For Fans Of: Fiddlehead / High Vis / Koyo
Label: DAZE Records
Favorite Track: “Intrusive Thoughts”
Recollection knows themselves, they know their sound… the punch of hardcore, the urgency of punk, with plenty of space left for melody and hooks. On Intrusive Thoughts, the band leans into that balance across four songs that explore memory, anxiety, relationships, and all the uncomfortable feelings that sometimes come with looking back at the past.
“Lost in Translation” opens with spacious, atmospheric guitars before the song starts to build. Vocalist Josh Hynes sets a strong pace while the riffs keep pulling the track back into a sweet melody. Lyrically, it’s a feeling of being caught between what once was and what you’re in now: “Now I’m lost in a crowd / And seem to speak to everyone in a foreign tongue” captures the transient feeling, the repeated refrain of being “lost in translation” giving an effective foundation for the rest of the EP.
“Turntable” follows, capturing the listener with an infectious rhythm and hook. The concept is simple – hearing a song and being transported back to a memory – but Recollection takes this concept and makes a lot out of it. With sharp vocal passages and a big, catchy chorus, the contrast works. “I got deja vu, it reminds me of you every time it plays” speaks to this emotion, creating a unique experience of writing a song about triggering memories while the song itself feels like something that the listener will associate with a particular, personal moment.
In these moments, with the hardcore influence bubbling up underneath, the band embraces indie-rock influences and utilizes rhythm sections and Hynes’ delivery without fearing a great melody. They allow the hooks to do the heavy lifting at times, and it becomes one of the EP’s biggest strengths.
The title track hits the heaviest. Built around rumination spun out of control, the music follows suit. “All senses numb intrusive thoughts come along / Can’t shake ’em, can’t let ’em go” is the song’s core, but the repetition of the sentiment feels less like someone explaining themselves and more like being stuck inside the loop itself. The vocals sound worn down from the cycle, while Cherish Hynes’ guest vocals bring another dimension, another loop.
While the subject matter is heavy, Recollection doesn’t overplay it. The songs are personal, but they’re universal, providing a connective point of struggle: getting stuck in thought cycles, falling back into old memories, not having things figured out as we age.
“Son” brings the EP to an emotional home. Filled with the most urgency but also warmth, the song shifts the record’s focus from inward to looking after someone else. It delivers a final promise – “If you lose your way, I’ll be here to find you” – that lands because it’s a lesson learned through experience. After moments spent wrestling with our own memories and anxieties, there’s a sense of somewhere to go: pour that into someone else.
Produced by Taylor Young at The Pit, the EP is filled with enough space for melodic weavings while maintaining a hard hit. There’s not much excess. Four songs, no fillers, and each one brings something slightly different to the table. More importantly, it sounds cohesive and comfortable with the pieces that exist all at once. There can be a hardcore song that chases a hook while embracing sentimentalism and still be true to the genre, because the people making it understand the genre.
If Vivid Dreams (Pop Wig Records) established where Recollection was coming from, Intrusive Thoughts maps where they’ll go next. It’s melodic without losing its teeth, personal without oversharing, and nostalgic without getting stuck in the past. Instead of recreating the past, they reckon with it and turn it into something to be carried forward.
Intrusive Thoughts Tracklist:
1. Lost In Translation
2. Turntable
3. Intrusive Thoughts
4. Son
