Review Summary: Near Perfect.
Based on their sound and style alone, Too Close to Touch is much like many other bands in their genre. Based on skill and expertise, however, they are far and away one of the better bands to come out of this crowded category in quite some time. Heavier than most alt-rock, but certainly not heavy enough to fall into metal, Too Close to Touch is in a fairly crowded musical arena. While it would be easy to slip beneath such musical cracks, Nerve Endings insures that this band will stand apart based on talent (if not originality).
Nerve Endings excels not on the basis of one particularly well performed part of the music, but as the cohesion of all the pieces together. For example, the lyrics are consistently good on their own, but are imbued with much more depth and meaning by vocalist Keaton Pierce’s delivery. His performance, combined with the fast-paced aggression of the instruments, take this excellence a step further into a level of achievement rarely seen by a band so young. Each piece of the music fits extremely well together, showing that the band members are clearly comfortable with one another’s styles and talents. This is evidenced on many songs in the album, but “Pretty Little Thing” provides a particularly helpful example, showing the talents of each band member along its way to being one of the album’s highlights.
While the comfort and maturity of the band’s songwriting is an obvious strength, the attention to detail shown by Too Close to Touch shines as well. From start to finish, there is never a sense that the band is slacking off or being lazy at any moment. Rather, like an artist carefully crafting a painting, each part of each song is carefully tended and cared for. For example, in the chorus of “Sinking so Long,” Pierce sings “Would it be easier to grow? It’s better than keeping me alone, I know.” On the word “easier,” Pierce goes from singing to screaming mid-word, immediately charging the song with more energy and keeping the listener engaged. This song, following “The Air in Me,” and preceding “Until I Collapse,” is part of a closing run of three songs that define the album, each of which exhibits the careful attention to detail of Nerve Endings. These three songs close the album phenomenally well, and showcase the band’s strengths as it ends.
Of course, talking at length about the attention to detail and cohesiveness of the band’s sound would be carry less weight if there were any songs on the album that fail to follow through on these descriptions. There are no “bad” songs on Nerve Endings, and the only complaints that can be mustered either fall into arguing that one or two songs sound slightly out of place, or that not every song lives up to the level of excellence found on “Pretty Little Thing,” or any one of the last three songs. While these are not vapid concerns, they do not come close to invalidating the level of accomplishment of this album.
While this review may read more like a promotion written by a label than a typical review, it must be noted that bands like Too Close to Touch are a rarity in the overpopulated world of below-average musicians that are trying to appeal to the same audience. For a band to start out at this level of excellence raises expectations for future releases impossibly high, and it is quite possible that the follow-up to Nerve Endings will leave many disappointed. However, for a band as talented as this, the future is certainly very bright. At the very least, having high expectations is a good problem to have (compared to many others), and Too Close to Touch have already proved that they have more than enough talent to satisfy fans for years to come.
