Ryan Kaiser of Yot Club has been working on a new album to be released via Nice Guys, taking his time on new material (check out our interview with Ryan about this album). But he has also been releasing unreleased songs, b-sides, demos, and covers solely on SoundCloud and BandCamp… sometimes on one and not the other. normal / ideal is one of these songs; you can’t find it on Spotify. All of these songs on BandCamp have a “name your price” option (from free to whatever you want to give).
Because of this, you have to pay attention to his Instagram account, particularly his Stories. He doesn’t push these songs as much as others, and so you may miss a song because you didn’t check Instagram for a day. I discovered this yesterday, finding he had released an EP and two singles on BandCamp this year.
Yot Club – ‘normal / ideal’ 
Yot Club – ‘bleach beach’ EP 
Yot Club – ‘how can i complain’
Yot Club – normal / ideal
Ryan quietly released a new single, normal / ideal, this week. The bedroom pop song has a fast programmed beat and a thick chorus effect on electric guitar rhythm. This song, more than the others, carries on the sounds that Ryan has been developing. The chorus of the song has a more complex bass line and synth interplay that stands out.
Yot Club – how can i complain
how can i complain is a single he released on January 15 (only on BandCamp). He states that he, “accidentally stole the main melody from Nirvana so my label [Nice Guys] won’t let me put this on Spotify.” The melody in the verse borrows from the verse of Nirvana’s Come As You Are. It’s surprisingly difficult to not borrow from songs you’ve heard a hundred times.
The chorus on the acoustic guitar is nice in how can i complain, and the spacey 80s analog synth tone is perfect for the song. It sounds as though his vocal mic is routed through an amp with spring reverb. And he plays the vocal melody on the synth to create a great effect.
Yot Club – bleach beach EP
On January 26, he released four-track EP called bleach bleach. This EP has two unreleased songs; japan and apartment were released on SoundCloud two years ago. He recorded these songs in March, 2019, when he was 20 or 21, so these are some of his earliest songs. (It’s nice to be able to get music out that is sitting in a Dropbox.) The songs have a surf rock sound and theme running through the EP.
blowfish, on the EP, has a great melody in the chorus that is unlike any other Yot Club song. At the end of the song, the synth bleeds into faded. This song has a really catchy surf rock guitar melody with handclaps, and a pop beat on the drums.
japan dials the surf rock up to ten. I really enjoy how he approached the vocals: he layers the vocals in two octaves with what sounds like a vocoder on the lower harmony (or a synth playing along with his melody). At the end of japan, you hear footsteps in an empty hallway, opening a door, and walking into the next track, apartment. In this fourth song, he blends yet another great guitar melody with a jangly sounding synth. His distorted vocals express sadness as a relationship appears to be ending. The outro closes with a playful weaving of the guitar and synth melodies, ending with the sound of waves and seagulls.
We really enjoy what Ryan is creating, and cannot wait to hear the album he’s working on. And it’s great to see his music on BandCamp.
Yot Club links:
