The debut full-length LP from rock outfit ‘Hey, Ily’ (pronounced: Hey, I love you) is an exciting taste of the future this band has to offer. Combining indie rock and emo influences, Hey, Ily crafts an album full of youthful vigor.
Psychokinetic Love Songs opens with a robotic voice introducing the band to the listener and then bringing them into a bit pop tune with a monologue in Japanese. Transitioning from this opening track, the album quickly gets to business delving straight into bright guitar riffs. Apart from two instrumental interlude tracks, the album consistently delivers high-octane indie rock songs.
Each song appears to be made up of the same instrumental makeup with a few exceptions. Horn sections can be heard occasionally, and the interlude track “The Tempest” makes use of piano to provide some variability in the tracklist. The playing on this album is of very high quality. The guitarist compliments each guitar line with the other by playing alternating riffs at times or simply by the chemistry of the two tones used. The drumming is never too aggressive but is consistently present with its flurry of fills and tingling hi-hats.
Vocally this album is very impressive as well. The vocalist offers a wide selection of singing styles and intonations across the album. The most common is the standard whiny voice, characteristic of midwest emo bands. However, there are times when they sing in a deeper tone that is almost reminiscent of Richard Dawson. And occasionally on the album, there are pained shouts and yells. The vocalist clearly showcases the range of his ability on this album.
With such few tracks on this album, it is not as easy to pick standout tracks as most of them are of similar quality. However, “Glass House” begins with an incredibly fun riff and pounding drums. This evolves into a sputtering melody accompanied by heavily manipulated vocals. The chorus is infectious and perfectly matched with the instrumental behind it. It evokes a similar sound like an American football song with its mathy instrumentation and emotive vocals.
