Review Summary: The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die and Deer Leap certainly are here to help by supplying the world a fantastic emo/post-rock split.
It's crazy how much attention The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer afraid To die have received in the emo community given that they've only been around a couple of years and haven't even released a full length yet. But once their music is heard it's easy to see why everyone is clambering over them. The six piece from Connecticut manage to have masterful build ups in their songs while still retaining their fun and relatable feel. It's rare for a post-rock band to have so many sing along parts but TWIABP… manage to pull it off. It's interesting that a fast growing popular band like TWIABP… would do a split with a completely unknown band. Don't judge the New Hampshire trio Deer Leap for being unknown, they hold their own on this split. They come from relative obscurity, having released an instrumental demo in 2010 and not much else up until this point.
Are Here To Help You is another great addition to TWIABP..'s catalog and a great introduction to Deer Leap.
Everything about Deer Leap is atmospheric, from the light airy vocals to the ethereal guitars. Deer Leap's heavenly vocals set the mood and utilizing the human voice as more of an instrument than a conveyer of lyrics sort of in vein of Sigur Ros. The lyrics are pretty hard to make out but they don't really matter, the instrumentation sets the mood and tells the whole story. Deer Leap have a very minimalistic vocal delivery, most of the sections are instrumental. This is Deer Leap's first album with vocals at all as their previous demo was completely instrumental, and the new vocals add that dimension they were previously lacking. Deer Leap are all about soundscapes that convey raw emotion without the need of lyrics to define the song, and this style works really well. Deer Leap's more serious and restrained side sets a nice contrast to The World's side which is very playful and out there.
Deer Leap's side kicks off with the 45 second opener Learned In People which has a nice indie feel that transitions directly into the second track "We Are Not Who We Are" with some nice heavy power chords and some ethereal guitar hanging out in the background. The song then goes into a more emo/post-rock sound which you would expect in the verse.
To "Moscow And Quickly" is one of the stand out tracks on the split. "There's space at the root, of all our problems and you're to blame. There's pieces of truth beneath the surface, buried safe." that nice set of lyrics repeats throughout the whole song broken up by instrumental passages. It gives the impression that it's building up to something big, but it doesn't and it works anyway. The repetition gives the track a really nice atmospheric feel.
The transitions between the tracks are Deer Leap's side are flawless. It almost feels like one piece of music. Even the transition into The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die's side is great. While Deer Leap's side is nice, it really is just a teaser for what's to come, an elaborate set up for TWIABP... instant classic side.
The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die seem to know exactly when to throw in the perfect element in a song. Each song on this split is littered with perfectly placed gang vocals, keyboard parts, sing along sections, catchy guitar riffs, and even the occasional trumpet part. They know exactly what to say and when to say it. The production is perfect too. The sound manages to be very layered while still retaining a clarity to all the parts. TWIABP… manage to have masterful build ups in their songs while still retaining their fun and relatable feel. It's rare for a post-rock band to have so many sing along parts but they manage to pull it off.
There is a certain part in the third track "Bread For Brett" where the song elevates from just a fun little emo song into something truly special. The whole first half of the track builds up to this moment where the singer blares out "Tear down your billboards and all your street lights" and the song just explodes into beautiful part after beautiful part. "Bread For Brett" is definitely the best song on the split.
The closing track on the split "Wait… What?" is the longest track clocking in at just over six minutes. The song is pretty much one big buildup and encapsulates every element from the previous tracks making for a great closer to a brilliant album.
Are Here To Help You is a shining example of what a split should be, more than the sum of it's parts. While each side in of itself is great, when put together they create something truly special. Deer Leap's ambient soft sound perfectly sets up The World's more adventurous light hearted sound. Both bands are sure to be off to great things and
Are Here To Help You is a great introduction to both band's glowing body of work.
