Too Late The Hero

Statement of Purpose is Too Late the Hero's second studio album. It was produced from The End Records and ReThink Records which was formed by Lamb Of God drummer Chris Adler. Producer is Josh Wilbur (worked together with Haste The Day, Atreyu and even Lamb Of God, who produced TLTH's album debut "Is This Thing On?" also.
On my opinion Statement Of Porpuse is more than a solid work. It is one of the best albums in 2011 I've heard. No wonder because this year is long. We just have the End of August and many good bands will release new albums like Urma Sellinger, Save Our Souls and Beheading Of A King to name some so I'm stoked everyday for news around these bands but this is no reason for saying the album is "good" it is the best for me now and the other groups have to work hard to reach this level.

I like the album. The opener "Hold Your Applause" smash down your ears and the second track entitled "Still Insists She Sees The Ghosts" will bring you into a well-known situation. Sometimes you feel depressive, sick and sad. So sad you can't get out of the deep hole of loneliness and depression. The refrain of this song tells you that you are not as helpless as you think. You can reach your goals on your own way, with help of your friends, families or however. This track is one of my personal favorites. The fourth track "The Hunt" tells the story of a broken behaviour between a couple. The protagonist searches his love and will not stopp until he find her. In this song he call the he hunts her. This is a song which I can identify with myself. Maybe I would do the same like the protagonist.

More great songs are "The Ground Is Lava", "Left As Your Reflection" and "Wicked Self". On the last named track I like the cello solo by Peter Sachon. I don't know why but I like it. Maybe it is not typical for the Post hardcore genre. It reminds me to the last song on Silverstein's album "A Shipwreck In The Sand" called The End. This are songs whose catch my soul and my heart and can't imagine that any other song of a other genre (I don't name Emo 'cause this is a genre I can't live without in the last months) catched my as fast as The End.

Odd as bands like ADTR, A7X, We Are Defiance, A Skylit Drive, Vanna, Memphis In Fire and the other well-known Post hardcore acts who are touring worldwide nowadays.

I ask myself when TLTH will touring through Europe (who would support them doesn't interest me now). Hopefully as fast as possible because this band is a talented group, a diamond which must be found. They toured through the US and Canada, played on the New England Metal And Hardcore Festival on the first day of their national tour through the United States. They shared stage with famous acts like Panic! At The Disco, Anti-Flag, Dropping Daylight, Boysetsfire, People In Planes, Chiodos, Damone, Augustana, Name Taken, Bayside, As Tall As Lions, The Receiving End Of Sirens, Folly, Downtown Singapore, A Day to Remember, In Fear And Faith, A Skylit Drive, I See Stars, Attack Attack!, Dance Gavin Dance, Outsmarting Simon, This Romantic Tragedy, Memphis May Fire, MyChildren MyBride, Arsonists Get All the Girls, This Or The Apocalypse, and Vanna.

Our Last Night and Texas In July. The group have a high potential and I hope they will release several more good albums as this. They are on a good way to become one of the best newcomer groups of the US. Keep your eyes to Berwick, Maine, there is a new storm coming up to conquer the rest of the world! - SOSGermany

I could call it pop punk…except for it doesn’t suck. Maybe Emo? Nah. I can understand the lyrics and they aren’t whiny.

"The Arming’ by South Berwick, Maine’s Too Late The Hero has all the subtlety of a kidney punch that you know you deserved and have been waiting for almost anxiously. Wonderful, thick chords and arrangements suck you into the songs and set the stage for articulate, earnest vocals with intelligent lyrics delivered by Jared Wilbur.

There is a lot going on here and the disc stands up well to repeat listening. The rhythm section of Nate Duckworth (bass) and Aaron Caple (drums) is tighter than anything I have heard in a long time and the guitar work shared by Mike St. Hilaire and Tim Mueller never lets up but also never crowds the songs - my favorite of which is the sixth "faces of death is on the syllabus." It is nice to hear a band that sounds like a band. They play together and not over each other.

To the band: My only gripe with this record is that there are only six songs and I wanted to hear more…put out a full-length album. I will buy it. I have a big mouth which means that my friends will buy it too. Get to work.

Too Late the Hero perform Thursday, Feb. 24 at the Sad Cafe in Plaistow with The Leftovers and Friday, Feb. 25 at The Crossings in Sandown with Paint The Town Dead, and Skill Of Lying. Admission is $5, with show time TBA. Both are all ages shows.

