Pulled Apart By Horses - Tough Love

Pulled Apart By Horses' self-titled debut was awesome. It might have been a bit too hip for hardcore fans and a bit too heavy for indie kids, but that resulted in them finding a niche that few other bands occupy. The debut seamlessly combined fun, silly lyrics with hardcore, grunge, and metal influenced riffing. Tough Love is a continuation of their self-titled in this regard. It features similarities in structuring, riffing, and lyrical content.

As they said in an interview, Pulled Apart By Horses has definitely stepped up their game instrumentally. The riffs are more fluid and precise, and thus sound a bit more 'professional.' That's a hit or miss prospect really, considering a lot of the appeal on the self-titled was the fun, amateurish instrumentation. Tracks like "V.E.N.O.M.," "Everything Dipped In Gold," and "Night Of The Living (I'm Scared Of People)" show off their new talents pretty well. Others like "Some Mothers," "Bromance Ain't Dead," and "Wildfire, Smoke & Doom" have the DIY post-hardcore sound of the debut. For the most part they combine elements of the latter successfully with their new techniques.

To be completely honest I find it hard to really express myself about this album. The production is fine and pretty comparable to the debut, the songs are catchy, and it has a pretty similar atmosphere as well. "Night Of The Living (I'm Scared Of People)" might be my favorite track on Tough Love with its atmosphere and odd riffing. "Epic Myth" has a relatively grunge-sounding part which annoys me and the chorus is vibrato driven. "Wolf Hand" opens with a really cool riff but the hook is weak which is disappointing. Other than that the majority of the tracks are typical Pulled Apart By Horses tomfoolery, and thus awesome. It's a bit more detached than it's predecessor though as I mentioned earlier, and honestly that takes away a bit of the appeal.

7.5 out of 10

Tracklisting:

1. V.E.N.O.M
2. Wolf Hand
3. Shake Off The Curse
4. Epic Myth
5. Some Mothers
6. Night Of The Living (I'm Scared Of People)
7. Wildfire, Smoke & Doom
8. Bromance Ain't Dead
9. Give Me A Reason
10. Degeneration Game
11. Everything Dipped In Gold

Tough luck finding a link for this...