After the tumultuous breakup of Every Time I Die left vocalist Keith Buckley at odds with his now-former bandmates, most of the remainder of the band--guitarist Jordan Buckley, bassist Stephen Micciche, drummer Clayton "Goose" Holyoak--continued to write music together for a project they'd eventually call Better Lovers. Guitarist Andy Williams (aka The Butcher) was too busy with his wrestling career to get involved (though Jordan said he's always got a spot in the band), and instead they've got recent ETID producer Will Putney (of Fit For An Autopsy and END) handling second guitar. When it came time to look for a vocalist, they sent their instrumental demos to Greg Puciato of the now-defunct Dillinger Escape Plan, who's spent the last few years going in a more alternative rock direction with his solo career, and Greg says hearing those demos helped reignite his love for the kind of fast, chaotic metalcore that both ETID and DEP are best known for. It made him a perfect fit, and the band got to work on a batch of songs that recall various elements of classic ETID and DEP while also sounding like a new beast entirely. They first introduced the world to their fury on their debut single "30 Under 13" in April, and today they surprise-released their debut EP God Made Me An Animal, featuring that song and three others.
The songs are all cut from that same cloth as "30 Under 13"--2000s-style metalcore by a group of musicians who helped define that era and who continue to make some of their best music today. It's a thrill hearing Jordan Buckley's Southern rock-tinged mathcore riffage set against Greg Puciato's feral screams, and the near-constant chaos is also broken up by some genuinely beautiful moments that only add to the short-but-sweet EP's intensity. Listen to the full thing below.
As mentioned, Better Lovers have upcoming shows, including a full tour supporting fellow 2000s metalcore trailblazers Underoath. That tour is being co-headlined by The Ghost Inside and also features We Came As Romans. It hits Asbury Park's Stone Pony Summer Stage on July 27 and NYC's Coney Island Amphitheater on July 28. All dates are listed below.
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Better Lovers -- 2023 Tour Dates
July 13 Buffalo, NY Rec Room (Early & Late Shows) SOLD OUT
July 14 Detroit, MI The Majestic Theatre
July 16 Chicago, IL The Salt Shed
July 17 Louisville, KY Old Forester’s Paristown Hall
July 18 Cleveland, OH The Foundry SOLD OUT
July 19 Reading, PA Santander Arena
July 21 New Haven, CT College Street Music Hall
July 22 Syracuse, NY Sharkey’s Bar and Grill
July 23 Toronto, ON RBC Echo Beach
July 24 Montreal, QC L’Olympia
July 25 Ottawa, ON Galerie SAW Gallery
July 27 Asbury Park, NJ Stone Pony Summer Stage
July 28 Brooklyn, NY Ford Amphitheater at Coney Island Boardwalk
July 29 Baltimore, MD Pier Six Pavilion
July 30 Worcester, MA The Palladium Outdoors
July 31 Richmond, VA The Broadberry
August 1 Myrtle Beach, SC House of Blues
August 3 Tampa, FL Yuengling Center
August 4 Boca Raton, FL Sunset Cove Amphitheater
August 5 St. Augustine, FL St. Augustine Amphitheatre Night Market
August 6 Atlanta, GA Coca-Cola Roxy
August 8 New Orleans, LA Orpheum Theater
August 10 Houston, TX Bayou Music Center
August 11 San Antonio, TX Boeing Center at Tech Port
August 12 Dallas, TX The Factory in Deep Ellum
September 24 Birmingham, AL Furnace Fest
October 4 Brighton, UK Chalk
October 5 London, UK New Cross Inn SOLD OUT
October 6 London, UK The Dome SOLD OUT
October 7 Leeds, UK Brudenell Social Club (Early & Late Shows) SOLD OUT
October 14 Santa Ana, CA Constellation Room SOLD OUT
October 15 Los Angeles, CA The Roxy SOLD OUT
October 16 Englewood, CO Gothic Theatre
July 14 to 30, and Aug. 1 to 12 with Underoath
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