of the wildest experiences of a song you’ll ever have. Towards the middle of the piece we break into a soothing lull from Zubin just before crashing head-first into the heaviest breakdown of the song. Overall, bloodstainedeyes is the would-be anthem of all things Myspace-emo. No-holds-barred, wall-to-wall non-stop action, not having any trouble showing their roots in the genre, pulling out all the stops of greats from the emo bands that came before them, all while keeping their refined modern touch, and crazy, chaotic hardcore accents.

Next, we check in with If I Die First to see how they’re handling things on their end of the EP. Their first track, the fourth on the EP, is titled Mirror, Mirror This is Nothing Like You Promised. It took me up to hearing this song to start noting that Lil Lotus’s harsh vocals remind me a lot of Austin Carlile’s time in Attack Attack! Conscious or subconscious, that’s just another chapter in the book of Myspace Revival, and you’ll hear no complaints from me.

This split, if nothing else, is staying true to the genre’s unnecessarily long titles. My Nightmares Would Do Numbers as Horror Movies. This last song on the EP starts us off slow, a melodic riff gently pulling us into the powerful ending. “Is this what you meant when you said that we could make it out alive?” A music video was released alongside this single, directed by Davieedave.  It was shot mostly in a tiny room with an overhead shot looking through a fish-eye lens, which is the most fitting early 2000s concept I could think of. A perfectly emotional, raw, honest emo song to wrap up the most insane collaboration of recent music history.

A Sure Disaster, aptly titled if for no other reason than how utterly insane the entire ride is, is arguably the most fun I’ve had with a release in years, and is surely going to be somewhere within my favorite releases of 2021. From the concept behind the album art, the creative approach to the bloodstainedeyes music video, the massive scope of the song itself, and to the new material of each band pushing themselves forward, there’s nothing to easily point out in absolutely any distaste. A Sure Disaster is crazy, it`s chaotic, and you can feel every ounce of heart and soul every single member poured into this project. Please check out each band, and purchase a copy of the EP – Out May 14th via Pure Noise Records.

SeeYouSpaceCowboy & If I Die First – A Sure Disaster (May 14th 2021)

Track list:

Painting a Clear Picture From a Unreliable Narrator – SeeYouSpaceCowboy

Modernizing the Myth of Sisyphus – SeeYouSpaceCowboy

Bloodstainedeyes – SeeYouSpaceCowboy & If I Die First

Mirror, Mirror, This is Nothing Like You Promised – If I Die First

My Nightmares Would Do Numbers as Horror Movies – If I Die First

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