Pianos Become The Teeth

The Lack Long After

Written by: PP on 01/12/2011 06:21:21

Little did we know that back when Envy first combined together elements from post-rock into original screamo in the late 90s, we'd be standing here in 2011 with a movement in our hands that feels like it's about to collapse on itself simultaneously while snowballing in every direction and gathering cult-like support from music fans around the globe. I'm of course talking about 'the wave', as the underground movement has been dubbed, which consists of new age emotional hardcore bands who source their sound deep from the heavy ends of hardcore, while injecting the expression with immeasurable amounts of emotion and intensity, be it lyrically or through the soundscape. Bands like La Dispute and Touché Amoré do it through an interplay between brilliant lyricism and melodically tinged hardcore, while Pianos Become The Teeth do so through the inclusion of post rock-esque elements that give their songs a lingering sense of nostalgic ambience and instrumental depth few bands in modern post-hardcore are able to.

Indeed, listening to the sheer intensity and beautifully controlled chaos of "The Lack Long After", one surely must take another look at bands on the rosters of Rise or Victory Records with a new kind of disdain, for music this honest, this pure, this heartfelt simply isn't to be found within the legions of soundalike bands whose love for breakdowns is only matched by their mechanical and uninspired guitar work. In contrast, a band like Pianos Become The Teeth add a multitude of emotionally charged ambience that has real meaning to it, as if every line, every riff, every sound emitted by the band has is an escaped convict from the prison of their passion for the music, cherishing every second of freedom by flourishing in the soundscape in symphony with the other elements in the mix. In fact, if there ever was a screamo band I would say has drawn inspiration from symphonic music, it is Pianos Become The Teeth and their cacophonic mixture of lofty melody, soaring soundscapes and crashing cymbals that form those unforgettable against-the-barrier singalongs at intimate venues.

The roars of vocalist Kyle Durfey deserve a special mention in this review as they are nothing short of fantastic. They recall many original screamo/skramz bands, sounding like they're literally tearing his vocal chords apart with every coarse scream, yet they are packed with astonishing melody in a perfect complement to the post-rock crescendos and diminuendos that exist within the music.

It's often difficult to tell at the time when you're living through a batch of seminal albums that will be looked back as the influential albums in a genre for years, even decades to come, but one after the other, 'the wave' is producing records that carry all the qualities that we associate with the classics from 10 years ago that have helped shape the music scene into what it is today. Perhaps, in five years time, we'll look back at records like "The Lack Long After" as the point in time when honesty and self-destructive amounts of passion truly returned to music.

Download: Good Times, I'll Be Damned, I'll Get By, Spine
For the fans of: La Dispute, envy, Elder, The Saddest Landscape, Suis La Lune
Listen: Facebook

Release date 01.11.2011
Topshelf Records

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