Tiny Moving Parts

breathe

Written by: PP on 14/01/2020 20:01:01

If you have found inspiration, why wait? Since their 2016 breakthrough album "Celebrate", Tiny Moving Parts have been amassing momentum and captivating the scene with their blend of math rock, post-hardcore, and emo with sufficient pop punk vibes attached to keep their sound catchy. It took them five albums to make it, but since then they've been unstoppable. First, they topped that record on 2018's masterpiece "Swell", and only eighteen months later, they are following it up with yet another fantastic release in "breathe".

If "Swell" was an explosion of emotion and intricate, complex guitars delivered in unpredictable patterns and time-signatures that took us by surprise, "breathe" is better classified as 'more of the same'. Truth is, not much has changed stylistically for the band, so the record feels like a direct follow-up on that record. Raw emotion delivered through chaotic math-rock passages and plenty of quiet/loud dynamics is still the name of the game here, however, it is necessarily less spectacular as its predecessor because of the almost complete lack of progression since the previous record. If anything, "breathe" feels like a collection of b-sides to the last two albums, but given how consistent Tiny Moving Parts are lately, it means the quality of song is still rather high.

You could point at the slightly cleaner production or at a song like "Vertebrae" as signs that the band are targeting more of a pop segment on this release, but "Polar Bear" and "The Midwest Sky" are more of the same stop/start riffs and complex fretwork that broke this band free on "Celebrate". There's a good balance between melodies and screaming, holding the band steadily in the emo/post-hardcore territory without sacrificing their distinctly indie rock vibe, and that's exactly what makes them great. So while it means "breathe" is the last album they can write before they risk sounding stale, with songs like "Soft Spot" or "Medicine", they prove just how consistent and awe-inspiring a complex array of math rock guitars and clean/scream dynamics can be when put together.

8

Download: The Midwest Sky, Light Bulb, Medicine, Polar Bear, Bloody Nose
For the fans of: Modern Baseball, Free Throw, Dikembe, You Blew It!,
Listen: Facebook

Release date 13.09.2019
Hopeless Records

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

Legal

© Copyright MMXXIV Rockfreaks.net.