Troubled Coast-Letters
This has some serious potential. Bay Area post-hardcore tykes Troubled Coast are still in relative obscurity but their debut album 'Letters' hints at swiftly changing that with all manner of raw emotions seeping through its veins. It's a blooming period for post-hardcore at the moment, with Touche Amore's imminently released 'Parting The Sea Between Brightness And Me' sure to go down as a modern classic and the same excitement can also be felt towards its infants like Troubled Coast thanks to the quality that they're already at.
The album, while bearing certain similarities with their contemporaries, mixes a visceral melodic hardcore heart with elements of pop-punk melody and pace and ghostly interludes. 'Feigned Belief' has a killer dual vocal that brings post-hardcore and pop-punk together seamlessly, 'XX/XY' has the head-in-hands frustration of early Thursday and 'Night Drives'' moonlit imagery and evocations have the feel of early 00s Alexisonfire, all of which feel comfortingly nostalgic and undeniably exciting. Vocalist Mike 'Mile' Scornaienchi roars and wails his way through the twelve songs with genuine issues at his heart and guitarists Cory Bardwell and Brandon Wark's spiralling guitar interplay allow every track to bear its claws and pierce your body, the lush sunset lines rolling through 'Me And My Shadow' puncturing deep. Equally Gary Bowman's contribution of cello on 'A Shallow Place' that descends into a wonderful melodic dual-vocal breakdown shows that they aren't afraid to pepper their work with different shades and textures.
Admittedly the album ventures occasionally dangerously close to the sound of the aforementioned Touche Amore, this is a shame considering when the band do find their own sound they soar like the former as real individuals. But this is only a debut and has bucketloads of potential; if the band calm their obvious influences and focus on honing their own sound, they're onto a winner. The incredible 'Absent Father, Holy Ghost' justifies this statement enormously. The heartbreaking honesty of the track brings together ferocious screams, an undeniable chorus and an introspective and impassioned harmonica-peppered vocal in such a powerful way that the band have to take such innovations and hone them firmly into their own sound. If they do this, they really could be everywhere. Keep an eye firmly on this lot with fingers crossed.