Diminishing Returns by Runaway Ricochet

Album: Diminishing Returns

Artist: Runaway Ricochet

Release: April 30, 2024; Ska Punk International

I have no idea if this is actually true, but someone once told me that when recording an album, Coheed and Cambria maps each song out on a giant white board, painstakingly planning out each part of the song in intimate detail. With the release of “Diminishing Returns” by Minneapolis Ska Punk Band, Runaway Ricochet, you can not convince me that they didn’t also do this.

Don’t believe me? Take “Anchor” for example, it starts out as a very ska punk styled song. By the end, you have gone through a wild ride that includes a horn part that is absolutely amazing and a part that I can only describe as a jazzy synth piano. This musical romp, coupled with the lyrics that speak to the dealing with the struggles of life and learning to make the best of it rather than trying to wait them out, set high expectations for the rest of the album. By far one of the strongest album openers, I have heard in a long time. The vocal performance in the songs: “Make it Out” and “Faint Love Song” are both exceptional. The delivery of the hooky bits of the choruses is where they really shine for me. They are gold tier ear worms. I kid you not, there was a point while I was writing this review that my wife threatened to move out if she heard me sing, “This baby bird hasn’t learned to fly” one more time. Frankly, I don’t blame her either it was stuck in my head bad, and I wasn’t doing those lyrics any justice at all as I am a terrible singer. “Chorale of the Grove” is an instrumental horn piece that was an unexpected, but very welcomed inclusion on the album. It’s smooth and upbeat with a little bit of vague nostalgia mixed in. Dare I say it is rather beautiful. My only criticism of it is that it is not long enough. Hopefully Runaway Ricochet will have more of this type of song in store for us in the future.

This album has so much good stuff going on that even though I have almost exclusively been listening to it while writing this review, a countless number of times, I don’t really feel like a have completely “heard” everything the album has to offer. It is an incredibly detailed, intricately constructed work of art. I honestly struggle to come up with the words to describe it. I think the best I can do is this analogy: Prog Rock, Ska, Punk and Jazz started a polycule then they all decided to collectively raise Ska Punk’s child. That kid grew up to become Diminishing Returns by Runaway Ricochet.

This review was originally posted on June 13, 2024 on the Lonely Ghost Records Community Blog.