Suddenly, I feel old. I need a nap. For information, visit www.toolatethehero.com, and try to find the CD at Bull Moose if you can (they sell out quickly). - Spotlight Magazine

There are so many stylistic twists and turns seamlessly intertwined—from pop to metal to emo and back again — on Too Late the Hero’s debut release, ‘The Arming’, one might be inclined to believe it is all meticulously plotted and planned.

"Nope, it just happens," Too Late the Hero vocalist Jared Wilbur said of the CD. "One dude thinks he’s in a hardcore band, another wants to be in a metal band, another can’t make up his mind between Thrice and Blink 182, I listen to the musical ‘Rent’ way too much, and the other kid just complains. So this is what we come out with."

The band, which is based in South Berwick, Maine, will be headlining a CD release party for The Arming on Sunday, Dec. 19 at Muddy River Smokehouse in Portsmouth, with In The Arms Of Providence, Animal Suit Driveby, and Varia.

Taking ‘The Arming’ for a spin, two things immediately become clear. First, this is an astonishing level of musicianship for a collection of five young men between the ages of 18 and 22.

It stands up to anything in the genre. Second, there is some serious steam being let off here. Mr. Wilbur is certainly an amiable fellow in conversation. So where’s it all coming from?

"It comes from being a boy, basically, and having lots of crappy relationships, romantic or otherwise," he said. "It’s pretty easy to summon topics to sing about. I follow a very simple formula: Think of a situation where I have something I really need/want to say to someone, then I say it in the song. It’s a quick, easy way to get personal stuff out. But it’s kind of freaky when people start to realize songs are about them. I guess I don’t make it difficult. I’m very direct. Code isn’t my thing."

Wilbur admits his love of music and his anger are sometimes at odds.

"Actually it’s sorta tough to summon this stuff live, because I’m having so much damn fun," he said. "I have a blast on stage, so it’s hard to stay pissed off. But I think I’ve found a good balance."

Too Late the Hero arose from the ashes of LV-426, an emo band Wilbur fronted, that also included current Too Late the Hero bassist Nate Duckworth (bass) and a young guitar prodigy Tim Mueller, who was only 14 when he joined the band.

"We really didn’t want to play with him, but we were in dire need of guitar fury," Wilbur said. "Age-ism is wrong. So we invited him over to jam with us, and you know what? He turned out to be a little freakin’ guitar hero! So LV-426 prospered and played shows and had tons of fun. Then I ruined everything and went away to college causing the break up of the band."

For the next two years, while Wilbur attended the New England School of Communications, the dream of a future band remained, even if the reality on the ground was a bit depressing sometimes.

"It was sad and there was a hardcore withdrawal period for me," Wilbur said. "For the next two years or so, Nate and I were in a perpetual state of starting a new band. We were going to start a straight up hardcore band, then a pop-punk band, then a girly emo band. All of which never happened. We needed a replacement guitar hero. But really, how can you replace Tim? You just can’t."

Mueller was playing in the metalcore outfit Kaio during this period. After one of the band’s shows, however, he casually mentioned to Wilbur and Duckworth that he would be interested in jamming out songs for a side project with them.

"On the inside we were like ‘Holy crap! Yes! Please God, I beg of you, play with us again!’" Wilbur said. "On the outside we said, ‘Whatever, sure, I guess if you want to.’"

When Kaio called it quits soon thereafter, Too Late the Hero — Wilbur, Mueller, and Duckworth, along with Mike St. Hillaire on guitar and fellow Kaio-alum Aaron Caple on drums — became a full-fledged local rock beast.

In addition to a full slate of shows throughout the Seacoast area, the band has been gigging in New York City and has even shot a video for their song, "Self Control At Its Finest," with New York City director Kevin Custer.

It certainly doesn’t hurt matters that ‘The Arming’ was produced by an accomplished Grammy nominated producer — Jared’s brother, Joshua Wilbur.

"Josh has done everything for me," Jared enthuses. "From first showing me rock music when I was like 7, to protecting me from bullies on the school bus and encouraging me in college, to telling me I’m a better singer than he is when I’m mad that he can do anything perfectly, to helping make my rock star dreams come true. I couldn’t ask for a better big brother/role model/pro-ducer/engineer/best friend."

