Twilight City Fracture

Starting in 2004, Twilight City Fracture broke onto the scene with its indie sound and gained a solid fan base before dying down in 2008. The band is now in the process of resurgence as it releases its EP titled "Exist." This EP shows a lot of growth and development from TCF as it throws some catchy vocals into the mix with some powerful guitars, sweet drums and some fancy lead riffs. Exist has shown itself to be a unique sound that anyone can get into. At times it reminds of The Lot Prophets and at other times it reminds of Hot Rod Circuit. The EP was produced by Jesse Cannon (The Cure, Head Automatica and Say Anything). This EP shows great promise for the future of this band and if more local bands from the area start to catch on, this could be a band that leads new a wave of local scene into a state that is ready for change. - newjerseylocalscene.com

If there was such a thing as post-hardcore shoegaze, Twilight City Fracture certainly fit the bill. Their latest EP, “Exist,” is drowned in nostalgia yet works at carving out a relevance all their own. To grossly oversimplify their sound, think somewhere between Pat Benatar’s “Love is a Battlefield,” and Jawbreaker’s “Oh Dear.”

Regardless of whether that comparison frightened or excited you, I recommend giving these guys a good listen, because they have me convinced that I should rise up and fight against the daily oppression of my relatively sheltered life.
I used Benatar because somehow Twilight’s sound manages to transport me to those fake late-80’s Hollywood city sets, where hipsters (before they were called hipsters) would dance around the lead singer at night, for no apparent reason, celebrating their suburban liberation around flaming trash cans and abandoned shopping carts. After the first couple of listens, I immediately wanted to go and watch Lost Boys and Toy Soldiers back-to-back, but I decided to write this review instead.

As far as I can tell, Twilight City Fracture are a local band from Lacey Township, New Jersey, who are gaining some notoriety. “Exist,” was put together with veteran producer Jesse Cannon (Saves the Day, The Cure, Tiger Mountain), and I have to say, the sound is tight and consistent across each of these five tracks. Special props go out to the clever use of guitar, sometimes eliciting a punk rock vibe, while other times transporting me into the cosmos where I watch down upon a post-apocalyptic Earth in ruins.

If I dig beneath the fuzzy electric guitars and crashy percussion, I can glimpse other influences as well. The way they put harmonies together seem to break that post-hardcore mold enough to earn a shoegaze or dream pop subtitle. More Twilight Sad than Grizzly Bear, though; more Mogwai than Sigur Rós.

The lead off track, “Edward”, plays like an anthem for the thirty-something broken-hearted. A rally cry intended to soothe the inner gen-exer in us all. Before the guitar kicks in in the first few seconds, I thought I had accidentally hit play on the latest Arms & Sleepers album. “Legend on Louisiana,” rises and falls like a stormy sea, and has a spacey undercurrent running through its veins to allure the non Jets to Brazil regime.

Wrestling the proverbial inner-demon while channeling those feelings in the form of borderline over-emotive music seems to be Twilight’s mainstay on this album. They tread a thin wire, however, and flashes of the trite slip in here and there. Lines like “maybe wonder why the media has your mind turned upside down,” feel more like Fall Out Boy excerpts than something substantial. Others, such as “I’ve seen through the devil’s eyes and I’m going blind,” are too literal to be taken seriously. If they can forego some of this blatancy in favor of something a little more abstract and poetic, I can see these guys gaining even more of a following.

There is a collective “WE” spanning these songs which only reinforces that collective angst I was mentioning earlier. But instead of “we belong to the night,” here you have “we look out for the signs,” and “we’ve been in this world with only red’s and blue’s,” and “we’ve been lost in the catacombs in our heads.”

To get a better idea of the band’s evolution, I snuck around the Information Superhighway™ and found a couple of older demos from these guys… and I have to say, I’m really glad they eschewed that conformist, proto-screamo sound in favor of this post-hardcore shoegaze genre I’ve invented for them. There might not be something for everyone, but their reach definitely seems wide enough now to garner the interest of a larger nucleus, myself included.
- Liftingfaces.com

Twilight City Fracture is different from nearly every band I hear playing guitar these days. I don’t feel like I hear their influences. I hear a new voice in rock, not the same old tired three chord song - which is rare. - Musformation.com

Twilight City Fracture provide a lush musical landscape of songs, filled with tingly guitar melodies and pretty vocals that are easy on the ears. The pleasant soundscapes remind me of As Tall As Lions and Sigur Ros. While the songs are nice overall, the vocals and guitar sound similar throughout the release and begin to sound monotonous by track 3. The guitars standout the most, however. They're in the vein of indie-punk bands like Snowing and Algernon Cadwallder with their intricate, noodly/experiment guitar work. "Legend of Louisiana" is the longest song on the EP clocking in at 5-minutes and it relaxing to hear. "Organization for the Organized" is one of the best among the 5 songs. Singer Jay sings "It's okay, I've grown accustomed to feeling like I have no place to go inside my own head." There are nice contrasts throughout the release lyrically and musically. The record was produced by Jesse Cannon (The Cure, Head Automatic, Say Anything). Tight production, consistent songs, and a dynamic style nice vibe makes Exist worth the listen.
- Star Beat Music

New Jersey's Twilight City Fracture are an undiscovered, unsigned band largely unknown outside of their local music scene. Coming out of a scene that is generally well-known for its past spawning of post-hardcore heroes, the band has significantly progressed past their musical origins to become an interesting amalgamation of shoegaze, pop sensibilites, Killers-esque vocals, and occasional moments that channel their post-hardcore roots. Musically, their work points to influences by the likes of My Bloody Valentine and The Jesus and Mary Chain, as well as local heroes Thursday, and possibly pop superstars Coldplay, just without the piano. Their singer, Jason Enger, does an excellent job on his debut record behind the mic, often sounding like a Hot Fuss-era Brandon Flowers or Chris Martin of the aforementioned Coldplay.

The five songs on Exist are largely driven by guitarists Matthew Quigley and Jason Enger's noodling, reverb-drenched playing. This gives the songs an atmospheric quality not often found except in bands of a more established caliber. Drummer John Sarantinoudis and bassist Christian Casteel work together to keep the songs moving, and as previously mentioned, Enger is a solid vocalist with a suprisingly large variation in timbre for a relatively amateur singer.

While the band does flex its creative muscles in their somewhat innovative sound, the effect does wear off after a little bit. Only five songs and about eighteen minutes long, Exist should leave the listener wanting more of the band. I, however, personally think that more songs without some variation of style would actually drag down the EP. In summation, Exist is a good, short introduction to the band and their innovation, but before they head back to the studio to record a full-length, I would recommend exploring some variation of style. The sound they have going for them is good, but at this point, it's perhaps best in small doses.

Another sore point for the band at the moment is the lyrics, which are not up to par with the band's musical ability. The lyrics on the bridge of "Edward" somewhat detract from what is otherwise an awesome musical moment. However, while not generally stellar, the band's lyrics otherwise remain neutral enough that they rarely detract from the listening experience, but they certainly don't add to it.

Whether Twilight City Fracture garner any sort of mainstream success remains to be seen, but they certainly deserve a hell of a lot more attention than most of the glitzy shmitzy crap that seems to be so popular with them darn kids today. But before they are really ready for a breakthrough, they need to branch out a little bit more musically and work on their lyrics. Otherwise, kudos to this New Jersey quartet. They just might have something here.

This EP is available on iTunes and AmazonMP3.
- absolutepunk.net