Touché Amoré
Reviewed by Richard Whittaker, Fri., Nov. 11, 2011
Touché Amoré
Auditorium Shores, Nov. 5Who killed screamo? Hardcore's most heartfelt genre took body blows when it should have been landing them, and became a big-label, commercialized joke of itself. Touché Amoré's Jeremy Bolm crouching midstage, screaming and keening as the pit punched the air for every beat of "Home Away From Here," brought back why it's so vital. The L.A. quartet isn't doing any wheel reinvention, but screamo was always hardcore's admission to itself that it needed human contact – and not just at the end of a fist. Do it right, and you're resurrecting the genre. Bolm made "Amends" for others' sins against the form, dissolving the barrier before slamming back into debut full-length To the Beat of a Dead Horse for "Honest Sleep." His ragged voice collapsed as the instruments let the lyrics run and the roiling pit seethed and flowed over itself. Screamo may be on the slab, but Touché Amoré runs some serious jolts back through its body.
