If one was unfamiliar to the phrase "beard punk" (doubtful on this site, right?), usually they would be introduced to Leatherface, Jawbreaker, Dillinger Four and the Lawrence Arms to name a few. If I was asked by somebody, I seriously would have to shove them towards Tiltwheel. To me they are possibly the pinnacle of the game. Hell, they have played every Fest in Gainesville. Of course, frontman Davey Quinn has been in Dan Padilla, Too Many Daves, Everready and supergroup Bloodbath and Beyond, all of which are quite popular amongst the bearded punk types. But it has to be Tiltwheel that is the more popular and by some opinions the best band of his.
Tiltwheel has put out plenty of 7" records, but only one actual full-length album (Hair Brained Scheme Addicts) and it has been 10 years since its release. Tiltwheel has finally released the long-awaited followup. Usually a band that takes this long to release a new full-length is either broken up (most of the time) or too busy to record. Anyways, The High Hate Us is their latest and it's finally here.
On this album, Tiltwheel has some new songs and some old songs you can't find in print anymore (most notably "Fuck You This Place Is Dead Anyways"). It's pretty much what you expect from the band, and it's great. The songs are pretty moving, even more so than compared to the last full-length. Of course, the song titles are probably the best you'll ever see. My favorite title has to be "Yet Another Obligatory Pertylike Tiltwheel Song Except This Time It's Magic."
The lyrics are quite poetic at times. Yeah, some will compare it to Jawbreaker, but I like to think Leatherface as a better comparison. Both bands can lyrically be very open to interpretation of the meanings of their songs. And of course, music-wise, both bands have gravelly vocals and raw sound with their instruments. I felt a few of the songs were very much Dan Padilla-like in nature, actually, which isn't a bad thing at all.
I have to say that this is most likely ending up in my Top 10 of the year. Tiltwheel still has it after all these years and I'm very glad they finally put out a new full-length.