Wait for Love

With their third album, 2014's Keep You, Baltimore post-hardcore outfit Pianos Become the Teeth turned away from the screamo intensity of their prior two outings, compressing their catharsis into a more introspective and brooding kind of post-rock. It marked their debut for Epitaph and began a tonal sea change that continues on their 2018 follow-up, Wait for Love. Working once again with post-genre super-producer Will Yip (Turnover, Circa Survive, Title Fight), the quintet deepens its commitment to a more melodic alt-rock approach while reintroducing a bit of the vigor from their earlier days. Frontman Kyle Durfey remains in singing mode, widening the distance between the shredded screamo wails of 2011's powerhouse The Lack Long After and making a strong case for himself as a dynamic and more nuanced vocalist. Standouts like "Charisma" and "Bitter Red" see PBTT melding melodic, yet downcast songwriting with heavy, rhythmically propulsive arrangements. Likewise, "Dry Spells" and "Bloody Sweet" carry on in a similar vein and tempo, constituting the main thematic elements of Wait for Love. A handful of slower cuts like the murky "Bay of Dreams" and the slow-building finale, "Blue," offer a change of pace on what overall plays out as a somewhat dour set. The added aggression that was largely missing on Keep You is doled out mostly during orchestrated peaks here and there, leaving the prevailing mood one of steadfast melancholic reflection. ~ Timothy Monger