Till I Fall
Till I Fall EP
Genre: Punk/Alternative Rock
Release Date: April 20, 2017
Label: N/A
You know, it's funny. I first met Brandon Leland, the vocalist and mind behind Till I Fall, when we were eighteen, at a local show in the back of a nickel arcade in San Jose. We had both just played acoustic sets, and we got to talking about music. Having briefly been a part of Till I Fall when I was in college, and having seen their progression over the years from two-piece, to quartet, to trio, and all the way back to two-piece again, I can truly say that this is the best piece of music that Till I Fall have put forth in the world. And that's fitting with it being their self-titled record. I may have a slight bias to this band, but I mean what I say; Till I Fall is a fantastic EP, and truly representative of the musicians that Leland and Zax Avila have become. (Editor's note: Zax might kill me for this little fact, but the first time I saw him perform was with a local ska band called Poor AJ. I always thought that this dude would go on to write music, and I wasn't wrong.)
I feel that when an artist releases a self-titled anything, whether it's an EP or full-blown album, it's their way of saying "This is who we are." After an introduction track featuring static radio garble and sound clips from a certain President that won't be named, we launch into the double-time "Handbasket", a full-fledged pop-punk track that expands on the kind of punk song stylings that Till I Fall have taken on over the years. "Through Your Eyes" slows things down just barely tempo-wise, only to have the powerful vocal lines compliment instrumental lines that sound reminiscent of "Adam's Song" from Enema of the State. The EP has immaculate production, and pulls from the likes of Blink-182, early Fall Out Boy, and Green Day.
The self-titled release closes with the hope-filled "Cherry Bomb", mixing in a powerful outro with inspiration quotes from some of history's most influential leaders (you know, the ones that actually believe in making our world a better). They've come a long way, and this is still just the beginning for the Bay Area's Till I Fall. If you're just joining the club now, welcome. You've arrived just in time.
Till I Fall
www.tillifall.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/tillifall
@TILLIFALLSJ
This has been another Shameless Promotion.