Recently, there has been a huge explosion of energetic, melodic hardcore, twinged with feisty elements of pop-punk, with one rising new band hyped up and at the helm. You’d have to be living in a hole of Bin Laden proportions to have allowed Pennsylvania’s hottest exports TITLE FIGHT to pass you by. Combining elements of alt-emo not dissimilar to the likes of The Get Up Kids, punked-up, sped-up hardcore ferocity and poppy brilliance, their latest release ‘Shed’ shows both promise and experience in their field and serves only to solidify the excellence of their seven years as a group.
‘Coxton Yard’ is a stomping opener, setting a fast-paced standard and is followed perfectly by the whirlwind attack of follow up title track ‘Shed’. Every minute is fresh and invigorating and no aspect sounds tired or repeated. Scratchy guitars slice through the rapid drumbeats of ‘You Can’t Say Kingston Doesn’t Love You’, and the raucous bassline proves false the preconceived notion that the standard practice of hardcore lacks any musical depth. With production coming from the hand of legendary Rival Schools / Gorilla Biscuits man Walter Schreifels himself, it’s no surprise that such influence is rife throughout ‘Shed’ – be it the insightful, intelligent aspect of the lyricism or the unconventional structure of each track.
As ‘GMT (Greenwich Mean Time)’ draws the record to an epic close, it’s obvious why the group have been so universally praised for their outstanding musical output to date. As ‘Shed’ proves definitively the aptitude for Title Fight to shine, all that is left is to look to the future – improvement, however, is not necessary.
OLIVIA JAREMI