When it comes to the big musical ocean outside Berwick, Too Late the Hero is about to dive into, Wilbur is refreshingly un-jaded.

"I think I’m the only one left who does, but I actually like the state of music," Wilbur said. "Sure, there’s a lot of crap, but anyone who puts forth a little effort will find tons of awesome music out there as well. It’s not difficult."

The epithet "selling out" is one that particularly irks Wilbur.

"Everywhere I go I meet another kid mad at one of my favorite bands, Coheed and Cambria, for going major," he said. "I don’t know. I think everyone needs to chill out and deal with other people liking their favorite band. That whole mentality of ‘those people can’t like my music’ is so stupid."

It isn’t easy to make a name for yourself coming out of the Seacoast, as any band around here cat attest.

And Wilbur said while Too Late the Hero is grateful for all the luck and success they’ve had thus far in a tough scene, they weren’t going to ignore the beauty of their home scene, either.

"Yeah, the lack of venues is tough, but that’s what breeds the work ethic of the bands here," he said. "It also makes us have to lean on each other for help. Some band will set up a show then call all the bands they’ve met and were cool to play with them. The favor gets returned. That’s how we get a lot of our shows. When we show up, it might be just a little Lion’s Club hall, but there is a PA and a ton of kids, and that is really all you need for an awesome rock show."

So with the world wide-open before them, how far do the boys in Too Late the Hero want to take things?

"As far as possible," Wilbur said.

"Seriously, my dream is to not work. If we get a phone call someday from someone saying, ‘Quit your job, rocking is your full time job now,’ that will be the best day of my life. But I’m also totally content with where I am. I just want as many people as possible to get a chance to hear us."

So now that we’ve come to the end, the question of the band’s moniker remains. The band shares the name with a 1970 World War II movie about British special forces battling to take down one of the Japanese last major communication hubs during that war’s vicious island fighting. But does Too Late the Hero have a deeper meaning, vis-à-vis the band?

"Nope," Wilbur said, mischievously. "But I’ve gotten really good at making up stories that sound true and all emo. But I’m not feeling it right now."

Too Late the Hero celebrates the release of ‘The Arming’ Sunday, Dec. 19 at the Muddy River Smokehouse at 21 Congress St. in Portsmouth. Doors open at 6, the show is all ages, with an $8 cover. - Showcase Magazine

Too Late the Hero’s tour kicked off in an auspicious way that can only happen to bands from northern climes: their CD-release show March 2 at the Underground, in Bangor, was snowed out. So, as the five-piece new-radio-rock band left on a self-booked two-month trek to California and back, they didn’t even get a big hometown send-off.

On the list of disadvantages our local bands have versus major scenes in LA or Austin, don’t forget to add the weather-related.

On the advantages side, add the fact that producer Josh Wilbur, who has credits on albums as diverse as Lil’ Kim’s La Bella Mafia and Fuel’s Natural Selection, has a soft spot for the Pine Tree State. He turned the knobs for the mathematically heavy Nobis album from 2005, A Blurred Sense of the Divine, which won that year’s Bimpy, and he brought Too Late the Hero down to New York this winter to record their full-length debut, Is This Thing On?.

Too Late the Hero normally call sleepy Berwick home, but guitarist Tim Mueller said it was “nice not having the distractions of home. We had to really buckle down and get things done.” They recorded at studios in Queens and Manhattan, supplementing at Wilbur’s house, who called in friends to play parts TLTH didn’t have anyone to play.

It’s Wilbur’s work with underground heroes Atreyu and Haste the Day that’s most relevant here, helping craft the new sound of “alternative radio,” which might be best personified by Fall Out Boy (who even appears in Bill Simmons sports columns now). Too Late are what you might get by mixing Fall Out Boy with Nobis, and sprinkling in some Headstart. Oh, and some Duran Duran, maybe. It’s plenty heavy, with artfully used screamo elements and plenty of melodic hooks in surging and catchy choruses.

Plus, Josh Wilbur is Too Late vocalist Jared Wilbur’s brother, so there’s that.

