How Evans Blue Joined Grunge and Emo 20 Years Ago with ‘The Melody and Energetic Nature of Volume’

Back in 2006, emo was going strong as one of the last major rock movements in the genre’s history and with bands like My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy at the top of the game, Evans Blue broke through with a debut album, ‘The Melody and Energetic Nature of Volume’, which captured the essence of emo by bringing the distraught lyrics, impassioned vocals, and anthemic moments but then sending them through a grunge grinder which created an amalgamation that few had heard before. 

Released on February 21, 2006, ‘The Melody and Energetic Nature of Volume’ focused on love and relationships plus the frustrations and depression that goes along with the good.  “Cold (But I’m Still Here” (#8 Mainstream Rock) and “Over” (#28 Mainstream Rock) received airplay but it’s the album as a whole that captures Evans Blue’s spirit and high quality post-grunge.  

Vocalist Kevin Matisyn and guitarist Parker Lauzon wrote the majority of songs with the rest of the band providing the backing – Vlad Tanaskovic on lead guitar, Joe Pitter on bass and Darryl Brown on drums.   Their musician get thin and small or big and mighty as they make their way through a streak of arrangements they commandeer into roller coaster rides of post-grunge to match the tumultuous lyrics.  The opening trio “A Cross and a Girl Named Blessed”, “Stop and Say You Love Me” and “Cold” slam their force so hard it’s difficult to recover as the album rips into more hard rock with hooks throughout.  The energy and seismic impact of their rhythms keep the listener engaged while the lyrics can be therapeutic to those going through their own relationship problems.

Evans Blue would go through some personnel changes in the following years and only issued four albums, their last being ‘Letters From the Dead’ in 2016 which just hit 10 years old on April 15^th.  Evans Blue aren’t as active any more only playing occasionally but they left an impact 20 years ago with their smart hybrid of post-grunge and emo.