From Sporty To Screamo

@ Wimsikal | Wednesday, Oct 7, 2020 | 4 minutes read | Update at Wednesday, Oct 7, 2020

Lindsay Minton and Mercy Harper have had their share of fun as musicians. As the frontwomen of football, etc., an indie rock band from Houston, Texas, they’ve toured all across the U.S., Europe, and Japan. But they’ve never had quite the good times that they’re having now with their current band, hardcore “screamo” quartet Overo. In an era where pretty much everyone feels like screaming about EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THE THINGS HAPPENING, these ladies get to do it as part of their paying gig.

Since 2009, Lindsay and Mercy have garnered legions of fans and scores of accolades in the music world with their heart-wrenching vocals and dramatic, movie-montage-inducing melodies in their band, football, etc. They’ve been classified most commonly as “emo,” though they prefer the label “DIY.” Their drummer has changed many times over the years (they have most recently collaborated with musician and graphic designer Daniel Hawkins), but as the principal creative forces behind the songwriting and performing, these badass gals have recorded three studio albums plus several splits and EPs, replete with tunes fit for any mid-20s adult searching for meaning in their lives.

Football, etc. surely supplied the soundtrack for countless young adults during the 2010’s who were facing the dilemma of what the hell to do with themselves now that they had finally arrived in “the real world.” It’s the kind of music you’d put on in the car as you’d take a long road trip to nowhere, finally alone with your thoughts. High school was over, maybe college too. Should you sell everything and go travel around South America? Join the Peace Corps? Or give your current girlfriend a chance? Should you move back to your hometown to see what happened to your high school crush? Or follow your heart and move to the big city to pursue your Art dreams? Then as you ponder life while listening to 2017’s album Corner, the lyrics to “I Believe” start blasting in your car stereo, as Lindsay croons: “You are what others see / So you have to believe / Or else your existence / It will be make-believe.” That’s when you break down and beeline it to a grocery store so you can scarf down a pint of Ben & Jerry’s Non-Dairy Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream, because you just feel SO SEEN.

Fast forward to 2019, and Lindsay and Mercy’s therapeutic melodies still remain, but now they’re joined by vocalist Brendan Stephens and drummer John Baldwin for a sound that’s notably angstier and more aggressive in their new “screamo” band, Overo (pronounced “Oh-VAIR-oh”). The music is more driving than dreamy this time around, with notes of resentment and regret, echoing decisions made that might have resulted in your own personal disaster. Like, maybe moving out to L.A. to try and get back with your ex-girlfriend only to find out she’s engaged to someone else wasn’t the BEST idea you’ve ever had. With lyrics like “If only I could forget everything about you” and “When I die, I hope I’m alone / I was too young when I sold my soul,” placed among bitter drops of cello and spoken word throughout their 2019 self-titled release, Overo’s got us all feeling older and angrier as we realize that hindsight is a cold, heartless bitch. It’s everything you want to hear in a 2020 that you wish would fade away into oblivion.

Luckily, real life has been kind enough to these two amazing ladies, who are not only bandmates, but partners in life. They met at Rutgers University when they were only 18 years old, played in several bands together over the years as they dated, and finally got married after same-sex marriage was legalized in the United States in 2015. They are also fortunate enough to find ways to continue to socially-distance yet still collaborate with their Overo bandmates as they are currently recording their second full-length album during this pandemic. They are aiming to have it finished by the end of 2020, if the Earth doesn’t implode before then. And, though they did have to cancel their tour in Japan that was set for this November, they’ve still managed to release a split 7" with Japanese band Asthenia, who was supposed to be joining them on tour before COVID spoiled their plans.

So, while football, etc. is on the back-burner, and Overo tours have been cancelled, we still get to hear lots of new stuff from these rad musicians. You can keep up with them through all the usual social media outlets, and find their soul-piercing music to stream and purchase through Bandcamp, which gives the highest portion of its profits to the artist directly, compared with most of the other streaming services. And, depending on what unfolds as the year 2020 slowly oozes back down into the crap-gutter that it came out of, maybe you’ll even find yourself screaming along.

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