Album Review: Title Fight - 'Hyperview'

21 January 2015 | 3:09 pm | Staff Writer
Originally Appeared In

The new old vision

More Title Fight More Title Fight

Title Fight seem to be engrossing themselves more and more in their love of nineties rock music on third album 'Hyperview,' pulling influence from bands like Smashing Pumpkins, Dinosaur Jr and Sunny Day Real Estate and aiming for more of a lo-fi approach than usual.

Opening track, 'Murder Your Memory', is mellow and heavily melodic, mimicking the sounds that Pianos Become The Teeth curve-balled with their brilliant new album, and, while, Title Fight also manage to excel in the softer end of the spectrum, it is not a sign of things to follow.

The first single 'Chlorine' amps up the energy with driving drums and guitars washed in distortion. The vocals seem to sit in the backseat of the entire record,  just below the instrumentation, sometimes barley audible to help with the hazy grunge approach.

'Mrahc', brightens up the tone a little with a bouncy beat and more energetic vocals despite the minor guitar chords which keep things from getting too positive. This is followed by the painfully sad 'Your Pain Is Mine Now', another soft moment at the record's mid-way point. The vocals take the lead for the first time while a solitary guitar lines dances around the melody with a simple syncopated drum line there for support.

Don't miss a beat with our FREE daily newsletter

The band has done well to replicate the 90's sound. These songs could sit on the Empire Records soundtrack perfectly, mainly thanks to the guitar tones which are thin, overdriven and sometimes grating when heard on their own, but it works on tracks such as 'Trace Me Onto You', a song that seems like some simple teenage garage band creation that finds brilliance in its subtle melodies.

'Hyperview' comes to a close with two of its stronger tracks, the first, 'Dizzy', a slower paced number with an interesting groove about it that gives all of its melody to the guitars. It is a drag but a thoroughly enjoyable one. Closer, 'New Vision', picks up the energy and ends the album on a frantic note, the drums constantly crash over the driving guitar lines while the vocals sweep in between the noise with concise clarity.

It feels like Title Fight have finally reached the sound they have been aiming for since their inception. This is the style that these guys grew up on and now they have become some sort of modern day homage to said style. Fortunately, it's all delivered without sounding like a bad replica or group of dudes stuck in the past. This is modern lo-fi grunge rock for the now.

1. Murder Your Memory

2. Chlorine

3. Hypernight

4. Mrahc

5. Your Pain Is Mine Now

6. Rose of Sharon

7. Trace Me Onto You

8. Liar's Love

9. Dizzy

10. New Vision