Like a drive-through restaurant serving organic food, Los Angeles' Touche Amore will deliver some of its newest hardcore punk songs to GR on Wednesday, June 29 at the Pyramid Scheme.
Parting the Sea Between Brightness and Me, the band's emotionally driven sophomore LP released on June 7, demonstrates TA's preference for raw and honest music instead of tweaked studio alterations. The whole album is packed into merely 21 minutes worth of playing time. Only one track of the 13 recorded without meticulous editing -- "Face Ghost" -- lasts beyond two minutes.
"We have very short attention spans," said singer Jeremy Bolm with a laugh. "It [song length] really comes natural for us. We're not intentionally doing that."
The fast-paced album has received fast-paced acclaim, hitting Number 16 on Billboard's Heatseekers List by the week of June 23 -- two weeks after its release.
At live shows, a list of 15 or 16 TA songs turn into a 20-to-25-minute set, contrary to the 45 or more minutes of playing time allotted to conventional headlining bands. Though topping the scheduled list of bands to play at the Pyramid Scheme, which includes Pennsylvania's Balance and Composure and White Wives White Wives(featuring members of Anti-Flag), Touche Amore keep modesty at bay.
"We're not really considering it a headlining tour," Bolm said. "It's just a week of shows where we happen to be playing over them."
TA's 2009 debut LP, To The Beat of a Dead Horse, maintains a similar structure as Parting the Sea, with the majority of songs lasting around a minute-and-a-half. The album was released and publicized by Geoff Rickly of Thursday's record label Collect in a partnership with 6131 records, and features Rickly's vocals on the song "History Reshits Itself."
TA continued making connections to other bands after touring with label mates on No Sleep Records, including Grand Rapids' own La Dispute. In 2010, TA and LD released a split EP titled Searching for a Pulse/Weight of the World, with album art graphically designed by TA's guitarist Nick Steinhardt and drawn/painted by LD's bassist Adam Vass. The collaboration showcases TA's appreciation for fellow musicians with guest vocals from LD's Jordan Dreyer, and keeps Michigan in close consideration for TA.
"They [LD] really hyped us a lot out there, so whenever we go to Michigan, we feel welcome because we're so affiliated," Bolm said. "They kind of help us out in the Midwest and we help them out on the West Coast."
Immediately after the Fourth of July, TA will embark on a small string of Canadian shows before traveling overseas to play Europe and Australia with La Dispute and Title Fight until September.
