Touché Amoré
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA USA

Jeremy Bolm: Vocals
Clayton Stevens: Guitar
Nick Steinhardt: Guitar
Elliot Babin: Drums
Tyler Kirby: Bass

Touche Amore are a thought provoking, passionate hardcore/punk band from Los Angeles, California.

From the first strikes of their angular yet melodic chords, it's apparent that Touche Amore have awoken something long forgotten in the hardcore/punk genre. Bringing to mind the balance of rage and melody that "Revolution Summer" era DC bands Rites of Spring and Ignition once carried. Within each song they build an awe inspiring musical tension while impassioned vocalist Jeremy Bolm's shouts resonate, ripe with intellectual introspection. This collective outpouring of traditional hardcore anger and emotional hardcore openness ultimately coalesces into something beautiful, vulnerable, and refreshingly real.

Shortly after their formation in late 2007, Touché Amoré released their demo 7"EP on the No Sleep label. After touring the West Coast in support of that release, they recorded their debut album "...To the Beat of a Dead Horse" in early 2009. The album was co-released by the 6131 and Collect (Geoff from Thursday's vinyl only imprint) record labels, and was praised by kids and press worldwide as one of the best releases of the year. Soon after, they hit the road with a wide variety of bands including Converge, Coalesce, Thursday, Envy, and more. On the heels of these travels, Touché Amoré even managed to release a number of EPs, including splits with friends La Dispute and Make Do And Mend.

In February of 2011, Touche Amore piled into their beat up tour van in an Los Angeles suburb and set off on a twenty six hour journey to Eudora, Kansas. With a population of just over four thousand people, Eudora may be a peculiar place for a punk band to go, but nestled in its rural isolation is acclaimed engineer Ed Rose and his Black Lodge Studios (formerly Redhouse Recording Studio). There under Rose's attentive ears, Touche Amore poured their patchwork soul into their latest work, "Parting the Sea Between Brightness and Me".

In "Parting the Sea Between Brightness and Me", Touche Amore's creative formula is driven by emotional affect, not contemporary studio effects. In the purest form possible, raw shouted vocals and clean manic guitars fight for volume over roomy bass and percussion. Creating a sound that is shockingly simple as it is emotionally engaging. The serene and fragile opening notes of "Tilde" serve as the album's introductory serenade before Touche Amore pound and jangle into the hook-laden song. And seconds later, when vocalist/lyricist Jeremy Bolm screams "...I'm parting the sea between brightness and me...", a tone of desperation sets in that resonates throughout the duration of the album. His straight forward cries convincingly tell his own personal story. To some, this lyrical writing could read as a diary based purely in self deprecation, but his words cut and pull from a much deeper place in the heart. Serving as an open window into his constant soul searching amid life's constant trials and tribulations. Songs like "Home Away From Here" and "Sesame" are great examples of this, infectious in their sound and moving lyrical spirit. While "Method Act" and the emotional "Condolences" show the band experimenting with epic leanings while maintaining their beloved trademark character. Without a doubt, Touche Amore's "Parting the Sea Between Brightness and Me" is a stunning full length achievement on any scale. Proving that there is true beauty within the concept of artistic simplicity.

Photos by Katie C. and more.