Sometimes it’s the subtle changes that make the biggest difference. ‘Is Survived By’, Touché Amoré’s superb third full-length, is undoubtedly a companion piece to ‘Parting The Sea Between Brightness And Me’, but by embracing a few structural changes and some sunny guitar flourishes, they’ve ensured that this younger sibling doesn’t get lost in the crowd.
Recent split releases with Pianos Become The Teeth and Title Fight held back certain details, offering elements of the band’s revised playbook without giving away the game. The core elements that make Touché Amoré Touché Amoré are still here - Jeremy Bolm’s impassioned vocals, wild drums from Elliot Babin and introspective lyrics about life, death and all that stuff inbetween - but they’ve taken a few left turns when once they would have gone right.
Bolm is right on the edge throughout, screaming his guts out and skewering the themes of legacy, anxiety and even music itself. On Anyone/Anything he yells: “There’s people that changed me, there’s songs that saved me from all of this. There’s days that defined me, there’s nights that gave me strength for all of this.”
The album was recorded with Brad Wood, who helmed Sunny Day Real Estate’s ‘Diary’ and ‘LP2’ and Far’s ‘Tin Cans With Strings To You’, and it does owe a debt to that storied era in American alt-rock. From the opening guitar notes on Just Exist it’s clear that ‘Is Survived By’ won’t be all bludgeon. It’s a heavy record through its intent and delivery, not through its packaging.
If Bolm’s words are the band’s lifeblood, then it’s thanks to guitarists Clayton Stevens and Nick Steinhardt that they stick. ‘Is Survived By’ contains countless winning guitar lines, often delivered with delicacy and style. Witness the picked, summery notes that soundtrack the latter moments of To Write Content or the jagged waves that underpin the chorus of Harbor. In fact, while worlds apart in terms of style, these bursts of melody at times recall the more expressive moments on ‘Sunbather’, released earlier this year by TouchéAmoré’sDeathwishlabelmatesDeafheaven.
TouchéAmoré have been one of the most exciting bands in hardcore for some time, but here they drop enough hints to suggest that their next few steps will take them into even more challenging, rewarding territory. 'Is Survived By' was worth the wait, and then some.
Wed December 4th 2013 - BRISTOL Fleece
Thu December 5th 2013 - LEEDS Cockpit
Fri December 6th 2013 - BRIGHTON Audio
Sat December 7th 2013 - NORWICH Waterfront Studio
Sun December 8th 2013 - NOTTINGHAM Rock City
Tue December 10th 2013 - GLASGOW Stereo
Wed December 11th 2013 - LONDON Underworld, Camden
Thu December 12th 2013 - MANCHESTER Roadhouse
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