Thursday 29 October 2020

To Be Gentle


To Be Gentle are a four-piece screamo/post-hardcore band from Eugene, Oregon that began in 2017. In their few years now, they've managed to encapsulate and evolve a sound that's both distinctly their own while paying homage to bands that came before them. Their "earlier" material will definitely bring bands such as The Saddest Landscape, Suis La Lune, and Daïtro to mind, for their melodic and passionately emotive take on the genre. Their most recent material takes a darker turn, with the post-rock leaning Funeral Diner, City Of Caterpillar, and ...Who Calls So Loud joining the mix, with a nod to blackened hardcore/screamo. For such a new band, it's crazy to hear the clear progression in their sound and tightness as a unit.

To Be Gentle are undoubtedly one of the forerunners in the genre now, thus why it felt imperative to at least give them a nod in the ashes of this dying blog. The track "The Thought Of Losing You Terrifies Me" is what first floored me about this band, so if you're looking for one sample of this band, I recommend that. Enjoy.

1. That Which Is Safe
2. Tender Green

1. Understanding Healing
2. All The Things I Was Too Scared To Say
3. We Build Our Castles In The Air
4. Du Sang
5. Road To Himeji
6. But A Sound
7. Tender Green
8. An Amputation
9. That Which Is Safe
10. The Hand That Rests On My Shoulder
11. One Day We Will No Longer Hurt
12. To Be Gentle

1. Live at Gamut

1. Flesh and Blood, Bone And Dream
2. If You Are Reading This
3. Insurmountable
4. 7/14/19
5. The Thought Of Losing You Terrifies Me

1. I Love You And I Am Sorry

1. To Be Gentle - Every Day
2. To Be Gentle - An Ardent Light
3. sowithout. - tinyhands2therescue
4. sowithout. - synonymsforsad

1. Indisposed - Antiquate The Argument
2. Indisposed - Indisposed
3. To Be Gentle - Ephemeral And Endless
4. To Be Gentle - Aftermath

Saturday 24 October 2020

Exhalants


Exhalants are a three-piece post-hardcore/noise rock band from Austin, Texas that have been around since 2017. Despite my infrequent post schedule these days, I wanted to quickly throw out a recommendation for one of the best albums I've heard in the past few months, which is none other than Atonement. This band embodies the space left by bands like Unwound and Drive Like Jehu, while continuing the lineage of Big Black to Whores. Toss in elements of Hoover, Slint and Unsane to round off the namedropping. I can't recommend this enough, as Atonement is an album that absolutely belongs to the year 2020, for better or worse.

1. Unshut
2. Cauterize
3. If Only
4. Ballot Regression
5. Red River Shoot Up

1. Latex
2. Cauterize
3. Ego Death
4. Public Display of Failure
5. False (St)art
6. If Only
7. Bow Yr Head
8. Unshut
9. Punishers
10. And I'll Take You To A Quiet Place

1. Pinko - Hex The Body
2. Pinko - Roseom Rauderdam
3. Exhalants - Cowards
4. Exhalants - ADMF

1. The Thorn You Carry In Yr Side
2. Bang
3. Passing Perceptions
4. Definitions
5. End Scenes
6. Richard
7. Crucifix
8. Blackened
9. Lake Song