The new EP from Koyo comes hot off the heels of their well-received debut LP, Would You Miss It?, and features two re-imagined songs from their catalog, plus a new song indicating where they can take their sound in the future. Mile A Minute impresses by showcasing what this band is capable of creating when they strip away most of the energy behind their songs and get to the core of what makes Koyo unique. “Ten Digits Away (Deluxe)” kicks off the record with an acoustic guitar-based approach, and vocalist Joey Chiaramonte dials back his trademark growl to a smoother approach that took me back a bit in its crisp delivery. The expanded song comes from a previous EP of the same name, and acts as a great companion piece to the original, while adding in some piano and other backing instruments to round out their sound.
”I Might Not Get Through All Of This” is drastically different than the original found on Would You Miss It?, called “I Might Not,” and instead turns the track on its head by adding in some brooding synths and complex beats much like how Yellowcard did on their collaborative record with Hammock (A Hopeful Sign). What Koyo does best on this re-imagined version is by highlighting how the band can evolve from their hardcore/pop-punk delivery in new and imaginative ways.
The title track closes out the EP with a more familiar approach that longtime fans of Koyo have grown accustomed to, and it delivers the goods in a crisp, three-minute banger that offers some clues of where the band can take their dynamic sound next. Frontman Joey Chiaramonte explained, “This is the first full band, full-send Koyo track after releasing our first record–for sure an intimidating prospect. We’ve been slowly but surely getting more music together, maybe keeping everything a little closer to our chests than usual. So we wanted to select one proper Koyo track to hold everyone down for a while. ‘Mile A Minute’ is a strong foot forward in this moment.” It’s hard to not agree with Chiaramonte’s sentiments here, as Koyo continue to evolve in unexpected ways.