Band: Pianos Become the Teeth/Touché Amoré
Album: Split
Genre: Post-Hardcore
Label: Topshelf Records/Deathwish Inc.

When Topshelf Records and Deathwish Inc. announced they were doing a joint split between their bands Pianos Become the Teeth and Touché Amoré, respectively, it was considered a match made in heaven, at least on the internet (and let’s be honest, everything on the internet is true). These two bands are not only close friends, but their music and fanbases are so similar that everyone went out of their minds. Was it worth the hype? Yes. Yes it was.

“Hiding” is one of Pianos Become the Teeth’s best songs to date. With a haunting guitar to slowly bring us into the song, the soundscape that Pianos has been perfecting over the years is sounding better than ever. The thing that made their sophomore album The Lack Long After was how engrossing both the instrumentation and the vocals were, and “Hiding” shows how the band has progressed. While we saw a glimpse of it in their song “I’ll Get By,” Vocalist Kyle Durfey has learned that he doesn’t need to be destroying his voice to get his emotions across, because when he tones it down on this song you can feel the sadness and disappointment in his voice almost more so then when he’s screaming. This is arguably my favorite Pianos Become the Teeth Song.

“Gravity, Metaphorically” by Touché Amoré’s standards is a sprawling symphony of hardcore. Clocking in at four minutes and eight seconds, this song stretches out across what would normally be two to three Touché Amoré’s songs. I was really curious to see if their style of music would hold up at a four minute running time, and the resounding answer is: yes. “Gravity, Metaphorically” has such a wide range of sounds, from the pressing and aggressive opening, to the somber build up that is filled with feelings of regret from the vocalist Jeremy Bolm. Touché Amore is a band that got me back into hardcore. I stopped listening for a really long time because it used to just get me sad and pissed and it wasn’t healthy for me. But it’s the cathartic element of Touché Amoré’s songs that drew me back in. “Gravity, Metaphorically” is no different, and when the final lyrics, “I woke up scared but it’s alright ’cause nothing changed. At least I tried,” I felt immediately satisfied. Touché Amoré has always spoken to me almost too well, and “Gravity, Metaphorically” is no exception.

This split’s only downfall is that I want more songs. These two songs are absolutely fantastic, and I was left really wanting more. But to be fair to the bands, I feel as though that was the purpose. With both Touché Amoré and Pianos Become the Teeth reportedly coming out with new records in 2013, this split is just a taste of what’s to come, and if these songs are any inclination to the future, it’s looking very, very bright.

SCORE: 4/5

Written By: Tyler Osborne (Twitter)

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Tyler Osborne

Live in DC, grew up in PA. I specialize in writing, filming and taking pictures about punk, pop-punk, and hardcore music, and I also have a huge background in film as well. When not on the site, i'm running my own internet radio show, ToZ's Edge Radio (www.facebook.com/tozedgeradio). I also love stage diving and goldfish.

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