Split releases are a vital part of any music scene. This is especially true for punk rock. There are a million band out there. You’ll never be able to work your way through all of them without a bit of assistance. Split releases are perfect for this environment. You get to hear multiple bands at once, decide if they sound good to you, and then instantly have a few new bands to explore. It’s almost the perfect kind of release.
Triples Therapy is a three way split between Casper Elgin, Handwriting, and c’est la vie. All three bands are, in one way or another, emo bands. They all represent a different style of that genre though. So, beyond being a nice introduction to three bands, it’s a split that is a nice introduction to the increasingly more fragmented world of emo music.
Casper Elgin play a more punk/emo sound. Think more along the lines of Dikembe or Snowing. So, as much as I hate to say the phrase, very inline with the whole “emo revival” thing. “My Pipes Are Primo, Champ” and “Wicked Man Of The Desert” are both pretty fair example of where this band (and genre) are heading these days. Both are really good offering, and both show a band with a lot of potential. This is a band that can do a lot if they pushed outside the genre a little more.
Handwriting is similar in tone. They also play a more punk/emo style, but they have a bit more of that old Midwest influence to them. They are taking some moves more from the Grown Ups or Algernon Cadwallader side of things. “Hooray! Everything Is Meaningless!” is built around the twinkly guitar building to a driving style more than more straight ahead riffing or whatever. They sound like, and are, basically an East coast band playing Midwest emo. Those two styles and influences work well together.
C’est La Vie, on the other hand, is kind of the outlier on this split. Rather than playing like the other two bands, they are more of a screamo band. Their one song on this split, “Meraviglia,” has a bit more going on. It’s three and a half minute run time is mostly spent building upon itself. It never gets too heavy. Quite the opposite, it actually stays pretty low key musically. The vocals are where most of the muscle comes from. It’s a strong song, but it never really pays off. There isn’t that release. It feels more like an intro song than a song song. Does that make sense?
Triples Therapy is a split that, if I’m being honest, is basically the sum of it’s parts. The bands play in a way that is perfectly acceptable within the genre norms. They are all strong enough to be enjoyed by any genre fan. I just feel like they’ve got more to offer than this split shows. They may need to step a little more outside the emo homebase. Otherwise, a great listen.
Casper Elgin (Band Camp)
C’est La Vie (Band Camp)
Handwriting (Band Camp)
Team Reasonable 