Hyperview

As such, there’s more of a pop sheen to ‘Hyperview’ than its predecessors, 2011’s ‘Shed’ and 2012’s ‘Floral Green’.

To longtime listeners, this sound might be jarring at first. Its lack of overt aggression marks a significant change in style, but it's one that ultimately suits the band.

While Hyperview has less interesting moments, it's an overall push toward the total renewal that adds another chapter to the band's fascinating evolution.

Consistent, concise and stylistically compelling, Hyperview is a good set of tracks, and a worthy crossover attempt at that, provided you’re OK with consulting the lyrics booklet and willing to take a ride on the undertow.

The resulting ten songs bleed together but rarely sweat.

The band's shoegaze chops seem to still be developing, with the sound and production definitely improving, but the songwriting still seeming like the work of punks who can't decide what to do with tracks that are more than 90 second bursts of emotive energy.

Title Fight may be slowing down and looking skyward, but there’s something lurking here that suggests they haven’t taken the gloves off just yet.

Hyperview finds them wandering in a more melodious direction, sometimes for better or worse. The album may not be completely game-changing, but it rings like a natural (occasionally unsteady) evolution.

This album proves that they possess enough confidence and ability to do just about whatever they want.

Bottom line, Hyperview is an excellent standalone album, but as a cog in the Title Fight engine, it’s the weakest link. The album feels ingenuine compared to earlier releases and doesn’t mesh well with the rest of the group’s catalogue.

Hyperview does not satisfy in the context of it's genre nor in terms of Title Fight's discography - this is not progression, it's not even branching out, it's putting lipstick on a pig.

After a couple reputable albums of the post-hardcore persuasion, Title Fight decides to shoot for a dreamier, hazier, more apathetic sound.