Emo revivalists Balance and Composure will kick off their spring U.S. tour on April 20, at Revolution Bar & Music Hall in Amityville.
Since its 2007 formation, the five-piece Pennsylvania rock band has tapped into the angsty chambers of listeners’ hearts. Through harsh riffs, slashing drums and singer Jon Simmon’s self-criticizing screaming, the group has asserted its place as representatives of teen rage.
Balance and Composure’s third studio album “Light We Made,” released in 2016, is an unexpected dive into instrumental experimentation, with electronic elements that are no longer decorative, but instead foundational.
“This record isn’t sonically as aggressive, but it’s heavier in a different sense,” Bailey Van Ellis, drummer for the band, said.
Tracks like “Midnight Zone,” “Spinning” and “For a Walk” are candles of amorousness, flickering in the dark space the band has commanded from the start. However, the rougher tunes from its past, like “Tiny Raindrop” from its sophomore album “The Things We Think We’re Missing,” which was released in 2013, will not be entirely forgotten in the wake of the creamier sound. In its upcoming tour, the band will play both old and new music.
“[We’ll perform] half and half,” Van Ellis said. “We don’t want to piss off our old fans.”
Van Ellis said the shift in style has been accompanied by a shift in crowd manner as well — less “agro masculinity” through moshing and stage diving, and more dancing. Indie-pop groups From Indian Lakes and Queen of Jeans will open for the band, creating an energetic space early on in the night.
Balance and Composure will not have a formal meet and greet, but band members will rotate selling merch to mingle with concertgoers.
“It’s f**king stupid to pay to meet a band,” Van Ellis said of their decision not to have a meet and greet.
General admission tickets to the 7 p.m. show can be found on Ticketfly for $18 to $20. The event is 16 and over with ID.
“We’re excited to play and eat the dope-ass pizza you have there,” Van Ellis said, in reference to Little Vincent’s cold cheese slices. “It’s kind of like lunchables, but it’s still dope.”
Balance and Composure have 28 dates scheduled for their spring tour so far.
“It’ll be nice to start with a five-hour drive [from Pennsylvania],” Van Ellis said. “It might be longer with traffic on that expressway of yours.”
