Author: Max Slade
Welcome back to your regularly scheduled weekly spotlight! I’m now back from the holidays, to bring you recommendations a-plenty!
Take one look at Origami Angel’s Instagram bio, and you’ll know exactly what the band is all about: “made a soft emo album then discovered blast beats.” Their way of genre-bending and filling songs with every stylistic twist and turn possible has a way of keeping you on your toes, and making you feel at home at the same time. They’re only a two-piece, made up of Ryland Heagy on vocals and guitar, along with Pat Doherty on drums. To some, hearing the amount of band members can cause skepticism: drums, vocals, and a singular guitar often make for a fairly dry, empty sound. Not for Origami Angel. Their small outfit works to strength, making their sound (especially live) the tightest of most young bands you’ll find.
When looking at their Spotify page, Origami Angel’s discography begins in April 24th of 2017, with the album Quiet Hours. The project lays a strong foundation of the band’s sound, but fails to extend much further than that. Their first glimpse of brilliance shines through in 5-song EP Doing the Most. Doing the Most pushes the band forward leaps and bounds sonically, lyrically, and technically. The informality of an EP allows for more risks, all of which pay off for the band. A good way to describe the collection of tracks the band provides is as a ball of emotional energy. The first four songs all follow Origami Angel’s eclectic structure and meld different areas of punk, emo, and alternative rock. It’s also the first musical introduction to the band’s love of Pokeman, as heard in the intro of “ROM Hack.” That aside, it’s not until the end of the project when their true versatility emerges in “Fin (the long and untold story of how i know it’s meant to be),” a soft acoustic love song that draws tears from the once head-banging listener.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YrCyfdDg0E
Following traction gained from Doing the Most, the band continued to progress their sound in accordance with their Instagram bio, releasing EPs titled Holy Split and Gen Z. Pushing along their steady growth in punk and emo, Origami Angel released Somewhere City this year, drawing attention from Spotify playlist-ers notable publications like Pitchfork, and KXSU 🙂
Max Slade | hehe | KXSU Music Reporter