Over the weekend of May 15-17, The Current hosted Sounds Like Home: a virtual festival of Minnesota music. You can find all the performances archived on The Current's Facebook page, and we're also sharing the archived sessions one by one on YouTube. Thanks to the Minnesota Legacy Amendment Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, which allowed us to compensate artists for their performances.

One of more prominent Minnesota rock exports of the past decade, Remo Drive have risen through the echelons of contemporary pop-punk to become a mature, stalwart outfit. Their most recent record, 2019's Natural, Everyday Degradation, found the Bloomington, Minnesota duo distancing themselves from their tongue-and-cheek nihilism. They instead opted for an emphasis on an adventurous pop tone in a seemingly deliberate act to avoid niche designations.

The band's next endeavor, A Portrait of an Ugly Man, continues this exploratory trend. The LPs two singles, "Starship Worship" and "Ode to Joy 2," trade power chords and angst-ridden confessions for sentimental longing and smooth, vocal-centric choruses.

Their self-awareness and yearning to escape certain molds that makes the band highly intriguing: Remo Drive's latest songs are proof that they are still growing as a band and as people.

Songs performed

01:51 "Star Worship"
05:24 "Two Bux"
08:19 "Eat Sh*t"

Hosted by Jade
Produced by Jesse Wiza
Engineered by Erik Stromstad
Web feature by Caleb Brennan

External link

Remo Drive - official site