Regardless of your orientation within the Tumblrsphere in 2011, it was hard to ignore the proliferation of underground rock band Balance & Composure. My dashboard — once full of John Green quotes, “Mean Girls” nostalgia and Ed Sheeran — was forever changed as washed-out concert photos replaced worn meme conventions. Title Fight and Basement became the new blogging soundtrack. I gave a record I saw on the Internet a listen – Balance & Composure’s “Separation” – and never looked back. It’s been two years, but the group’s most recent LP generates that same feeling of awe.
When “Separation” flooded my tiny computer speakers, I entered a sonic landscape that embraced the dichotomy between fragility and unbridled rage. The vocals alternated between raw passages and soft groans; the band complemented this schizophrenia well. “The Things We Think We’re Missing,” released a couple weeks ago, continues the palette teasing from that first album — and is an absolute triumph.
“Missing” is bolstered by incredible production. Will Yip, whose track record includes some of this scene’s favorite releases, is on his A-game here. The visceral energy of tracks like opener “Parachutes” and “Lost Your Name” ring clear and focused. “Even when I’m hurting / Do you feel the pain?” vocalist Jon Simmons cries aloud on the latter track. With a delivery as honest as it can get, it stings firsthand.
“Back of Your Head” reprises the wounded lyrical content found on the first cuts (and unsurprisingly, the rest of the album). Guitars interwoven between powerful percussion coalesce with vocal duels between meticulously layered droning and strained yells. “Tiny Raindrop” jars the brain away from unfiltered catharsis with an incredible melodic introduction. For such a young band in a musical climate inundated with immature intentions, this song alone rewrites the playbook on what can captivate.
Nirvana’s “In Utero” is alive on “Notice Me.” Christmas-like bell stabs and noodling guitars deconstruct to channel the short-fused anger of Touché Amoré. The track fades seamlessly into the post-rock flavor of “Ella,” an instrumental that concludes Side A and prepares ears for the emotional onslaught that is “Cut Me Open.”
The track is a sure standout in a collection of diamonds. What begins as a standard B&C duel between drums and guitars unravels in a bridge that reads like a blood-soaked monologue. “Take the time to get to know me / And see that there’s no one else.” The forlorn mentality of “Missing” is played to its strengths on this track and the adjoining “Reflection.”
“I’m Swimming” is masterful in its blend of clean and damaged elements. Understated drums accompany a feedback-laden intro, unfolding in an examination of self that renders itself inconclusive. “When I Come Undone” channels a quasi-tribal feel; the chorus all too easily gets stuck in your head. It’s easily the most viable track for crossover potential on rock radio.
Whereas “When I Come Undone” is the group at its most accessible, “Dirty Head” is Balance & Composure at its most vulnerable. The acoustic cut is a short ride, but Simmons’ anguish reverberates over a lone guitar so convincingly, it’s fighting to become this generation’s answer to The Cure’s woeful “Pornography.”
“Keepsake,” which features Anthony Green of the equally impressive Circa Survive, revisits the constancy present on their previous record. An obvious tension between melody and mania rages here. The drums pound mercilessly, guitar melodies and chords clash, and Green’s airy vocals add an eerie quality to an already emotive song.
Album closer “Enemy” bookends “Missing” quite strongly. It’s both an elegy and a therapy session, with a lengthy introspective and voiceless third act. “And I thought I heard you / Sitting up there in the clouds. / You know I’m fading out.” “Missing” may draw to a close shortly after those lines, but the album contains a lasting impression that never fades away.
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