The NYC neo-grunge band Yacovelli turns a hidden name, 90s alt-rock force, and AI video chaos into repeat-play rock.
Yacovelli‘s ‘Since Emilia‘ hits like a door kicked open halfway through a secret. A Baglama figure curls into the room. Next, the guitars arrive with dirt and a bad attitude.
The new single, does not waste energy trying to be neat. It wants motion, sweat, volume, and that look people get when a riff moves their shoulders before their brain catches up.
Yacovelli is the Nu York Neo-Grunge / Punk project led by Alex Yacovelli, a songwriter, DIY producer, and frontman from the Hell’s Kitchen rock grind.
He has history in Rich N Pretty and Not Your Queen’s English, time in the New York underground scene, and a gig trail that includes Mercury Lounge, Rockwood Music Hall, The Bitter End, Arlene’s Grocery, and Pleasantville Music Festival.
That resume matters because ‘Since Emilia’ does not sound like studio cosplay. It sounds like amps, stairs, late trains, and a singer who still trusts the beautiful mess.
The first surprise is that Baglama, a Greek folk instrument described in the press release as the soprano version of the Bouzouki. Alex bought it on his honeymoon, then used its D-A-D tuning as a launch point before the track drops into a Drop D-flat groove.
That detail could have felt like trivia. Here, it gives the single a crooked entrance. The opening has a strange glow, then the band slams into 90s alternative rock pressure: grunge heft, punk speed, sleaze-rock posture, and a hook fit for a rooftop dare.
Alex has pointed to The Beatles, Soundgarden, and Slash as part of the song’s DNA, calling it partly ‘She’s So Heavy,’ partly ‘Black Hole Sun,’ and a little more millennial and velvetier. You can hear why.
The song has the pull of repetition, the heavy shade of Seattle guitar music, and the dramatic lift of a player who knows that a riff should do some acting.
Still, the performance avoids clean tribute-band manners. The vocal has grit and theatre. The band keeps the edges jagged.
Then comes Emilia, the name at the center of the noise. Alex calls the lyric a poetic riddle, and the track uses that idea with a grin. After a Mercury Lounge performance, a fan reportedly shouted that they would find Emilia on social media.
Alex told them good luck, because they never would. That is the perfect 2026 rock-star answer. Everyone wants receipts, tags, the hidden account, the backstory, the thread, and the group-chat evidence.
‘Since Emilia’ refuses to feed that habit, which makes the song feel fresh in an age of instant explanation.
The music video pushes that curiosity harder. Built from live-action cinematography and AI-powered storytelling, it sends Alex from Liverpool to the Upper West Side of NYC, crossing land, air, sea, ocean depths, and moonlit space.
That could turn silly, and maybe a small part of it should. Rock needs a little ridiculousness. The single takes one private name and blows it up into a full-screen chase scene. It is fan-theory bait with guitar fuzz.
That shareable quality makes ‘Since Emilia’ one of Yacovelli’s most clickable moments so far. Spotify lists earlier Yacovelli singles such as ‘Red Eye,’ ‘Doppelganger,’ and ‘Tell Me Off,’ and the project has been framed online as a NYC garage, punk, and grunge act with rotating live setup.
This new release feels sharper because it gives listeners body and puzzle. The groove gives you something to move with. The name gives you something to argue about. The video gives you something to send at 1:13 a.m.
For fans hunting new grunge rock, punk energy, and alternative music videos with a little danger in the wiring, YACOVELLI has a strong card in hand.
‘Since Emilia’ is loud, odd, hooky, and proudly unpolished in all the right places. Press play once for the riff, again for the mystery, then keep an eye on Alex Yacovelli, because this band sounds ready to make the next room sweat.
