The members of Overexposure were initially drawn to work together by a shared passion for '90s Bay Area punk bands like The Nerve Agents and AFI and classic hardcore. In his No Echo review of the band's 2021 debut album, California '98, Thomas Vanderpol wrote: "I can’t think of a better band to pay tribute to the legacy of East Bay hardcore."
After the release of their maiden LP, Overexposure put in a lot of live work, playing alongside everyone from Negative Approach to Chemical Fix to ACxDC. "Since California '98, we've been focusing all our efforts on playing as much as possible and touring when we can," vocalist Ryan Doria told me via email. "I believe we've played almost 50 shows in our first two years. We love getting out there, meeting new people and other bands."
There’s a lot of melody coursing through Overexposure's songwriting. I could see the band playing on something like Punk Rock Bowling or a hardcore fest in Europe and go over well on both, where some other bands we cover on No Echo might not. "I think our live performance is really where we shine. We put a lot of work into the recordings, but nothing beats the live show energy, which we always strive to deliver 150%.
"As far as PRB, we were lucky enough to play an after-party show in 2021 with Slapshot and Youth of Today. That was an incredible experience and would absolutely love to play the festival again, given the opportunity. It would be a dream to take this band to Europe and the UK. I've toured Europe twice about a decade ago, and agree that Overexposure would do well there. Again, given the opportunity."
With momentum clearly building, Overexposure is returning with a new EP entitled Strive to Survive. The group wanted to offer No Echo readers an early listen to a song from the record called "Read the Signs (No Salvation)" today.
"I'm so excited to share this track with everyone! It was the first song we wrote for this new release and it really set the tone for the rest of the writing process," Ryan wrote me. "We'll definitely be adding it to our setlist for our upcoming tour in May."
Here's what Overexposure wrote me about the track:
"The song "Read the Signs (No Salvation)" is the track we chose to start the EP and also to give the listeners as a single with the announcement because we felt it has all the ingredients to really set the tone for the whole release. It has the energy, the guitar hooks, the gang vocals, and it just sounds pissed off, which is a consistent theme throughout the EP.
"Lyrically, this song speaks to my strong belief that there is no heaven or hell and that this one life is the only chance we get. Directed towards conservative christian people in power, I sing about the hypocrisy that is their religious justification for their political agendas, when they themselves live in sin and hate and think they can sweep it under the rug by saying a prayer or attending church."
Strive to Survive was produced and engineered by Ryan Doria at Nightmare Sound Studio, with a mix and master by Paul Miner (Death By Stereo) at Buzzbomb Sound Labs.
About those aforementioned tour dates, Overexposure will be heading out on an East Coast run starting in Cambridge, Massachusetts on May 20th:
Strive to Survive will be out on May 12th via War Against Records.
Overexposure on social media: Facebook | Instagram | Bandcamp
***
Tagged: overexposure
