By Patricia Stadnik
Too Close To Touch’s most recent release will be their last. For Keeps, the Lexington, Kentucky-based post-hardcore band’s third studio album, is as bittersweet as it is brilliant. It acts as a touching final tribute to Keaton Pierce, their lead singer, who passed away unexpectedly on March 26th, 2022. Despite the fact that his tragic death marked the end of Too Close To Touch’s time as a band, drummer Kenneth Downy and guitarist Mason Marble brought this project to fruition in Pierce’s memory.
Pierce’s presence is tangible in every aspect of this album, starting with its title: For Keeps is “a play on one of Keaton’s many nicknames – “Keeps. (Epitaph Records). Though as the title also suggests, the album isn’t just a dedication to one man; it’s intended to act as “the final keepsake for [the band] and [their] fans.” (Epitaph). In accordance with the rest of their discography, Pierce lends his heart-wrenching vocals to all eight of the project’s songs, accompanied by the dreamy instrumentals that provide Too Close to Touch’s characteristic, transcendental sound. His unmatched capacity to elicit despair is even more pronounced given the tragedy that followed these recordings. Even the album’s brevity, owing to its thirty-minute total runtime, seems symbolic of a life cut short. This sentiment is echoed by tributes from Pierce’s long-time friends in the three bands featured on For Keeps: Bad Omens, The Word Alive, and Cane Hill. In the opening track, Novocaine, Bad Omens frontman Noah Sebastian uses the bridge to speak directly to Keaton. Hauntingly, he sings:
If you still want to sing / fill in the blanks we need / You can do it through me while you’re gone,
In time the price of peace will cost us everything / But all the love you leave carries on…
So you can sing while you’re away / Tell me the words you want to say / Give them to me and I’ll relay,
But know it just won’t be the same…
If that isn’t enough to bring you to tears, try The Word Alive and Cane Hill’s features on tracks four and seven, respectively. Track four, Hopeless, was announced on September 3rd of last year, which would have been Pierce’s thirty-third birthday (Genius).
After listening to For Keeps, the band’s earlier albums are just as bittersweet. For heartbreaking irony delivered by Pierce himself, check out Eiley. It’s a personal favourite track off of the band’s second album, Haven’t Been Myself, on which Keaton explores the insurmountable grief that comes with the loss of a loved one, going so far as to beg God to reconsider:
Take me instead, you only loved / I only consume,
I’m worthless to the world / You’re innocent and pure,
God, why didn’t you choose me?
There will be no live renditions of these songs: Too Close to Touch disbanded following the death of Keaton Pierce. Notwithstanding, if you’re at all into post-hardcore and ready for a healthy dose of emotional devastation, this album is more than worth your time.
Disclaimer: Please do not hold me responsible for any side effects of listening to For Keeps, included but not limited to: crying, sobbing, weeping, reading a great many tributes to Keaton Pierce online that worsen the crying, going through all five stages of grief, and/or looping the album while staring at a ceiling for extended periods of time.
Sources:
https://www.epitaph.com/artists/too-close-to-touch/release/for-keeps