‘Curse of a Tongue’ starts and ends like a blitzkrieg. The fiery combination of emo rock, punk, and a bit of screamo thrown in between is a raucous combination that shouldn’t work as well as it does. But, the entire experience is just a joyride that’s filled with unbridled expression and unrivalled up-tempo energy across each song. Tryingtogetby is the brainchild of musician Tyler Miller who wrote and performed everything on the new album. A remarkable feat, the record truly sounds like a fully fledged band coming together and performing live. While there’s undoubtedly a bit of a rawness to the record, a fallout of the rather unfiltered and slightly gritty feel to the entire arrangement that he’s carved out on the record.
Opening with a rollercoaster like ‘Homeward Bound’, you’re immediately jumped aboard a ride that doesn’t let you off or give you a moment to reprieve. On ‘Taught 2 Hate’ it goes a level above, just accelerating the same fiery expression and rambunctious attitude brought before it. If I had to earmark something that might off put a listener is that there is a relative sameness throughout the record. The variations in guitar melody and song structure are nice to investigate and subtle enough to not be radical, but the overall tempo and mood of the record does settle into a pattern almost from the word go. So, if you find yourself off put at the first track, it’s probably not your cup of tea to finish it in its entirety. On the other hand, if you find it captivating, then be ready for a barrage of tunes that are just going to keep that same energy through and through.