Hailing from Kelowna BC, post-hardcore outfit Derailleur comes crashing onto the scene with two new blistering singles. Taking cues from classic acts like Alexisonfire, and Thrice. These two songs foreshadow an impressive affinity and understanding for the genre. guillotine is more in the vein of Dead Tired, while release me hits with notes of Sleep Token, or Bad Omens except chalk full of the hardcore ferocity that those bands can sometimes lack.
guillotine pulls the listener in with a ferocious scream by the band’s vocalist, “Hurts hard to drink water doesn’t it / You’re scared now curb your adrenaline” just before the song explodes with pounding drums and searing guitars. Delivering the kind of tune that keeps your heart pumping and head banging, Derailleur blends clean and dirty vocals over an engaging chorus that begs you to sing along.
The counterpart, release me, is my personal favourite of the pair. Although a bit more reserved than its sibling song, its use of dynamics elevates the song to incredible heights. Due to the incredibly sticky chorus and vocal nuances, this song has been stuck in my head for the last week. I would catch myself singing “Release me relinquish completely” under my breath at work or while I was shopping, it just became a vocal stim for me. While being much more melodic than its predecessor, it also has the added element of a female singer weaving in and out of the main vocalist’s performance. Between this layer and the accents on the song’s rhythm, this short song feels so engaging and addictive that I just can’t put it down.
For now, we’ve only got these two explosive singles and an AOF cover to go off of for Derailleur’s sound and yet I’m super excited to see where they go from here. I think they’ve got a real affinity for genre and so far they have scratched the post-hardcore itch in a way that would have made my high school self very happy.
Written by Lando Flakes
