Yonaka is a clever band. They project a trendy, sellable image of being a rock ‘n’ roll band, but, behind the leather jackets and studs, they very much fit in with contemporary pop.
This spring saw the four-piece from Brighton release their debut LP, Don’t Wait ‘Til Tomorrow – a set of impeccably-produced pop tracks that have been given a heavy makeover. For all the distortion and crashing drums you’ll hear, there’s just as much commercial electronica woven into it.
Theresa Jarvis’ vocal approach presents itself as half Scandi-pop, half Taylor Swift going through an emo phase. The tongue-in-cheekedly-named ‘Rock Star’ is an example of the former, and ‘Wake Up’ the latter.
There’s a strong hint of Bring Me The Horizon’s recent incarnation across the record, especially detectable in songs like ‘Punch Bag’, whose mixture of electronic elements with fuzzy bass and guitars is reminiscent of BMTH’s ‘Mantra’. The result is a catchy, digestible sound that works just as well in a teenage moshpit as it does on the radio.
See Yonaka play SWX on Sunday 10th November.
The above preview was written for Bristol In Stereo, published on 05/11/2019
The Undercover Groupie 