Riley! Bring The Texas Heat With ‘To Live And Die In The American South’

South Texas-based emo band Riley! have returned with their brand new release, with ‘To Live and Die In the American South’. This marks their first release since their last record back in 2024, ‘Keep Your Cool’. This EP shows just how capable this band is at writing catchy emo songs and ones that fans will gravitate towards to keep this band in the conversation going forward.

It’s pretty easy to spot that this band has only gotten better at writing hooks for these songs. The first two tracks, “Roll for Initiative” and “Another Round of Radical ‘Rita’s”, really show off how catchy emo in 2026 can be. It really reminds me of how a band like Hot Mulligan navigate their songs and it’s a tried and true formula. The guitar and drums on this record, from members Ryan Bluhm and Cesar Izaguire, really shine and give this release some identity and heart behind it. They both make sure each singular part creates the atmosphere with each song. 

The vocals from Bluhm also feel very effective in being both melodic and raw at the same time. It’s pretty essential for where you’d want emo to sound like these days, and they do a great job at delivering these vocals. The guest features on here feel like quite the all stars they’ve assembled. Tades Sanville of Hot Mulligan really fits right at home on his track, and it’s sure to be one that is a banger live. Eric Egan of Heart Attack Man also delivers quite the chorus in “Two Bucks”, which I can totally see being a fan favorite. Gabe Wood of Saturdays at Your Place’s feature on “Backseat Bartender” feels minimal, but it mixes well with Ryan’s vocals. 

All in all, ‘To Live and Die In the American South’ is a very solid release from a promising up and coming band in the emo scene. Riley! have quite a bright future ahead of them, following in the footsteps of their emo counterparts and making sure these bangers don’t go unheard.