photo courtesy of BJF Media

Single Review of Reach NYC: “Ride or Die” (AFM Records)

“Ride or Die” is an explosive, catchy, melodic, guitar and drum-driven hard rock song from Reach NYC that’ll grab you by the throat from note one and have you rocking and singing along soon after (initially to the “ah-ah, ah-ah” in the chorus until you learn more of the lyrics). The song kicks off with a drum and guitar frenzy before unveiling its song-long sidewinding hook, supporting lead singer Rene Mata’s smoothly powerful, broad-appeal vocals.

You’ll be forgiven if you mistakenly think “Stand by You” is the song title, as I initially did, since the phrase plays a prominent role in the chorus, as in “Everything we’ve been through, I’ll stand by you. I won’t let them hurt you, desert you…” Using that lyric as an example, beyond the catchy music, it’s wordplay like the almost sequential syllable repeats in back-to-back “hurt you, desert you” that magnify the yo-yoing recurring guitar hook and help embed this song into the listener’s brain.

Simply put, “Ride or Die” is outstanding, catchy hard rock song. If you like this kind of music, as I do, you’ll love this song!

More about Reach NYC

Reach NYC has a long background in the New York alt-metal scene dating back to the late ’90s/early ’00s, then as Reach 454. You can read about the band’s past and its 2019 return from a decade-and-a-half hiatus here, at Reach NYC’s AFM Records band bio web page.