ALBUM REVIEW: Dear Lemon House, You Ruined Me: Senior Year – Kaonashi

For a couple of years now, there’s been some serious and justified buzz around the reinvigorated post-hardcore and metalcore scenes. In that time, we’ve had varied and stellar releases from the likes of THE CALLOUS DAOBOYS, FOR YOUR HEALTH, SEEYOUSPACECOWBOY and more. Also definitely on that list are the Philadelphia-based five-piece KAONASHI. Describing their sound as ‘emo-mathcore’, we last heard from them on their 2018 breakthrough EP, Why Did You Do It?. A follow-up has been eagerly anticipated ever since, and now it arrives in the form of their debut full-length, Dear Lemon House, You Ruined Me: Senior Year.

Dear Lemon House…, like Why Did You Do It? before it, is a concept record. It carries on the story from its predecessor, picking up with the same protagonist of Jamie. On this record, the band follow Jamie through “the turmoils that come with being an American teenager.” Over 11 tracks, we watch them go through their first day of school, fall in love, and battle serious mental health issues. As is often the case, the concept doesn’t feel entirely central to one’s enjoyment of the record. It does however add an emotional weight to proceedings which listeners can feel as the story progresses.

Turning to the music, Dear Lemon House… is a lot to take in on its first few listens. Each track is full to the brim with chaotic and rapidly-changing ideas which conjure a real sense of mania. Opener T.A.Y.L.O.R. is all over the place in the best possible way. It goes from frenzied mathcore to proggy riffing to delicate downbeat emo and more over its five-minute runtime. The chaos very much continues on Fuck Temple University which follows. Again, there’s plenty of intricate and complex heaviness here, this time joined by more clean vocal parts and fleeting moments of floating ethereality.

It’s a great start to the record, but third track An Evening Of Moving Pictures With Scooter Corkle elevates things even further. This one makes sense as the lead single. It’s a little more instantaneous than its predecessors, with an even healthier dose of clean vocals. It’s still no less manic either, evoking the hyperactive post-hardcore of a band like THE FALL OF TROY.

As well as those comparisons, there’s definitely a heavy touch of THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN on this record. It’s no great surprise then that the instrumental performances on Dear Lemon House… are often impressively intricate and technical. If there’s a particular stand-out however, it’s KAONASHI‘s vocalist Peter Rono. Rono is responsible for telling the story of the record, and for giving voice to the character of Jamie. This fuels an often mesmerisingly frantic performance, particularly on tracks like Market Street (Chardonnay, Diamonds, & Me) and Run Away Jay. As mentioned, he doesn’t rely solely on screamed vocals either. Fuck Temple University and An Evening… aren’t the only songs to feature quite typically ’emo’ cleans, and there are also spoken passages on several tracks. This works well. Not only does it create a good degree of variety, but it helps us follow Jamie’s changing emotional states along with the story. 

With a runtime of 47 minutes, Dear Lemon House… is quite long for a record of its kind. Fortunately though, KAONASHI mix things up well, with a good command of dynamics and variation. There’s a particularly strong run from the album’s fifth track, Broad Street (Take Me Home), to its eighth, A Recipe For A Meaningful Life. Over these four songs, the band evoke a host of styles and artists, all to an invariably high standard. At points, there are flashes of the fraught emotion of a band like LA DISPUTE. At others, the band’s crushing riffing doesn’t feel too far removed from something you’d hear on a tech-metal record. A Recipe… is arguably the best of all here – a particularly emotional offering which builds to a devastating finale replete with a huge guitar solo.

After this, KAONASHI round out the record with The Underdog trilogy. Particularly notable here is the middle track, entitled The Underdog II: Fight On The 40 Yard Line, What’s That In Kilometers? This reveals one final trick up KAONASHI’s sleeve, taking the form of a gentle acoustic piece. It’s a bold move well-executed, although the placement feels a little random. It does make for a striking juxtaposition with the closer which follows however. This, entitled The Underdog III: Exit Pt. IV (A Self Fulfilling Prophecy), makes for one final burst of madness, bringing the record to a fittingly crazed conclusion. 

Overall, Dear Lemon House, You Ruined Me: Senior Year makes a worthy addition to a vibrant scene. It’s certainly a complex record, and one that bears repeated listens, but, if you’re willing to give it the time, you’ll hear an impressively creative band with lots more to give.

Rating: 8/10

Dear Lemon House, You Ruined Me: Senior Year is set for release on May 21st via Equal Vision/Unbeaten Records (USA) and Rude Records (EU).

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