What Remains, Destroys All Monsters!

The Alaskan youths of What Remains have put together some impressive songs on their debut full-length album Destroys All Monsters!. All DIY and recorded in one of the band member’s studio/bedroom, the CD shows promising music, engineering, and production skills.

Musically, the CD is very poppy punk, with those familiar sung harmonies over power chords and quick changes reminiscent of Blink-182. What Remains serves up lots of sensitivo lyrics about the girl(s) next door, but plenty of good energy, fun, and musicianship abound. Standout songs for me were the breakneck-paced opener “Gone for Good,” the catchy but way too personal “My Favorite Vowels are E & I,” the sing-songy “Harbingery,” and damn, that song “Mykel & Carli” got stuck in my head, where the band sings to some friends during the bridge portion, “I never thanked you for brownies and mix tapes.” I liked too the awesomely-titled “Chevy Chase Chin” and “An Audrey Hepburn Dress.”

You can’t help but like these young upstarts (except if you’re the neighbor that lives across the street from their drummer, apparently, who gets a big f.u. in the liner notes). While the production quality is a bit low, stealing some of the extra punch the songs might have had, you gotta give it to the guys in What Remains for tackling it all themselves. Reading about the band, they remain loyal to their local scene and local causes, while also starting to do some touring. The guys in What Remains says they hope to tour through Texas someday; judging by their work ethic and early sounds, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see them.