Post-hardcore Supergroup Debut

Finch and Senses Fail are nothing new to the post-hardcore market. Finch, since 1999, and Senses Fail, since 2002, have been key mainstay bands of the rush of post-hardcore, pop punk style bands that have defined Warped Tours and Journeys stores for years. What is new to these two bands, however, is their new self-proclaimed “supergroup” side project, Speak The Truth… Even If Your Voice Shakes. Their debut release is entitled Everyone You Love Will Slip Away From You, and that combination artist and album name is the most early 2000s emo trope of recent memory. 

Everyone You Love Will Slip Away From You varies from pop-punk to post-hardcore, successful in its screaming but less so in its angsty, at times whiney vocals. “The Upside Down” has aspects of both of these, but its guitar work, specifically riffs, makes the track an enjoyable opener that gives you a good vibe as to what Speak The Truth… Even If Your Voice Shakes is all about.

“Crash My Car” follows up on the incredible guitar instrumentation that the opening track allows. With a running math-rock style riff that is very technical for a post-hardcore group. The chorus on “Crash My Car” is extremely stereotypically pop punk yet the breakdown has thrashing drums as the lead singer, Buddy Nielsen, does a screamo style of shouting which is typical for this genre. The distortion of vocals on the tracks “Carpenter in Prison” and “Everyone You Love Will Slip Away From You” is a solid feature that not enough rock groups utilize. It almost sounds like Nielson is singing through a megaphone at times, a quality that groups like mewithoutYou have used. It adds that last punch that makes an average song like “Carpenter in Prison” into a good one.

“Drowning on the Sidewalk or Dying Inside” shows the production qualities of Speak The Truth… Even If Your Voice Shakes. Overall, this is a very highly produced album with clean vocals and guitar work. The distortion or lo-fi elements of traditional punk are gone in exchange for the record label style of production that pop-punk acts like State Champs have used in past records.

And then there is “At Least There’s Always Lexapro,” a track that within the first twenty seconds is the antithesis of the last paragraphs point. The cleanliness of the production is still there but the gritty, thrashing, almost hardcore vocals are enough to substantially differ from the rest of the record. The breakdown style drums and arena style post-hardcore riffs are a delightful treat that makes this track rather epic and feels to be on a larger scale than the rest. This epicness is fulfilled by the almost holy background vocals on the closing track, “Show Your Scars.”

While this album has some fun components to it that make certain tracks enjoyable, there is nothing groundbreaking from Speak The Truth… Even If Your Voice Shakes. The band tracks back to the early 2000s style of emo and post-hardcore that their mother-groups have been putting out for over a decade. It doesn’t do anything to revolutionize the genre, but listeners and fans of emo music will probably get a kick out of Everyone You Love Will Slip Away From You.