Hyperview - Title Fight

It was nearing the end of my summer at 16 years old some time ago the first time I was introduced to Title Fight. I was scrolling through instagram and a carousel popped up with “New Vision” off of Hyperview as the background track and I was immediately intrigued. Entrancing guitar strums and hollow vocals echoed throughout and closed out what I consider to be a perfect album. I DMed the person running the account (at which I was almost hopeless trying to find what the song’s title was), who ended up responding and sent me down a rabbit hole of music exploration and quite the blessing to my ears. Years later, today, I write this on the bus back from Orono with a Hyperview tattoo on my left arm.

There’s no better way to start out this blog with an album that is so near and dear to my heart. Coupled with Citizen, Title Fight has been one of those bands that I feel as though their music matured so much as their discography progressed. I think Hyperview is the perfect example of this. Before listening to Citizen and Title Fight, my playlists mainly consisted of Lana Del Rey, Frank Ocean, Queen, you know, the basic stuff. But these two bands REALLY, and I mean really led me to the music I love today and are the reasons that I connect so deeply with music.

The record opens with now the most well-known song of the record, Murder Your Memory. A slow, haunting, ballad that despite its speed, doesn’t give up. Murdering the memory of someone is quite vicious, yet something I think most listeners can relate to. The song is exhausted, an interesting, calculated choice to start out an album that completely rocks. The second track, Chlorine, introduces those guitars I fell in love with the first time hearing this album. It’s a strong second track, it’s not too angry, not too angsty, but the lyrics tell the story of an almost vengeful love. Personally, for my playlists, track number three is where Hyperview really starts.

Hypernight has Jamie Rhoden singing his absolute heart out, sounding passionate and uninterested at the same time. Going on and on about “hypernight” and how “I don’t want to see things differently - it’s what I taught myself to believe”. The bass on this track really adds layers of flavor along with the chord progression, which I think is the standout feature on this thing. This track really shows the improvement that the band had since the days of Floral Green. While I think that both of these albums are angry, I think the angst has turned into a calmer, more mellow acceptance perspective – both the lyrics and sound say it all. It seems as though they’ve started looking into themselves instead of pointing the finger at someone else.

Mrahc. Backwards charm. This thing fucking bangs, it simply ROCKS. This is one of those songs you can get your dad to start bobbing his head to. Mrahc has everything I love about Hyperview, personified? Songified? Whatever bruh. “Floating kisses from afar…. Held too close, saw you choke”. You could either be in the best mood of all time, on some ecstasy or some shit, or literally at the worst point of your life – and the lyrics are timeless and relatable no matter what. The guitars, the relentless drums, the mellowness, the passive aggressiveness, it has it allllll dude. I see people in Tiktok comment sections trying to recommend Title Fight to people with songs like Lefty or Safe In Your Skin. Dude… No. They’re so angry and sad, it’s great but it’s like why would someone wanna listen to that? Mrahc punches you in the face with a catchy riff, and the lyrics are kinda like “I don’t give a fuck about you no more, here’s this dope ass song”. Like that’s sooo badass. A must listen for anyone getting into post-hardcore ever. Like ever.

Track number 5, Your Pain is Mine Now. I might be a little biased, but, this is my favorite song on this thing. It’s slow, but then again, it’s like not? Like this thing has my favorite guitar riff ever. It starts off slow, pulling you in, not much going on, an extreme contrast from what listeners got with Mrahc. But it’s like, your pain is mine now? You know? I never thought five words could encapsulate that feeling so well and so simply. That’s one of the things I love so much about Hyperview, it’s so simply. It’s such an easy listen, and if you want it to be deep - it can be deep, that’s up to you. If you just wanna listen to some dope ass music that other people might think is surface level, it gives you that choice. These guys can write a song like a motherfucker, but it seems as though with this record that they’re kind of done explaining themselves, they’re done grabbing at magic cards. Your Pain Is Mine now doesn’t only bang lyrically, I mean sonically it’s just absurd. Like an unreal listening experience. At the height of the song, 2 minutes and 30 seconds in, with the GREATEST guitar riff of all time (in my opinion), the words “Cry, die, boo-hoo” are echoing throughout the track in such a soft and entrancing tone. If you’ve ever experienced the pain of being hurt by someone who is clearly, very hurt, this song really really kicks. It’s this and Edge of the World by Citizen for me, like a perfect clarity moment amidst all the emotion - this song is kind of the height of everything being felt at once. It’s grief, it’s sadness, it’s acceptance, it’s that feeling of like “the fuck?” but also like, “oh okay dope”.

