Better Lovers

Highly Irresponsible (2024)

Sam Houlden

There are a lot of eyes on this record, no doubt. Ironic, considering Keith Buckley’s new project, Many Eyes, released their debut album following the decidedly acrimonious break-up of Every Time I Die in 2022/2023, only a few weeks ago. The reception to which has been, for the most part, positive, if a little muted. But then it will always be difficult to follow in the wake of a band so universally loved, in the HC scene, at least. Which brings us to Better Lovers. The non-Keith side of ETID’s new project, made up of Jordan Buckley and Steve Micciche from ETID, Clayton “Goose” Holyoak on drums and then added slightly later, were two of the hardcore scenes most well-respected musicians in Greg Puciato (Dillinger Escape Plan, The Black Queen, etc) and Will Putney, handling both production duties and adding a further guitar to proceedings. Given Will Putney’s part in both END and Fit For an Autopsy, as well a producing bands such as Knocked Loose and Vein.FM, you have a quintessential supergroup on your hands.

Maybe unsurprisingly, given the history of Putney and Puciato, the sound of Better Lovers is a chaotic one. It is also a sonically heavy one. More so than Keith’s new band, that’s for sure. And as I say, that’s probably to be expected given the cross-section of bands and influences tossed into the cauldron from which this album has arisen. The record is around the 35-minute mark, 10 tracks and doesn’t often dip noticeably in terms of tempo or visceral energy. Recent single “A White Horse Covered In Blood” has a bit more of the southern-fried swing and flow to it I would say, but if anything, and I know this is a bad thing to say, it just makes me conscious of Keith’s absence. Which is crazy because Greg is one of the best vocalists the heavy music world has ever produced, but his unhinged style results in a runaway train vibe that to my ears, doesn’t suit Jordan Buckley’s style of riffing as well as the assured sloganeering of Keith that tends to have the effect of anchoring the whirlwind of riffs, as opposed to adding to the maelstrom, which Greg does with gay abandon. And that’s a deliberate approach, I’m sure. I’m just less sure it works as well.

There is some respite from the sense you’re being bludgeoned with a barb-wired baseball bat, in fairness. “Deliver Us From Life” is four and a half minutes of fluctuating between lo-fi borderline spoken word and slamming mid-tempo rock, adorned with Greg’s signature high-register vocal. It’s good. It has a lot of bells and whistles; keyboard lines deep in the mix, a guitar solo early in the song, a fragile middle eight and a blustery culmination of the song. Yet I don’t really feel a great deal at any point. It’s frustrating, to be frank. All of the pieces are here, except the big hooks. And the heart, I think?

“Drowning In A Burning World” might be one of the most successful tracks. It is a shameless and unabashed rager with very little in the way of concession given. Greg’s screams of ‘Open me up / open me up’ and the old skool HC abrupt ending to the song (which is sub-3 mins) just works. When the band are playing like this, 100 miles an hour, unafraid to deal in aggression and brevity, I feel they are at their best. You’ve got some of the wildest musicians and simultaneously, some of the most technically proficient in the HC scene, so maybe unencumbered by any signature sounds of their previous bands, I suppose it makes sense they’re at their best when they’re cutting loose?

Ok, I’ll get down to brass tacks. Are there amazing performances on this record? Yup. Are there extraordinary musicians on this record? Yup. Are there some mid-blowing moments on this record? Yup (several on “Superman Died Paralysed” alone, to be fair). But also… Is this record inexplicably disappointing? Yup. Is it somehow less than the sum of its parts? Yup. I know that sounds harsh, but I also kind of feel that about END and one of the issues I have with that band is the production. I’m definitely not pointing fingers at Will Putney here, but I do feel that a smattering of melodicism would have gone a long way to finding this album easier to love. As it is, it’s good; and at times, really good. But when I listen to the sole track that leans into vocal hooks “At All Times”, I’m reminded that everyone in this band can do things that are at least as moving as they are impressive. And even then, the production takes something away. There’s a treble-heavy, excoriating nature to it that just drives me mad. Even at the quieter points when the bass should cut through and allow the song to ride on it, it’s more of a background burble. It’s maddening.

People aren’t going to like this review, I suspect. They’ll be furious that I dare speak ill of anything created by this genuine team of all-stars. But it’s entirely obvious they can (and almost certainly will) do better. I’m not shitting on this record, it’s just that their collective bar is so absurdly high, that a really decent debut becomes a talking point, where normally it would be very much the opposite. Sorry folks. It might not be as great as you hoped.