Labels: Deathwish – Topshelf Records
Review by: James Williams
This split was put out at the start of the year. It’s got one song from each band on it.
Pianos Become The Teeth goes first with Hiding. Their intro of cleanly plucked
guitar has a country feel to it. It’s a nice slab of indie inspired punk, with screamo
touches too. I wouldn’t go as far to call it a ballad, but it wasn’t what I was expecting
from PBTT. I like it though. It’s got an honesty to it and it takes me back to the days
when screamo/emo was filled with epic bands. There’s no hardcore posturing and
when screams are used, they’re used in context and not overdone. Musically, it’s quite
dreamy actually and fits in with the Topshelf sound. Touche Amore is a different
proposition, playing a more a hardcore inspired song in Gravity, Metaphorically. It’s
still got the melodic, clean riffs in it, but the drums are more furious and the vocals
are screamed. It sits at the end of the screamo spectrum. Touche Amore sound like a
more furious LA Dispute. To see Deathwish’s name associated with this split is odd,
given the music contained on the record, but it’s not surprising given their association
with Touche Amore. This 7″ acts as a teaser for both bands and on this display you
should expect good things to come from both bands. Topshelf seem to be doing a fine
job right now.