TOUCHÉ AMORÉ // What They Love Has Claws

TOUCHÉ AMORÉ // Australian Tour 2017
w/ Turnover (USA), Endless Heights and Kings At Heart

Wednesday July 5^th, 2017 – The Triffid, Brisbane

It’s stopped pissing down rain just long enough for our approach to The Triffid this evening. As we get our I.D. checked at the door, there’s a weird set-up going on between the band room and the beer garden.

The door girl then informs us (as she no doubt sized up the bemused and slack-jawed looks on our damp, expressive faces) is due to tonight’s show having an All Ages contingent. Which makes complete sense. Can’t have little Timmy daydreaming about a beer now—that’s what high school is for. Ahead of us in the line, we see some middling youths filing in to the band room with X’d up hands, which makes us smile and reflect on those hardcore matinees of old. As they trundle up the stairs to their supervised vantage point, we instead take the degenerate adult path into the liquor-savvy band room proper.

Warming up the small but punctual crowd are Gold Coast outfit Kings At Heart, who are already swinging through their first few minutes of their set as we enter the room. The five-piece peddle the type of hyper-emotional, melodic hardcore that’s sure to get subscribers of the Dreambound YouTube channel rock hard, with plaintive guitar chords, crashing drums and screamed, death-bed vocals. Unfortunately for the band, their mix and performance this evening is resoundingly flat, diluting any potential cathartic resonance to the point where tracks from last year’s Sunrise EP land with all the weight of a dear-diary, first-world-problems Twitter feed. Which is a shame, as it’s clear from their songwriting that the group is familiar with musical signposts like Defeater, Modern Life Is War and More Than Life (as evidenced by vocalist Tyson Kerr’s choice of wardrobe). Perhaps with more time spent in the jam room, and a couple of Red Bull’s before taking that stage, they could be on to a winner here.

Next up are Sydney locals Endless Heights, who once again take the esteemed position as the chameleons of Australian alternative music. Every time we see the band play, they’ve shifted ever-so-slightly in their sound, aesthetic and dynamic, so as to seem like a completely different band altogether—and tonight is no exception. As the five-piece work through new singles like Pray I Fade, along with Alabaster and the title track from their 2015 EP Teach You How To Leave, there’s only tiny hints remaining of the band’s melodic hardcore past, instead replaced with a retinue of instrumentals that could pass quite convincingly for Balance and Composure or Title Fight B-sides. When the band announce a new album set for release next year, and quickly debut two new songs, there’s a dedicated crowd up front who cheer enthusiastically. The first new song (seemingly untitled, or at least, unannounced) cruises by without much fanfare, feeling like more of the same, but the second—titled You Coward—features some great rhythmic moments and heavier sections that complement their brief, softer moments.

Endless Heights // By Charlyn Cameron

However, it seems that vocalist Joel Martorana, is having trouble nailing this stylistic shift live. His vocals are often buried unintelligibly in the mix, lacking the power overall to push the big choruses or lend the high notes a deft touch. As if to counteract this shortfall, Martorana bounces around the stage gleefully, with some awkward dancing and pleas for the crowd to bang heads. It all comes off as a tad too trite, and anyone who’s seen a Hellions or Trophy Eyes show recently, would probably come to a similar conclusion. Aesthetically, the band seem to agree (with the band trying to outdo each other with their best late 90s Incubus meets Degrassi outfits, all tucked-in-shirts and Rastafarian caps), yet musically it’s hard to find anything that stands out about tonight’s set. We’re all for evolution, but we don’t think Darwin ever meant for it to be this cringeworthy.

Endless Heights // By Charlyn Cameron

It’s only been thirteen months since Virginia Beach quartet Turnover graced The Triffid stage with UK powerhouse Basement, but this time around their blissful take on shimmering summer indie-pop is set to brighten up an otherwise dreary and sodden winter’s day here in Brisbane. Their last album, 2015’s phenomenal Peripheral Vision, still remains one of the best records of that year, and the band acknowledge this fact by focusing on it for the better part of their entire set. Launching into the banger pair of Cutting My Fingers Off and Humming, the band is slightly hampered by a weak mix, and it seems that their fill-in touring guitarist (riding out this tour after the recent departure of former lead guitarist Eric Soucy) is struggling to find his footing for the first few tracks. However, when the group arrive at new single Super Natural, off their soon-to-be released third album Good Nature, everything clicks into gear and heavenly melodic leads soon soar above vocalist Austin Getz’s delicately strummed chords, pushed along gently by a tight rhythm section from Casey Getz and Danny Dempsey on drums and bass respectively.

