If you have not yet heard of Title Fight, you must be living in a cave. After the release of their sophomore album Shed in 2011, this four piece band from Kingston, Pennsylvania absolutely exploded. With an awesome fan base that worships them, the band has gone from being practically unknown to opening for Rise Against in large venues. In mid-July, about a year since Shed, Title Fight announced that they were ready to release a brand new album titled Floral Green on September 18th, 2012.The intro track “Numb, But I Still Feel It” sounds like the Title Fight everyone knows. The vocalist and bassist, Ned Russin, has not changed styles from the previous albums but his voice does sound much more matured and harsh on this album and overall gives the album a much more mature tone. The instrumentals have remained relatively the same as well, with the vocals and drums being more pronounced while the lead guitar breaks through with fast licks that get stuck in your head.
The two back to back tracks “Head In The Ceiling Fan” and “Make You Cry” are a perfect combination. The former begins and sounds much like their previous song “Safe In Your Skin”. Title Fight had released “Head In The Ceiling Fan” as a single to many mixed reactions. Personally it did not give me much hope for Floral Green but when you listen to the album in it’s entirety, “Head In The Ceiling Fan” is a great interlude and fits in with the theme.
The second to last song “Lefty” is different from your usual Title Fight for a couple of reasons. I first noticed the time of the song which clocks in at barely over four minutes. While it is an average song length for most bands, it is nearly double the length of Title Fight’s average. Another thing is the sound effects that they have thrown in, especially towards this end. This is abnormal to Title Fight’s usual sound of ending on guitar feedback. In regards to the song itself, I really enjoyed this track due to the the smooth transitions between the faster parts to the much quieter, slower paced bits. It is the ideal song to relax with your friends to.
One of the major defining points on Floral Green is the progression. I’m not talking about the progression the band has had through the years, but the progression through this album. Starting from the first track, the music sounds like, well, Title Fight. But as the album goes on the music begins to get more mellow and really hits a 90’s alternative feel. This change is really noticeable at around the midway point in the album, “Head In The Ceiling Fan”. That track and everything after it sounds like it was influenced by Hum or The Smashing Pumpkins.
This change is not unwelcome however. From the way Title Fight plays it, it sounds like that was the style they were going for the entire time and just now found their place on Floral Green. The way the album transitions is very much like the way summer goes into autumn and coincidentally, Floral Green makes the perfect soundtrack for the approaching fall. While there are many strong points going for this album, there are some things that irked me a bit as well. Many of the songs on this album sound very similar and I feel as if I had just heard the same tune ten minutes prior.
Despite these minor flaws, Title Fight has still made an exceptional album that I will be playing throughout the entire coming season and beyond. If you have not listened to Title Fight before this, I recommend going through their other two albums before coming to Floral Green. If you have listened to Title Fight before than you should feel right at home on this album. Title Fight has come a long way since their humble beginnings and they certainly deserve what they’ve achieved.
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