Your Favorite Band Cannot Save You

Your Favorite Band Cannot Save You by Scotto Moore is intriguing and quirky. I am a connoisseur of the offbeat comedy/horror book, and this story felt right at home for me. However, putting this novella into a concrete category is difficult. There are aspects of a lot of different genres present. Firstly, we have horror for obvious reasons, plus a touch of science fiction. Also, There is drama, and I also found it quite funny. It is a lot to unpack for such a short story.

The story starts with a music blogger, home alone. He finds a “hot new band on the scene, releasing one track a day for ten days straight.” I can empathize with the main character immediately. I feel like this when I discover a new story. I want to talk about it and share it with people. The band's name is Beautiful Remorse, and the band is creating the most glorious music he has ever heard. It speaks to his soul, probably a little too much. It makes the listener have an obsessive fascination with the band and everything it is putting out. The music blogger sets out to find out as much as possible about the band and the mysterious lead singer named Airee MacPherson.

Without much effort, he scores an interview with Airee, an invite to tour with the band, and help release the new tracks for Beautiful Remorse. Obviously, an offer that he couldn't refuse. But pretty quick into the tour, he realizes there is something sinister going on, and not all is as it seems.

The lead protagonist in the story is fairly fleshed out. He embodied the geeky nerd voice of anyone talking about their absolute favorite thing; I empathized with him a lot. However, the side characters were no more than cutouts. There wasn't much to them, which is acceptable in a book this short, 120 pages.

As I mentioned earlier, I love offbeat books. Something that is a little weird is usually up my alley. However, this book is certainly not for everyone. The sheer ridiculousness of the events that happen in the book can be a little offputting for some readers. But, if you want to read a story with an old-fashioned grindhouse kind of flavor, Your Favorite Band Cannot Save You is great.