Album Review: Touche Amore/La Dispute - Searching For A Pulse/The Worth Of The World

The collective appetites of those who like their hardcore less chuggy and a tad higher brow were undoubtedly wetted by the prospect of this split, teaming up two bands who along with the likes of Defeater and Trash Talk are at the very cutting edge of hardcore. This is (I think I’m right in saying) the first full band material La Dispute have released since they unleashed the simply jaw-dropping ‘Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair’ in 2008. Similarly Touche Amore haven’t put out anything since 2009’s equally fascinating ‘…to the beat of a dead horse’ so expectation was understandably quite high for this release from the modest but already die hard fanbases of both of these bands.

So does it disappoint? Quite simply no, not at all. It’s fantastic. What set’s both LD and TA apart from the sleeveless, tattooed masses is the attention to detail that goes into every aspect of their music. While both bands have a unique voice they find common ground by there keen attitude to explore and push every facet of hardcore as a genre. This split perfectly embodies that attitude as it is not simply a collection of four songs but two stories told by two bands that frequently crossover.

The best moments of this split come from these collaborations. Jordan from La Dispute’s verse on opening Touche Amore track ‘I’ll Get My Just Deserve’ is stunning in it’s delivery. When the favour is returned by Touche Amore’s Jeremy on standout track ‘How I Feel’ it only enhances the songs precise fury.

Both bands have planted themselves firmly at the forefront of a wave of bands taking hardcore to exciting and more artistic new places and if this split is anything to go by it’s going to be a wave many of you will want to ride.

5/5

'Searching For A Pulse/The Worth Of The World' by Touche Amore/La Dispute is available now on No Sleep Records.

Touche Amore on MySpace, Facebook and Twitter.

La Dispute on MySpace, Facebook and Twitter.

Barney Dufton