By the time the running time of Hyperview is over, you kind of realize that it’s a progression of emotions. Rose of Sharon, Track 6, brings us back to the screaming days that fans new and old appreciated with their prior records. It’s the song I used when flexing my dopeee ass Hyperview tattoo on Tiktok and although it’s not a personal favorite, the song bangs no matter what. “Can’t escape, I’m a part of you… Do you feel it too? Roses like me need rain”. I mean come on, if that’s not cool as fuck then I don’t know what is. The song is super melancholic, it’s like the soundtrack of chasing something that never was.

Trace Me Onto You is another standout track for me. Coming in at number 7, it’s the stirred pot of everything we’ve got from Hyperview thus far. “I hate you, trace me onto you” kicks your ears in while the drums relentlessly try to drive your emotions up and around on this thing. I think this is the perfect campfire song, like this song tastes like summer and burnt marshmallows to me. The lyrics are profound, and I think it’s another clarity moment. It’s the acceptance of that something that never was - and will never be - and that’s okay. The song has a second part, which circles back to what the band was spewing at us on Track 3, Hypernight. Reiterating “I don’t want to see things differently, it’s what I taught myself to believe” - but I believe that this is the band finally starting to see things differently and it’s an incredible reference. I think sometimes people can undermine the intentions that artists have with doing stuff like this but I think it’s always super fun, and TMOY’s reiteration of this is slow, it’s kind of like, “okay, fine”.

And so we’re onto the last three tracks, Liar’s Love, Dizzy, and New Vision. Which, I think, when complete - bounce off of each other really well. Liar’s Love is slow, it’s coming down from the highs of Trace Me Onto You saying shit like “Don’t count on me, I’m not what you need”. The lyrics are clearer here, the guitars are grasping for those highs but are just as emotionally charged as riffs on previous tracks. Dizzy takes this slow, undertoned approach and brings it to a new level. Slow, this song is sort of a read and response to Murder Your Memory. “Memory loss, your chrysalis” echoes throughout your ears in a sad, revealing, track. It’s like, just when this record kicks into gear, it kind of brings you back down and reminds you that there is no sweetness in the story being told. There’s high highs sonically, and low lows sonically, and they all merge together and blend really well on this thing.

New Vision. Track 10, the closing statement on Hyperview. The first Title Fight song I ever heard, the one that always brings me back to that very specific August when this thing was on repeat ALL of the time. I think this was the perfect way to close out this album, and unfortunately, but, still gracefully Title Fight’s music career. This song bangs in every way possible. Opens up with “Sewn your own faint dream, followed unconditionally” and closes out with it too. He’s going on about no more “basking in the warmth of the past”. This track really really encapsulates what I was trying to describe earlier - like how this album is sort of a progression of emotions, and this is really something that says - “Fuck you, I’m over you, and you need to get over yourself”. I love this thing so so much, like it has such a special place in my heart. Sonically this song is perfect for me and definitely one of those tracks I recommend when people ask about Title Fight.

TL;DR - this record is a perfect 10/10 for me. Absolutely no complaints. I listened to it on repeat when I was 16 and here I am, so much time later, still loving the shit out of this thing. It’s just so timeless, the replay value is incredible, the sounds and the lyrics don’t get old, and it’s hard to believe that this thing came out over 10 years ago even though it still sounds incredibly fresh. It’s helped me through some of the darkest times of my life, it’s also been the soundtrack to some of my fondest memories and that’s what I find so special about it. Obviously I am very biased but like come on. This is Title Fight’s best album by far in my opinion, it’s charged incredibly emotionally but in a mature way comparatively to their previous stuff and it’s just so complete, it’s thorough, it’s simple, and it’s just like wow. If you have not given this thing a listen, please please please do. It’s something you can listen to wherever, with whoever, and whatever mood you’re in. There’s a track for everyone on this thing, or there are 10 tracks for people who fucking get it man.