The follow-up to 2019's power pop-leaning
Natural, Everyday Degradation
,
A Portrait of an Ugly Man
sees the Minnesota group continue to distance themselves from their D.I.Y./emo-revival past with a taut ten-song set that looks to brooding post-punk and snappy, spring reverb-licked indie rock for inspiration. Led by siblings
Erik
(vocals/guitar) and
Stephen Paulson
(bass),
Remo Drive
's bleak/cool aesthetic and wry lyrics evoke
the Smiths
by way of
Hot Fuss
-era
Killers
. The '90s indie rock ambiance yields a handful of gems, with the snappy "A Guide to Live By" and "True Romance Lives," and the winking "Night I Kidnapped Remo Drive" -- all of which lean hard into the sweaty, late-summer-night garage rock stylings of bands like
Franz Ferdinand
and the
Strokes
-- leading the charge. ~ James Christopher Monger