Touche Amore

[buckytoole]

Disneycore

omg yes.

good word. backed.

ps
repping for defeater and calculator. they're solid.

[pete == bellend]

THE WAVE

Much of the hardcore scene of today has become stagnant; bands becoming victim to mainstream’s alluring cookie cutter fame. It’s as if the scene has committed incest with itself resulting in formula bands, with little experimentation, weak ethos, and lack of respect to the forefathers of their genre. The gene pool is weak. Luckily, hardcore’s saviours have finally arrived. Welcome to The Wave.

The Wave is a 2nd wave of emotional hardcore, and is comprised of five bands, La Dispute, Defeater, Pianos Become the Teeth, Make Do and Mend, and Touche Amore. The bands all have their own take on the genre, but share a passion for making excellent music. “We all care deeply about music and the community of music, and because we care about each other’s art, it just made sense,” says Jordan Dreyer, La Dispute vocalist.

La Dispute, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, is the keystone of The Wave. Their sound draws upon on ongoing revival, called Skramz, that pays tribute to the screamo bands of the late 90s. La Dispute’s guitar work opts for a spastic angst at times but frequently strays into poetic melody. Highly literary, Jordan Dreyer crafts spoken word-like lyrics rife with witty wordplay and clever concepts. The band collaborated with friends Touche Amore on a Split EP called Searching For a Pulse/ The Worth of the World.

Touche Amore, from Los Angeles, is extremely hard to classify sonically. There are similarities between their music and that of Skramz, but also overtones of metal, and hints of hardcore punk. The final product of this amalgam of styles is raw. It’s raw with emotion and with the fury of five musicians that are good at what they do. The drummer is particularly talented, his machine gun flow sometimes incorporating jazz-like sensibilities. In addition to the split they made with La Dispute, Touche Amore joined forces with upcoming band and fellow Wave affiliate Make Do and Mend, to create Smoke Signals and Hideaways/ Hand Me Downs and Cobwebs.

Make Do and Mend, of West Hartford, Connecticut, is pretty new to the scene. The group has only been around for two years or so. They just released their first LP in October, titled End Measured Mile. The LP is best described as a collection of abrasive anthems and sing-along sound-scapes. James Carrolls vocals, infused with a sickly sweet roughness, holds hints of melancholy as they are conveyed through a punk lens. Odes to more traditional punk and the addition of energetic guitar riffs herald a band with a wicked potential.

Defeater, straight out of Boston, Massachusetts, is a force to be reckoned with. Their explosive guitars, supplemented by tight drumming, drive this band with fervor.
The axe-work of the two guitarists is volatile, constantly in danger of spontaneously erupting in fit of firework riffs. Derek Archambault’s belts brutal vocals, both lyrically and in regards to the damage probably being dealt to his throat as a result. Add a shot of punk, and Defeater makes for one fiery cocktail. The kind that leaves you with watery eyes and a pounding head, but you just can’t stop going back for more. It is also worthy to note that the band is environmentally friendly. Their LP, Travels, was put on CDs made exclusively from recycled materials.

To the same caliber that Defeater is red hot, Pianos Become The Teeth, of Baltimore, Maryland, is ice cold. Images of frozen fields, of winter wastes come to mind. With sterile precision, Pianos wields every note like a surgical tool. Whether it’s through cool and collected ambient guitar or whiteout via relentless cymbals, there is an emphasis on emotional impact. Kyle Durfy screams like a man who knows he’s already dead. The incorporating of crashing crescendos and post-rock inflections gives Pianos Becomes The Teeth’s a unique approach to Skramz.

A lot of bands get so caught up in sounding heavy through crushing distortion and monochrome vocals that they neglect melody and the varied degrees of emotion that can be expressed with it. Back in the late 90s, hardcore outfits used melody to convey sadness, anger, desperation, and a whole host of emotions. The bands in The Wave represent a revival in this aspect. Bands always have to deal with the difficult task of paying respects to their ancestors while at the same time sounding fresh. A pallet with a wide range of emotional colors, as well as a heavy inclination to experiment, allows The Wave to paint music that accomplishes this task. So buy their CDs. Go out and see them live. Listen up. “Catch The Wave,” as Jordan Dreyer says.

[RisingTIDE]

lamest thing ever

[Pete > You]

...when did skramz become a real term?

[CitizenOfUlysses]

.

[BROOTALPOODLE]

reading that made me want to not listen to any of those bands ever again

[AlecEberhardt]

I Enjoy The Constant Capitlization Of The Word Skramz. Like Its A Real Word. That Needs To Be Capitalized.

[Pete > You]

reading that made me want to not listen to any of those bands ever again

Makes me want to continue never having listened to them.

[tonyxvx]

Their sound draws upon on ongoing revival, called Skramz

There are similarities between their music and that of Skramz

Pianos Becomes The Teeth’s a unique approach to Skramz

...wut.

Making a shirt that says "I didn't catch The Wave". Back will say, "Just so I could watch it crash".

[thebigmin]

I INVENTED SKRAMZ THEREFORE I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR THE WAVE....FUCK