Thursday, November 07, 2013

Concert Review: Touché Amoré






There is a band out there that I am reluctant to review, or even listen to, because I have heard that you don't really get them unless you see them live. I don't think that would apply to Touché Amoré, but seeing them live adds a lot.
It's not that their recordings don't sound energetic, but watching them thrash makes everything more vibrant and alive. There is so much that is kinetic that you can only guess at if you are only listening.
And, this will not apply to most shows, but they totally won my heart by coming out in costumes. It wasn't even just that they were dressed up, but they had a theme going on. Singer Jeremy Bolm was a hot dog, drummer Elliot Babin was a hamburger, and bassist Tyler Kirby was bacon. For guitar, I am pretty sure Nick Steinhardt was the taco and Clayton Stevens was the fried egg, but I could be wrong about that. I can say that the bacon and egg played near each other, so it was like breakfast was stage right and fast food on stage left. I have some pictures, but they are not great.
The costumes could not have made performing easier, but the band was still so into it, and they were having such a good time that it was impossible not to like them.
I am not good at picking up on the nuances for, well, I guess "screamo" works; post-hardcore might be more accurate. So, I am not the best person to say whether they are doing it right or not, but I know the crowd response was amazing. They were not the headliner, but this was not just polite acceptance of the opener. There were people in the audience who were singing along and knew every word. This is clearly a beloved and effective band.
For listening, I have listened to their most recent release, Is Survived By, more. Standout tracks for me are "Non Fiction" and "Steps" musically, but there is something in the lyrics that speaks to me on "To Write Content".
They get some interesting textures. Having gone through the entire catalog, I love the intro on "Sesame", from Parting the Sea Between Brightness and Me. They played that at the show. I also recommend "Crescent-Shaped Depression" for the guitars (great sound) and "Gravity, Metaphorically" for the drums. These two appear to be singles, and recent ones, but I am not sure how they fit in.
Touché Amoré doesn't seem to have many videos, but the ones they have can be found via Facebook and their website. I can't see that they have their own Youtube channel, but they are featured on the label's channel:
Having a label - Death Wish Inc - should put their music pretty widely available. They are definitely on Amazon, but I was running into some gateway issues looking for other things.
And, if you get a chance to see them live, go for it.

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