Words Like Daggers - Perfect Weather

Tracklist:-

1. Miss Fortunate

2. Surgery

3. Speak Easy

4. From Sorry To Listless

5. Sunny Escape

6. Under The Gun

7. Dead Weight

8. Nothing Left To Prove

9. Illusion

10. Perfect Weather

There must be something in the Des Moines water, as this is the second band from the area I've featured in the last week or so. This time I'm writing about post-hardcore band Words Like Daggers. They released their latest album "Perfect Weather" in March via Third String Records and they remind me a lot of bands like Beloved (US), ArmsBendBack and Taking Back Sunday. I'm a sucker for well played post-hardcore in amongst the extremities I feature on here most of the time, so I've been looking forward to giving this a spin.

I really hope that Words Like Daggers are the start of a resurgence of decent post-hardcore, as it’s been lacking in recent months. Opener Miss Fortunate is a signal of intent, with soaring vocals and strong melodic-hardcore instrumentation. The sweeping guitar during the chorus is the clincher here. The brief pause between Miss Fortunate and Surgery is abrupt but when the latter kicks in, it sounds all the better. Yes the sound is slick and well-produced, but when they mix it up with hardcore screams, they sound more than comfortable. The riffy intro of Speak Easy takes me back to those countless hours listening to Trustkill/Drive-Thru Records bands in my teens. I could draw from some comparisons but I won’t because these guys deserve to let their music to the talking. The lead-guitar work later on in the song pretty much confirms it as my standout track. They prove that they’re equally adept at balladry as they are at writing bold melodic hardcore songs. From Sorry To Listless is surely their key to bigger things. Words Like Daggers are free from pretence, which is a funny thing to say considering the sub-genre they call home but I genuinely believe that. There’s none of the stupid electronics effects that bigger US bands seem to be using and they keep things simple, like on Sunny Escape. The song-writing on Under The Gun is polished and uncomplicated, while the song goes by way too quickly. You think that Dead Weight is going to some kind of twinkly acoustic song but don’t worry it’s not. It’s filled with driving guitar that sounds even better in between the introspective moments. There’s also some more technical instrumentation going on too, showing that Words Like Daggers are more industrious than at first glance. That they place Nothing Left To Prove towards the end of Perfect Weather is quite apt, as by now they’ve proved themselves pretty effectively. It’s full of restraint and sensitive textures amongst a backdrop of melodic hardcore crunch. There’s more technicality on show during Illusion, which drags the tempo of the album back up a few notches. It’s also probably the heaviest song of Perfect Weather though Words Like Daggers manage to prevent it from becoming formulaic by the use of their signature melodic riffs in between the breakdowns. The title-track ends things in what has become a perfect storm of sorts for the band. Everything has fallen into place and the album as a whole is worthy of taking them onto greater things. One of the best kept secrets in the current post-hardcore scene…I think so! 

You can stream and download Perfect Weather from Words Like Daggers below:-

CD copies can be purchased from Third String Records here - http://merchnow.com/catalogs/third-string-records/music.

Words Like Daggers Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/wordslikedaggers
Third String Records Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/thirdstringrecords