Parties Break Hearts

One Night Out & The Morning After

Written by: PP on 11/09/2012 04:03:46

It is incomprehensible to me that Parties Break Hearts still find themselves in almost complete and utter obscurity. They have an incredibly catchy band name that's perfect for the genres that they represent - emocore and post-hardcore - and "One Night Out & The Morning After" is now the second excellent full-length they've released, and arguably even better than their debut album "Life Is Too Short To Dance With Ugly People" from four years ago. Perhaps it's due to their Bern, Switzerland location, or that the band suck at viral marketing or something, but it certainly isn't because their music isn't good. In my books, they are potentially one of the best emocore bands in mainland Europe, which makes them criminally underrated, which means you should pay particular attention to what I have to tell you here.

Now, opener "Tonight We Drink" opens the album with a fairly strong, if somewhat unspectacular emotive alternative rock approach, but once we arrive at the dynamic, high-flying leads of "New Armour" the album really kicks into another gear. They play emo/post-hardcore in the old style like the genre's origins, which means no trendy electronics, polished production, or predictable emo croons or high pitch vocals. Just raw, emotional vocals, catchy choruses, and focus on well-composed songs. Yes, the lyrics are emotionally charged, but that isn't an issue here because of the way the band projects their songs on the record. You need but one listen to the album highlight "Souvenir Box" and its obvious old Funeral For A Friend references to understand why. It's one of those tracks that'll refuse to leave your head despite relying heavily on the age-old quiet/loud dynamic where calmer verses expand into a highly melodic and irresistible choruses. It's key to note here that the band never rise up to the ridiculous over-inflated heights of many modern bands in the genre, but instead always keep their feet on the ground, and that's why the sound feels so....real, for the lack of a better expression.

Screaming is used sparingly to avoid the trap of generic clean/scream dynamics, but when it does arrive, it adds a nice aggressive lining to the songs that otherwise could pass as alternative rock songs, if it wasn't for the guitars and the overall emotional atmosphere that surrounds the soundscape. It's a nice hybrid sound overall, one that references one my favourite eras in modern music, namely the early 2000s emo/post-hardcore scene before pretentiousness took over irrecoverably due to the sudden and increased popularity of the genre. It's also a sound that I know would appeal to the legions of Funeral FOr A Friend fans out there, as well as to the fans of any of the bands mentioned below. People need to start giving these guys credit because they are really, really good.

8

Download: Souvenir Box, New Armour, The End Of The World
For the fans of: Funeral For A Friend, Boysetsfire, Boy Hits Car, Biffy Clyro, Senses Fail
Listen: Facebook

Release date 16.03.2012
Subversiv Records

Related Items | How we score?
Comments
comments powered by Disqus

Legal

© Copyright MMXXIV Rockfreaks.net.