The four edgemen of True Love hang their hats (I actually doubt they wear hats cause they all got nice hair) in Ann Arbor, MI. They released a ripping demo sometime in 2013. A notable song on that slice is "Out in the Streets Pt. 1," that rides the “Carry On/AN wave” hang ten style. New Young Gods offers tighter playing and overall much stronger song writing bring this record to life.

Recorded at Bricktop Recording in the Windy City, True Love cleans up the band’s sound just enough to provide a needed boost to a style of hardcore that is often easy to dismiss as being too cookie cutter. The opening tracks “Non Places” and “Long Lonely Time” have some tempered speedy urgency, they are straightforward hardcore jams. Some dissonant feedback drags us into the alienating “Tomorrow or After.” Side A rounds out with “A Wide Enough River," another standard 2000’s-ish homage to heartbroken, finger pointing days of yesteryear.

Side B doesn’t really give you enough time to collect yourself when it chimes in with “At the Top of All the Breaks.” This song was the proverbial chin check I needed for refusing hardcore for the better part of a year. “Night Shade,” my personal favorite from the E.P., is the type of song that if I saw them open with it I’d have no remaining energy for the next 14 minutes of their set. (Side note: I definitely bedroom moshed to this one.) “Those Days” could fit right in on the demo, which is cool to see them not totally departing from that thrashier flavor. RXR-45 bids us a fond farewell with “A Serious Man,” a perfect song for a stage dive contest, if nothing else.

Truly, this record is everything I always say I love about hardcore- passion of the bleeding heart variety, catchy sing-alongs, and some straight edgers playing love songs. Being that it is common practice to place all of our genres and accompanying sub-genres into small, confining boxes, I’m calling it right now that this band bangs up those corners when we see another release. Lets hope these boys find lovers that suit them someday but may they have enough bad luck in their relationships in order to offer us the next installment to the True Love catalog.