Balance and Composure

After a couple of EPs demonstrating a band already confident in their direction, Pennsylvania, PA quintet Balance and Composure have released a hell of a debut album. Separation is heavy, heady and quite simply powerful, mining influences such as Sunny Day Real Estate and Jawbreaker, ones more typical of current post-hardcore contemporaries, but they also have a deep love and understanding for early '90s alt-rock and some of the most credible indie, such as Neutral Milk Hotel. The band are more than just the sum of their influences though, and songs like the angry, askew "Patience" or slow burning bait-and-switch opener "Void," show not only a remarkable maturity in songwriting, but a rare attentiveness and patience for finding numerous thoughtful and emotionally effective turns. It's a striking balance between challenging and immediately absorbing, substantial and seemingly simple. It won't be long before Balance and Composure find themselves as the influencers.