Band : Touché Amoré and Make Do and Mend
Album : Split
Release Year : 2010
Genre : Screamo / Hardcore
Release Year : 2010
Genre : Screamo / Hardcore
Tracklist :
Touche Amore
1. Smoke Signals
2. Hideaways
Make Do And Mend
1. Hand Me Downs
2. Cobweb
1. Smoke Signals
2. Hideaways
Make Do And Mend
1. Hand Me Downs
2. Cobweb
Are Touche Amore crutch wielders to that of greater bands succumbing their own future and never allowing them the room to breathe in which they’ll find their own footing, or have they just bitten off more than they can chew for once? Yes, they share the title role with Make Do and Mend but after the magnificent split with La Dispute leading in Smoke Signals and Hideaways / Hand Me Downs and Cobwebs, where Touche Amore found the glorious spotlight, one can’t help compare the two efforts in hopes that there is a sense of progression and not just one-hit wonders abound. Ironically the answer to that question is a yes and a no. This is primarily due to the fact that the EP, seen in separate light, is good, if not great, but following the heavy wake of Searching For A Pulse / The Worth of the World it’s presence is quite futile.
The good news is that both Touche Amore and Make Do and Mend are at the top of their game here. Both bands present lyrical qualities that are top notch and each craft hardcore atmospheres to the finest degree. Except this is where the problem arises. Both bands have such opposite tactics to achieving this goal the split feels, for lack of a more suitable word, split. Touche Amore are gritty and heavy handed on the gut punches. Make Do And Mend, however, enter with such a poppier aspect that it disassembles the previous minutes, this is not to say that it outshines the first half, but merely does not keep the flow that was established much like La Dispute was able to do. While Touche are busy outraging, Make Do and Mend are busy cranking out party jams; both display excellent examples of the growth hardcore is personifying, but cement the balance between both bands styling’s - they do not.
When compared with the Searching For A Pulse… it’s clear to see why it was such a success; both bands tethered at the hip equaled each other even when they weren’t equals. They spoke for one another, shared the same agony and harbored the same execution technique; here there is a lack of understanding between the two bands. Forgive me for raising such comparisons but La Dispute and Touche Amore really raised the bar as far as splits are concerned. Sure, this is the way most splits are done, separate ideas brought to the table to be placed on one disc, but Searching For A Pulse… expanded the boundaries presenting the assumption that all bands should be a cohesive unit when working as one. It’s not that neither band aren't working together – per say, it is to say, however, that both bands are melding two contrasting styles as one, and where one EP succeeded this one does not.
The good news is that both Touche Amore and Make Do and Mend are at the top of their game here. Both bands present lyrical qualities that are top notch and each craft hardcore atmospheres to the finest degree. Except this is where the problem arises. Both bands have such opposite tactics to achieving this goal the split feels, for lack of a more suitable word, split. Touche Amore are gritty and heavy handed on the gut punches. Make Do And Mend, however, enter with such a poppier aspect that it disassembles the previous minutes, this is not to say that it outshines the first half, but merely does not keep the flow that was established much like La Dispute was able to do. While Touche are busy outraging, Make Do and Mend are busy cranking out party jams; both display excellent examples of the growth hardcore is personifying, but cement the balance between both bands styling’s - they do not.
When compared with the Searching For A Pulse… it’s clear to see why it was such a success; both bands tethered at the hip equaled each other even when they weren’t equals. They spoke for one another, shared the same agony and harbored the same execution technique; here there is a lack of understanding between the two bands. Forgive me for raising such comparisons but La Dispute and Touche Amore really raised the bar as far as splits are concerned. Sure, this is the way most splits are done, separate ideas brought to the table to be placed on one disc, but Searching For A Pulse… expanded the boundaries presenting the assumption that all bands should be a cohesive unit when working as one. It’s not that neither band aren't working together – per say, it is to say, however, that both bands are melding two contrasting styles as one, and where one EP succeeded this one does not.
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