Irrevocable, the Metro Manila-based punk rock band, released “Email” on July 23rd, their first single from the critically acclaimed 2023 EP Generational Curses, arriving as a surprise drop with a music video co-directed by Gibson Santiago and the band themselves, which racked up nearly 20,000 views on its premiere day alone. Formed in 2017, the band has built a loyal following through sincere punk rock that pulls from a wide range of influences from the Descendants and Transit to Birds In Row, while incorporating elements of doom and chaotic hardcore into something that is their own.
At barely two minutes long, “Email” wastes no time. The band made a deliberate choice to return to shorter, more aggressive songs after the longer tracks on Generational Curses, and the decision paid off immediately. The new lineup is also worth noting, with Jom Grana on guitars and Edzcel Neria on drums joining Lenian Gaspar-Carino on vocals, Tani Carino on guitars, and Ino Grana on bass, with the whole thing mixed and mastered by Josh Crae.
I love their references and the way Y2K jumped out to me immediately; I thought it was undeniably Paramora adjacent in the DNA- that same razor-sharp alt pop propulsion- but Irrevocable have their own thing going that is simply theirs. Gaspar Carnio’s voice is a genuine standout, powerful and suited for the genre.
Email is lyrically relatable to me, “You can’t fit your life in 4 sheets of paper”, it lands at the concept of someone being reduced to a version yourself that fits what someone else needs from you. “At the end of the day I’m just a name, like everybody else” also fits that concept, along with “I don’t wanna pretend to be anything to anyone,” which is the emotional core of the whole thing. Someone done with performing a version of themselves for a world that keeps running them in circles. It is relatable to me and to anyone who has ever felt stuck in a cycle they cannot escape anis d done with pretending they are okay.
Written by Anthony Perez
