Tennessee emos Free Throw stick to their trusted formula on fourth album, Piecing It Together.
What’s Past Is Prologue, Free Throw’s previous album, was one of the best emo records of 2019. A raw and honest insight into everyday trauma, it demonstrated the talent and skill within the Tennessee natives’ ranks. Piecing It Together carries on this good work, and while it doesn’t quite reach the heights of its predecessor, it’s further proof that Free Throw are a safe pair of hands when it comes to modern emo.
Opening with Cloud Sick, a typical dose of the rough-around-the-edges emo Free Throw do so well, Piecing It Together starts strong, with the band’s ear for melody underpinning all they do. Worry Seed rumbles along with vigour, while the sprightly euphoria of The Grass Isn’t Greener and Down & Out balance out the more solemn moments, such as on Force Of Will, where frontman Cory Castro laments how ‘life’s not fair’. The best of the bunch is Ocular Pat Down, a great hulking emo ripper that showcases its creators at their life-affirming best, and a high-point that, frustratingly, is never quite replicated.
There’s more solid emo songwriting to be found as Piecing It Together reaches its conclusion, but Free Throw don’t replicate the ‘moment’ that Ocular Pat Down feels like. The songs are good, but this is a band that can be spectacular, there just aren't enough of those moments to make this a record up there with their best. Still, while the knockout blows don’t land as often as you’d like, Free Throw have still managed to piece together a solid fourth album, and one that, at times, demonstrates their brilliance.
Verdict: 3/5
For fans of: Tiny Moving Parts, The Wonder Years, Hot Mulligan
Piecing It Together is released on June 25 via Triple Crown.
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