This Is Your Life - Before We Fade Away (Glass Nail)
Richmond's hardcore/punk scene has a proud tradition of producing great bands whose records stay relevant and continue to demand repeat plays over the years, and with This Is Your Life's debut full-length, it is clear that this tradition is still alive. With a sound that combines hardcore velocity, anthemic punk choruses, and the passion that infuses the best of the emocore tradition, This Is Your Life have created an album that harks back to great local bands of past years, including Avail, Strike Anywhere, and Count Me Out. And yet, despite the many obvious influences from which these songs are drawn, there's a clear core of talent, intensity, and inspiration that shines through here, making Before We Fade Away an unmistakably fresh and original work that demands to be ranked alongside the very albums of which it's most reminiscent.
Beginning with its title track, a minute-long instrumental introduction that sets a melancholy mood, complete with the sounds of rain in the background, the album kicks into high gear with the first full song, "Arrivals And Departures." Lyrically, this song uses an airport-based metaphor to describe the painful ephemerality of deep emotional relationships, but it's not so much the lyrics that stand out as the way they are sung. Their singer's tone is somewhere between singing and screaming, with the harsh throatiness of his delivery increasing at more dramatic moments and swinging back towards melody on the song's intense but catchy chorus. His ability to sing with the passionate power of a full-on hardcore screamer while maintaining traces of melody keeps him from ever slipping into a more static vocal style that could have killed the dynamic energy of This Is Your Life's music. As it is, the vocals are often the best part of these songs, bringing to mind the passionate emotional tone of bands like Title Fight and Modern Life Is War. When this guy sings, you believe that he means it. And the music has just as important a part to play in the overall feel of this album, combining uptempo segments that sound almost like youthcrew riffs with melodic leads and opportune downward tempo shifts that bring to mind the emotional hardcore sound of bands like Dag Nasty and Avail. "Blackout Curtains" is a particular standout in this department, contrasting speedy verses--complete with gang-vocal backups--with a much more melodic half-speed chorus that first breaks down to a quiet interlude, then builds into a incredibly powerful breakdown, which retains a melodic undercurrent even as it bowls you over with its intensity. "This is no way to live your life!" the singer yells at the breakdown's climactic moment. "Holding everything in, letting regret win. We're running out of time!"
In fact, many of these songs seem to reference the passage of time and the regrets that can come along with it, a fitting lyrical topic for a band who have named themselves This Is Your Life. I'm sure there will be some who write off the concerns they address in songs like "Purgatory," the William Blake-referencing "Songs Of Experience," and especially "The Wall" as the sorts of concerns that are only important to those young enough to still be making the transition into adulthood. However, if I may editorialize here for a moment, I think this idea that life gets easier once you hit your late 20s or so is a convenient fiction some adults tell themselves in order to hide from the many unanswered questions that remain in their own lives (and if you don't believe me, ask yourself why the term "midlife crisis" has become such a cliche). Regardless of your age, This Is Your Life have lyrics that will address situations you'll recognize from your own life--whether you want to admit it or not. In "High Tide," the singer asks, "Tell me you feel alive, and you're content with your life," and "Tell me you're satisfied to wake up and embrace routine." He follows these requests with a confrontational statement: "Those precious times you've missed--they won't be coming back." Who doesn't lie awake contemplating exactly that fact, at least occasionally? Juxtaposed with intense vocals, driving riffs, and a bittersweet, anthemic chorus, this song, like many on this album, connects on a deep level. They are a passionate wake-up call, reminding us all that, while our time is finite, we're alive right now, and we can still make the most of the opportunities we have still ahead of us.
Before We Fade Away is a statement of purpose delivered by a young band with the talent necessary to make their mark in the eyes of the RVA scene and, indeed, the world at large. Their ability to synthesize the best aspects of many different post-punk subgenres and create an album that should appeal equally to fans of hardcore, emo, and pop-punk is not something that you come across every day. While their sound is easily connected with quite a few reference points from punk rock history, there is no easy term with which to pigeonhole their excellent music. Really, at the end of the day, it's most accurate to say that This Is Your Life sound like themselves. And if you've ever been a fan of punk rock in any of its many forms, you should find a lot to like in Before We Fade Away.
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This Is Your Life will be performing with Lowtalker, Arms Aloft, Postcards, and Of Want And Misery at The Camel on Wednesday, October 24. Doors open at 7 PM, admission is $8. Click HERE for more info.