Review / 200 Words Or Less
Catch Your Breath
Life & Sounds

Dismantle (2008) Michael

Catch Your Breath – Life & Sounds cover artwork
Catch Your Breath – Life & Sounds — Dismantle, 2008

Catch Your Breath is an upstart hardcore group from the greater Los Angeles area. I couldn't find much background info on the band, so I'm assuming this is their first venture as a group.

Life & Sounds is eight songs in twelve minutes. Musically the band plays fast-paced hardcore with a dash of the rock and roll similar to The Suicide File. Guitarists Shane Spalione and Niko Doerschel alternate between angular riffings and intricate melodies. The vocals are shouted in a slightly coarse manner, though not in a manner to overshadow the music.

For the most part, this is a solid release. The band isn't following the current trends, which I like. Unfortunately a lot of the songs are really really short and could be developed a bit more into some really awesome tracks. The potential for a really good band is there; keeping tabs on Catch Your Breath is a good idea.

6.5 / 10Michael • August 3, 2008

Catch Your Breath – Life & Sounds cover artwork
Catch Your Breath – Life & Sounds — Dismantle, 2008

Recently-posted album reviews

Nine Pound Hammer

Too Outlaw For Outlaw Country
Reptilian Records (2026)

For nearly forty years, Nine Pound Hammer have occupied a strange corner of American music that very few bands have ever managed to touch. They're too loud for traditional country, too country for most punk bands, too dirty for radio rock, and frankly too stubborn to care where anyone thinks they belong. That's exactly why Too Outlaw For Outlaw Country … Read more

Fuming Mouth

The Ringing Bell”
Triple B (2026)

There are plenty of bands capable of writing crushing death metal. There are plenty of bands capable of writing punishing hardcore. Very few can occupy both worlds without sounding like they're simply alternating between genres. Fuming Mouth have spent years refining that balance, and The Ringing Bell feels like the moment where every piece of their identity locks together. Anyone … Read more

Time Thieves

Come Home/If You Survive Extended Edition
Independent (2026)

Time Thieves, of Chicago, IL, bill themselves as power pop in the vein of The Rentals or Fountains of Wayn or Weezer in their bio and they double down on that with the smooth as silk, uplifting melody of "Cover Your Eyes," the first song on their Come Home/If You Survive Extended Edition LP that arrived on my doorstep, literally … Read more