Turnover // By Charlyn Cameron

The band then follow this up with the smash hit New Scream, which has fans bopping along in the crowd and a noticeably strong sing-a-long. Dusting off the sensual Humblest Pleasures from their 2016 7-inch release, the delicate ‘woah oh’ refrain in the pre-verse is borderline angelic. And when Getz hits the chorus (“Early in the afternoon/The humblest of pleasures/Feeling the inside of you/I know that I’ll forget it”), our mate Geoff Jefferson—and newfound Turnover initiate—turns to us and says, ‘I feel like this is music you can bang to.’ And we certainly cannot fault his logic there, as the band round out their set with the euphoric Dizzy On the Comedown and the triumphant Take My Head. In all, it’s a great set from Turnover this evening, and with album #3 arriving just in time for those spring/summer road trips, we’re couldn’t be more stoked.

Touché Amoré // By Charlyn Cameron

Which brings us to tonight’s headliner: California post-hardcore aficionados Touché Amoré, returning to Australia after their 2015 run with Buffalo ragers Every Time I Die. As the quintet steps up to the stage, an elegiac lead riff rings out from guitarist Nick Steinhardt, while the band is bathed in a myriad of warm glows, blue hues and Chinese-takeaway neon. Bursting in to Flowers & You, the opener from 2016’s brilliant Stage Four, Touché quickly overwhelm the crowd with their palpable energy and enthusiasm, as throat-piece Jeremy Bolm’s impassioned vocals punch through the mix with clarity and purpose. The band pull back instrumentally for the track’s bridge, before Bolm works through a lyrical description of time’s irrevocable march and the helplessness of watching someone fade away right in front of you, as the Triffid crowd scream back every single heartfelt word. It’s a powerful moment, and it sets the tone for the band’s entire performance as they pummel relentlessly through a huge, perfectly balanced track list, pulling largely from the aforementioned Stage Four, and 2011’s Parting the Sea Between Brightness and Me.

Touché Amoré // By Charlyn Cameron

For the band, new tracks like Displacement, Posing Holy and the mighty Benediction receive a rapturous reception, with flailing limbs and enthusiastic chanting from punters. Older gems like The Great Repetition, Art Official and Home Away From Here get the long-time fans fired up, with breakneck tempos and furious hardcore riffs from guitarist Clayton Stevens. Major props must also go to drummer Elliot Babin, who absolutely crushes it this evening with a dexterity and precision behind the kit that’s truly breathtaking. Tracks from 2013’s Is Survived By slot in nicely towards the back-end of the Touché setlist, with the huge crescendos, sorrowful melodies and full-throttle tempos of Just Exist, DNA and the La Dispute-esque Harbor keeping the crowd’s attention firmly fixed on stage. Bolm takes a moment between songs to thank the crowd with his soft, diminutive voice (somehow at odds the imposing shouts and screams his can muster in song), mentioning that Australia holds a special place for the band, as it was the first place they played shows after the death of Bolm’s mother. Finishing with two older songs, Bolm is seemingly re-energised and moves down to the barrier to chuck the mic in as many faces as possible, before climbing completely over it and in to the pit, to lead the Triffid through the final few bars of the band’s manic set. Heavy, emotional and melancholy in the best way possible, tonight’s commanding and flawless set from Touché Amoré proves why the L.A. act are at the top of the post-hardcore game.

Tickets are still available for the following dates here.

Thursday July 6, The Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle NSW (18+)
Friday July 7, The Factory Theatre, Sydney NSW (Lic/AA)
Saturday July 8, Arrow on Swanston, Melbourne VIC (AA)
Sunday July 9, corner Hotel, Melbourne VIC (18+)
Tuesday July 11, Fowlers Live, Adelaide SA (Lic/AA)
Wednesday July 12, Amplifier Bar, Perth WA (18+)