Each day of December this year, I’m highlighting one of my favourite albums of 2024. Counting down the list, we start with #31 on December 1st and go all the way down until we’ve reached #1 on December 31st. Today, #20 on my Album of the Year list: SeeYouSpaceCowboy… – ‘Coup de Grâce’.

Over the last 1,5 years, you may have seen the occasional odd genre pop by on this blog. Swancore and mathcore, for example. Both pretty well represented. But what about sasscore? I’ve highlighted it once before, late September 2023 to be precise, but besides that single entry it has been quiet around this cheeky niche. Today, it’s time to dive back into the wonderful world of post-hardcore sub-genres and I couldn’t have picked a better album to do so.

If you ever wondered what would happen if you mix Attack Attack!, Fall Out Boy, and HMLTD together: seek no further. I’ve got the answer for you right here in the form of ‘Coup de Grâce’, the theatrical fourth album by American hardcore band SeeYouSpaceCowboy…. It’s 2024’s most 00s release, feeling like it’s put together for those that were all about neon coloured hair, anything Tim Burton, and converse with checkered laces. With social trends naturally progressing into the next era (we’ve already had our fair share of 80s and 90s revivals), ‘Coup de Grâce’ seems to have arrived at exactly the right time.

Calling this album an emo album would be unjust. In fact, I haven’t heard many releases this year being – within its range – as diverse as this one. 12 songs, each constantly changing sub-genre. There’s metalcore, screamo, sasscore, math rock. You name a hardcore subdivision, ‘Coup de Grâce’ has it. It’s one of the two main strengths of this album, the other one being the great execution of the former. Each song is a perfect display of this band’s qualities, from lead singer Connie Sgarbossa’s brilliant screams on pretty much every song to her brother Ethan’s oh-so-satisfying drum rolls on ‘To The Dance Floor For Shelter’. The likes of Courtney LaPlante (Spiritbox), Kim Dracula, nothing,nowhere. and iRis.EXE have been roped in for some additional vocals and with Matt Squire (All Time Low, Panic! At The Disco, and other less emo-like artists) taking care of the production, ‘Coup de Grâce’ has been completed. The end result is a scenecore (to stick with the right terminology) album released in the wrong timeline. A theatre play aimed for the 00s emo kids who want to relive their beloved era once more.