V/A - Touche Amore / La Dispute - Searching for a Pulse / The Worth of the World
Rating
RIYL
DefeaterEnvy
Thursday
Release Date
07/27/2010
Label
No Sleep RecordsTracklist
1 Touche Amore - I'll Get My Just Deserve2 Touche Amore - I'll Deserve Just That
3 La Dispute - How I Feel
4 La Dispute - Why It Scares Me
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When two bands, no matter how similar in style, declare that they are trying to find a musical middle ground on a split EP, the results can easily be disastrous. It could end up being watered down or ridiculously over the top versions of their own songs, or lame attempts to sound just like whomever they’re meeting in the middle. Luckily for us, up-and-coming screamo kings Touche Amore and La Dispute somehow pull this concept off beautifully in their split Searching For a Pulse / The Worth of the World.
Touche Amore start their half of the split with “I’ll Get My Just Deserves”, which grabs the listener with raw, frantic and shaking hands. In its brief minute-and-a-half run time, they get across the feeling that the band is full of desperate people who excel at creating chaotic, frenzied and apocalyptic music. The vocals are scratchy and grating, the drums are doing aerobatics, and the guitars rail all over the place. Guest vocals from La Dispute vocalist Jordan Dreyer are a highlight in a vicious call-and-response section. With the first song doing the typical Touche Amore thing, the second track “I’ll Deserve Just That” is where they truly meet the middle ground with their split-mates. Combining their typical raw intensity with the droning and dreamy sheen of post-rock, they create a juxtaposition of loud and quiet, ugly and pretty reminiscent of Envy or Pianos Become the Teeth. Crazy, letting-it-all-go Touché Amore is great, but it’s nice to hear that they can create something melodic and beautiful, and I hope they do it more often.
After Touche’ Amore’s brief section (seriously – their side is two songs in 3 minutes and 13 seconds!), La Dispute tears into “How I Feel” with a massive, angular full band riff and Dreyer’s vocals screeching over the top like a mad scientist pontificating over his deadly machine. The song rages along at a fast clip, although it is noticeably less complex and all-over-the-place than some of their previous albums, indicative of their middle ground with Touché Amore. The song ends rather abruptly, especially contrasted with other La Dispute material which typically allows more room to breathe. The second track, “Why It Scares Me”, is the longest song on the split at 3:33, and the only one to offer a substantial intro. After an ominous, minor muted guitar, the band thunders into a slow, labored, hulking part where Dreyer wonders, “Sometimes I think they’re all acting At times I’m scared that I’m acting too. Like my movements or stage directions? Was that a change in topic or a beat in a scene? Have I been taking my emotional cues from a script I wrote at sixteen?” After another rotation through the quiet-loud globe both these bands tread, the band closes on a quiet ambient section where the vocals become increasingly erratic, screaming, “And if my heart just stops, keep me alive for a minute, I want to know if a curtain drops,” in a call-and-response section with guest vocals from Touche Amore. While both bands utilize juxtaposing intensities to great effect, the end of “Why it Scares Me” is one of the best uses of contrast I’ve ever heard in music. It is sublime, masterful, and completely chilling.
My only complaint is that this split is way too short. I can understand only wanting to record two songs, but there is a shortage of amazing music in the world, and these bands seem to hold the cure. Regardless of this complaint, we should count ourselves lucky that two of the most creative, heartfelt, intense, artistic and talented bands in the rock world are releasing such beautiful music. Four songs might not seem like much, and it only gives a brief sample of their vast talents, but it’s easily the best ten minutes of music you’ll hear all year.
--Stephen Harris
Comments
Lehigh Valley, PA
This is great... but a 5/5 ??????? Dude, it's four songs... I have full lengths that I only ended up liking four songs off of it and couldn't justify it being a 5/5. Not knocking you AT ALL. I just feel that since my letlive rating, Decoy is being a perfect score whore...
Minnesota
Yeah, I'm not cool with all the perfect (and 4.5) scores the last few months either. This is 10 FREAKIN' MINUTES LONG! Not enough material to be 5 material in my book... and I like both the bands.
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Washington, DC
Yeah, I agree that I would have loved to hear more, but this is a split EP, not a full-length. I had to use different criteria. It's the typical length for a split EP with some AMAZING songs that are incredibly cohesive, hence my score
"Standing still is where we've gone wrong" - The dingees
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Lehigh Valley, PA
Not disagreeing with you at all on that, man. I love both bands and all four tracks are gold... but it's only four tracks. I don't know...
< Gadget/Phobia split
Lakewood, OH
Just got the 7" in the mail today. It's wonderful. And I agree with Stephen, a record should be judged on how good the material is, not how long it is.
http://www.last.fm/user/nicklovesohio
Sunshine Coast, Australia
"My only complaint is that this split is way too short."
I kinda feel like if you have any complaints then it obviously doesn't deserve a 5. Sure you can judge a record on how good the material is, and give those four songs a 5... but when its standing up against the plethora of full lengths that decoy gets, how can it rate as highly? I feel it's kinda like rating a trailer compared to an entire movie.
"If you want something done right, get a fucking Australian band to do it" - Chris Cheney