Chio - Unlearned Lessons EP

Chio

​Unlearned Lessons EP
self-released; 2018

​3.7 out of 5

By Dan Weston

Chio is an artist from New York who recently released Unlearned Lessons EP. He was involved with music since a young age and has a fairly familiar story. Like many other musicians he bounced around to different bands, put music to the side for a while and came back to it because the attraction was too strong. The five songs on Unlearned Lessons apparently were written at various points during the past decade.

The EP starts with “The Rebel Inside” which felt like a pretty straightforward alternative song I would have heard in the ’90s. I could hear a mix of bands like Foo Fighters and Weezer. It’s an explosive song that’s well structured. On that note it was predictable and threw me no surprises along the way.

Chio mentions bands like Thin Lizzy who have also been an influence on him and that was a little more obvious on “Out of My Head” which had a stronger ’70s classic rock influence. Similar to the opener it was a well crafted song but had a familiar structure. The guitar solo was solid.

I thought I was in for something dramatically different with the digital strings you hear at the beginning of “Haunted.” “Haunted” is somewhat ironically the least emotionally heavy song to my ears at least in terms of melody and tone. It plays like a summertime song about new beginnings and moving to California after getting your heart broken. He sings, “Out in California, found my heart / Took it back hoping to get a fresh start / When I landed I had to let it go / Buried it beneath the dirty New York snow.”

“Long Distance” was arguably the highlight. The hook on this song really stuck out to me and I thought Chio’s voice sounded at its best on this song. It’s dynamic and soulful. The EP ends with “Into the Waves” which comes out of the gates rocking. The song felt cathartic and seemed like a proper closer.

​The songs blended well together despite being written over the last ten years. If you are looking for a solid batch of alternative rock this should be your ticket.

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