Love Rarely – ‘Pain Travels’

Covering themes of generational trauma and toxic familial relationships, ‘Pain Travels’ seems a particularly apt title for the debut album of Leeds-based mathcore/post-hardcore quintet Love Rarely. Written and recorded by the band over the course of a year, Love Rarely admit themselves that the album took a darker turn lyrically than initially intended. The result in a record that at first sounds upbeat. Dig deeper, however, and a far more emotionally candid and vulnerable experience reveals itself. Music as catharsis is of course nothing new, but Love Rarely have managed to channel their pain into an album of gloriously life-affirming songs that sound refreshingly distinctive. Having recently supported The Callous Daoboys on their sellout UK tour, and with slots at major UK festivals this summer including 2000 Trees, Love Rarely are perfectly poised to capture a wider audience.

From its very first notes, ‘Pain Travels’ grabs the listeners’ attention with the infectious, clean and clipped riffs of single ‘I Will’, reeling you in with a swathe of hooky heartfelt melodies. Soaring parallel to the music is powerhouse vocalist Courtney Levitt, whose smooth cleans and direct screams cut through the abrasion and well-executed chaos effortlessly. The affecting ‘Severed’ walks the emotional tightrope of aggression and sensitivity, tackling the subject of cutting out an addictive and abusive family member with lyrics like “Pain travels down when you decide to ruin everything”, acting as the album’s emotional core. Similarly, the dreamy, melancholic ‘Dormant’ is a song Levitt penned about losing a loved one to dementia, and features some of her most plaintive and affecting vocals. 

Elsewhere, other highlights include ‘I’ll Try’, a three-minute maelstrom of emotion that flaunts the band’s flawless playing to dizzying effect as the initial rage-filled passages break down into sensitive, atmospheric sections, providing the perfect foil for Levitt’s more delicate vocal lines to take centre stage amidst the lilting shoegazey arpeggios of guitarists Taylor and Dan Dewsnap. Outside the album’s more melancholic tracks, the band are able to dial up the chaos too, particularly on the album’s shorter, overtly mathier tracks, like the neck-breaking scattergun riffage of ‘Whiplash’, which sounds like a funk-infused Converge. Equally impressive is the barely one-minute ‘Repulse’, which manages to cram as many left turns as it can into its ferocity-filled run-time. The initially subdued ‘Through Families’ closes the album in heart-rending fashion, capturing some of Levitt’s most powerful vocals on the album. The band’s musical chemistry sparkles once again, with the expressive bass playing of Dan Wilson weaving through Dewsnapp and Taylor’s moving guitar lines. “I can’t change you, but I tried” croons Levitt towards the song’s end, a line which feels like the album’s emotional resolution. 

‘Pain Travels’ is often reminiscent of self-titled era Paramore and the sadly disbanded Ithaca, bands who are similarly able to channel darker emotions into vibrant and uplifting music. Throughout the album, the angular guitar work that is the hallmark of mathcore is ever present, but there’s an emotional sensibility here that sets the band apart, giving them their own sound and identity. Coupling their youthful confidence with an emotional directness and maturity beyond their years, ‘Pain Travels’ is the sound of a band already comfortable in their own skin. Nothing feels left to chance; the emotions are raw but the playing is precise and the songwriting tightly focussed. Produced entirely by guitarist/second vocalist Taylor, the record is unfussy, crisp and shines bright whilst managing to stay raw and heartfelt. To hear a band this self-assured and in command of their songwriting prowess on a debut album is thrilling, marking them out as a band with a very promising future indeed.

ADAM FIRTH