After splitting with pop-punk band Red Car Wire in 2009, singer Evan Lester (who changed his stage name to Evan Couture) and drummer Josh Cutlip formed the hardcore band Avion Roe. Bassist Sean Humphrey and guitarist Jordan Modro completed the four-piece. The Dallas, Texas band recorded its self-produced debut, The Art of Fiction, in 2011, after only four months in the studio, and gained increased exposure on the Vans Warped Tour. The band's early sound was evocative of Yellowcard and the Used, with energetic and physical live shows that incorporated climbing the rafters and swinging microphones. Head-bobbing riffs, fervent screams, and emo melodies were reminiscent of the scene circa 2004.nn Avion Roe signed with Epitaph Records in September 2015 and began to come into their own style and musical vision, ditching the emo hair and multiple piercings in favor of a mature, more real aesthetic. The music had also evolved. Their debut single for Epitaph, "Into the Rest," featured labelmate Sleeping with Sirens' Kellin Quinn. Gone were the Used-style screamo and pogo riffs. Debuting an uplifting, more atmospheric and epic sound, the band shot for the arena rafters, crafting anthems more indicative of the best of forebears Jimmy Eat World and My Chemical Romance. ~ Neil Z. Yeung