Balance And Composure
Only Boundaries (No Sleep Records)
Release Date: August 11, 2009
1. I Can’t Do This Alone
2. Only Boundaries (mp3)
3. Show Your Face
4. What’s Wrong With Everything
There’s a deliberateness and a steady, quiet confidence pulsing through Balance And Composure‘s latest EP, Only Boundaries. It smolders and simmers beneath these four amazing songs, ultimately betraying the band’s young stature. Although the median age of this Doylestown, PA five piece is 19 and they’ve been playing together for years in bands such as War Pigs, Erection Kids and Scenic State, the expectation is that a collection of barely legal teens shouldn’t be writing music that sounds this accomplished, or churns with such inherent passion and vehemence for that matter.
Only Boundaries is undoubtedly ripe with plaintive guitar leads, chugging riffs, aggressive rhythms and gruff vocal outbursts. More surprisingly though is how calculated and introspective each song can be. Perhaps the band’s intention was not to overwhelm with power and fury but rather to lull the listener into a serene world before ripping apart the foundation with blasts of beautiful discord. It’s not quite the loud / quiet aesthetic we’ve become accustomed to (thankfully), but Balance And Composure knows that every instrument need not be blazing full force to get its point across. Sometimes the pensive moments are the ones that hit the hardest, and doling out furor and frenzy in metered doses only enhances their impact. Take the waning minutes of closer “What’s Wrong With Everything” for example. Lead vocalist Jon Simmons tenderly sings
Follow me to the water / where it flows till no one knows
and down there no one seems to bother
the world is wicked but no one knows / so let the water rise to your eyebrows
where a tip toe can save your life
but your feet are weak now / from all that searching
through the darkness in seek of light
A cresting wave of guitar and crashing drums soon pours over the song. The band joins in with a rousing chorus of “HALELUJAH, I’m coming home.” It’s part ballad, part emo rocker, part church hymn…and all confidence and bravado that lesser bands could never pull off. At least not without seeming insincere.
Of course, Balance And Composure’s quixotic-yet-cocksure attitude – the one that usually comes with being young and impetuous - coupled with the simple fact that they’re all great musicians, could be the precise reason why Only Boundaries lands all its punches with such driving, exacting force. Either way, 18 plus minutes of emotional, intensely dynamic music is all you should need to convince you that the band has a bright future ahead.
Only Boundaries was recorded and produced by Vince Ratti (Circa Survive, None More Black, Jena Berlin) at The Skylight Studio in Fairless Hills, PA. No Sleep will release the one-sided 12-inch EP on August 11th, 2009. The label pressed 500 on black vinyl with the 100 featuring a silk-screened b-side. In 2008, Balance And Composure self-released their debut EP, I Just Want To Be Pure. For more information, go to www.myspace.com/balanceandcomposure, www.nosleeprecs.com or www.beartrappr.com/balance-and-composure
Press Contact: Chuck Daley / Beartrap PR / chuck@beartrappr.com / (704) 649-7128
