The Eccentric Post-Hardcore Duo Return With Matured Sound
The Bunny The Bear are arguably one of the most unique post-hardcore bands currently on the scene, blending synthpop, metalcore and experimental rock to create a sound that is as weird as it is identifiable. Essentially a one man project of Matthew Tybor as he writes all of the lyrics and music himself and performs mainly unclean vocals with the support from a constantly changing studio band and clean vocalist Chris Hukta, who has provided the clean vocals since the début album back in 2010.
'A Liar Wrote This' is the first The Bunny The Bear album to not feature Chris Hukta's iconic voice that is rich in range and emotion. Hukta was replaced in 2014 by studio partner and friend of Tybor, Hayley Roback, after they released a bunch covers onto soundcloud and as Roback started to join The Bunny The Bear on tour, she was eventually announced as Hukta's official replacement.
It's pretty clear from the start of the album, the opening interlude 'Vows' and track 'Love, Trust and Compromise' that the band's sound has matured, with the synth as good as completely removed from the whole album. Tybor's lyrics get more stirring and emotive in every album and he has once again bettered himself in 'A Liar Wrote This'. Matt Tybor has also improved vocally too, this latest record features his finest sounding unclean vocals since 2011's 'If You Don't Have Anything Nice To Say', in this album he also provides a lot of the clean vocals alongside Hayley 'Bear 4.0' Roback. Unfortunately this leads to one of my main issues with this record, I don't know if it's because I'm personally biased towards former singer Chris Hukta or if it's just that Roback isn't that good of a singer, but I find her clean vocals hard to bare throughout the album, Tybor and Roback do partner up together well, creating a smooth contrast between vocals, especially in 'Lover's Touch' and the revisit of 'It's Not Always Cold In Buffalo', but I feel like although she does shine in one or two tracks, Hayley's cleans really let the record down.
It's safe to say The Bunny The Bear are moving forward and 'A Lair Wrote This' is a stepping stone in the right direction definitely, the more anthemic songs on this album like 'Love, Trust And Compromise' 'It's Not Always Cold In Buffalo' and 'Sleep Sequence' had moments that gave me shivers or made my hair stand on edge because, negatives aside, it's great to see a band change their sound so much and still have beautiful moments of genius. Hopefully the next step for The Bunny The Bear is to really focus on a more complete version of this new sound and really get the best out of Hayley Roback.
6/10
/ POST-HARDCORE / EXPERIMENTAL ROCK /
FAV TRACKS - Love, Trust, Compromise - Lovers Touch - Sleep Sequence - Somewhat Standards -
LEAST FAV TRACKS - Curtain Call - Sick, Sad Eyes - Loose Lips -
INTERVIEW WITH MATT TYBOR
It's pretty clear from the start of the album, the opening interlude 'Vows' and track 'Love, Trust and Compromise' that the band's sound has matured, with the synth as good as completely removed from the whole album. Tybor's lyrics get more stirring and emotive in every album and he has once again bettered himself in 'A Liar Wrote This'. Matt Tybor has also improved vocally too, this latest record features his finest sounding unclean vocals since 2011's 'If You Don't Have Anything Nice To Say', in this album he also provides a lot of the clean vocals alongside Hayley 'Bear 4.0' Roback. Unfortunately this leads to one of my main issues with this record, I don't know if it's because I'm personally biased towards former singer Chris Hukta or if it's just that Roback isn't that good of a singer, but I find her clean vocals hard to bare throughout the album, Tybor and Roback do partner up together well, creating a smooth contrast between vocals, especially in 'Lover's Touch' and the revisit of 'It's Not Always Cold In Buffalo', but I feel like although she does shine in one or two tracks, Hayley's cleans really let the record down.
It's safe to say The Bunny The Bear are moving forward and 'A Lair Wrote This' is a stepping stone in the right direction definitely, the more anthemic songs on this album like 'Love, Trust And Compromise' 'It's Not Always Cold In Buffalo' and 'Sleep Sequence' had moments that gave me shivers or made my hair stand on edge because, negatives aside, it's great to see a band change their sound so much and still have beautiful moments of genius. Hopefully the next step for The Bunny The Bear is to really focus on a more complete version of this new sound and really get the best out of Hayley Roback.
6/10
/ POST-HARDCORE / EXPERIMENTAL ROCK /
FAV TRACKS - Love, Trust, Compromise - Lovers Touch - Sleep Sequence - Somewhat Standards -
LEAST FAV TRACKS - Curtain Call - Sick, Sad Eyes - Loose Lips -
INTERVIEW WITH MATT TYBOR
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