Song Premiere: Northeast Regional – “Agencies”

Posted: 16th January, 2024 by The Editor

Northeast Regional’s been around, in some form or another, since 2015, but they didn’t start releasing music until June of ’22’s Archivists b/w Up in Arms, which kicked off a string of singles leading to a debut LP last January. Brand Managers of the Mid-Atlantic tears through seventeen songs in just under forty minutes (track lengths range from thirty seconds to nearly five minutes). The band hails from the DC-Richmond area, and the hardcore that’s been associated with those cities is a clear influence on Northeast Regional. But there’s a ton of melody stuffed in there too, frontman Jeff Byers naming Superdrag and The Lemonheads as key influences.

We’re excited to partner with the band to announce their first new music since Brand Managers; they’ll be releasing Fitness via Tor Johnson Records next month. To celebrate, we’ve got an exclusive premiere of “Agencies,” the pummeling opener on the three-track EP. It’s immediately evident from the first seconds of “Agencies” that Northeast Regional took that uncharacteristic year of silence to hone their skills; Byers barks out the biggest hooks of their career over the sharpest, cleanest leads they band’s written yet. Fitness is certainly no face turn, though–the other two tracks (particularly the noisy “The Timekeepers”) are heavier and bouncier than anything on Brand Managers; don’t expect the band to go full pop. Instead, they’ve blended the malice and the melody more seamlessly than before. If you wish the new version of “Big Disappointment” wasn’t quite so polished, Northeast Regional is for you. Give “Agencies” a listen below.

Fitness will drop on Tor Johnson Records on February 9th.