My Own Co Pilot

Textures [EP] (2018)

ExileOnKingSt

Combining the earnest internal meditations of “The Artist in the Ambulance” with an instrumental fusion of the various personas of Walter Schreifels, My Own Co-Pilot seeks to reinvigorate post-hardcore with fervent passion and a spartan approach to the quiet-loud dynamic. Textures is their debut EP self-released to all major streaming outlets.

The band is an international collaboration between Michal Kosinki of Gothenburg, Sweden and Derrek Siemeniuk who resides in Philadelphia (and currently performs with Adalie and Save Empty Vessels) with recording spread between Studio Lindome in Sweden and Vessel Sound Studios stateside.

“Exit You” begins with a halting drumbeat before a plaintive guitar figure ushers in Kosinki’s gossamer vocals. Throughout, Kosinki vacillates between aerial singing and throat-shredding howls. The track undergoes a steady escalation and explodes into the chorus, then settles back into a more musically expansive verse as the guitar is entwined with airy fills, and a thudding bass stakes out its presence. The bridge sprints into a back half that recalls a mashup of Quicksand and Rival Schools. “When the Missing Return”’s verses boast a perpetual drum roll over a propulsive bass which blast into soaring choruses.

“This Crying” harkens back to Thursday circa War All the Time with vigorous percussion offset by a somber piano that cuts through the waves of distortion. Final track “Remembering” cascades with Siemeniuk’s drum attack against Kosinki’s oceans of guitar distortion, soundtracking a forceful existential lament.

Overall, Textures is an impressive debut that recalls the heyday of prime Thrice / Thursday and strips away the later burdens and excesses of those bands’ subsequent albums for a straightforward take on ardent and aggressive introspection.