Jared’s got the chops, though. He’s got a powerful and agile voice, and his delivery is crisp with quick lyrics that don’t always string themselves together the way you think they might. Too Late employ any number of variations on the gang-vocal backing, along with New Yorker Katie Finley’s guest turn on three tracks, even the Queens Choir on “The Big New England Fingah” (the band like long song titles; I’m inclined to agree). If you haven’t read the liner notes, the choir bring you right out of your seat with a thunderous “honesty” as Wilbur transitions into the chorus: “Maybe you can tell me how it feels to be a girl/Honesty is overrated.”

That tune features some of the best of the album’s consistently smart lyrics: “I’m sorry that your girlfriend’s a bitch/I ache from pulling punches/She was so well put together/Guess it’s going to be fun to rip her apart.” Then it finishes with a jazzy guitar leading into a contemplative and quieter bridge, and one final smack-you-in-the-mouth chorus. You do kind of get used to that verse-chorus-bridge-chorus song construction by the end of the disc, though, and one of my few suggestions for the album would be some more variation in song form. The shortest tune here is 3:06, the longest 4:17. I’d like to hear this band jam out a half-time distortion fest during a seven-minute number, or maybe drop in one of those 1:25 acoustic pretty tracks like the Killers put in the number two slot on Sam’s Town.

“We don’t really feel like there’s a low point,” says Mueller of the album’s pacing. “It’s something we wanted to do going in, a non-stop, high-energy album. We didn’t want it to drop off at all.” They deliver that in spades; I just felt like I could use a breather halfway through the 12 songs.

I’m probably just too old. Old enough, anyway, to appreciate the nod to pure pop in “Story of Two: Part III,” full of harmonized “sha-la-la;” if not so old that I’ve forgotten the pure angst of the young that can spawn a spiteful couplet like this: “Well I’ll string your name up in Christmas lights/On the off-chance I’ll die under their glow.”

Nor am I so old that I didn’t listen to this disc four times through as soon as I popped it in, which almost never happens. Sometimes I was just listening to drummer Aaron Caple, who’s a monster, particularly on the closing “Faces of Death Was on the Syllabus,” where his machine-like toms ripple between the channels. Never just keeping time, he’s very melodic with his kit. I don’t know if it’s Mueller or Corey Waddington who plays the guitar lead after the slow down on the opening “Plan B” (reminiscent of the Killing Moon’s “Subject A” in more than just title), but it’s hair-metal worthy. Nate Duckworth is remarkable on the bass if only for doing thunderous and funky in the same “Who Are You Yelling At,” which also features some guest piano work from Charles Thorp.

It’s not like they don’t have smart arrangements, either. The finishing chorus of “The Ground Is Lava” is accompanied by nothing but handclaps, and it’s hard not to like the defense mechanism behind, “You can jump from boy to boy and couch to couch/It’s a straight-line trajectory.”

This album crackles with energy. Its source is as inexhaustible as the self-confidence behind “Who Are You”’s “It took some time, but I finally like who I am . . . Just ask my friends/I wouldn’t do this/If I didn’t love it.”

I don’t see how there could be any question. - The Phoenix

Whatever you may think of Portland’s live-music scene nowadays — I’d argue it’s improving, but that might be like saying George Bush isn’t as bad on the environment as he used to be — there’s no question that the quality of the album releases in the greater Portland area has never been better. The past 12 months have been terrific, with a number of albums I’ve sent off to friends around the country, not simply because I was pushing our local scene, but because I felt like they were albums that people simply had to hear in a time when it can be difficult to make out the music worth listening to from the cacophony you’re assaulted with on a daily basis.

The mainstream music industry is becoming increasingly fractured, confusing, and powerless (are you paying attention to this In Rainbows thing? Radiohead don’t have a label. Do you understand what that means? Me neither, but it’s a big deal, let me tell you). Which means our local musicians are both on increasingly level ground with the rest of the world and also increasingly adrift at sea as that elusive dream of “making it” with a “record deal” gets more and more unrealistic.
There is the phrase, “content is king.” I find it increasingly true. As waves of bands wash over me year after year, so few stay in the rotation for long. And those few who do may leave a powerful impression on me without so much as registering with much of the general public. Are the Hold Steady stars? How about Sufjan Stevens? The Fratellis? Califone? LCD Soundsystem? Rogue Wave? The New Pornographers? Sloan? The Apples in Stereo?
If you walked up to 10 people on the street and asked them if those bands were local or not, how many would answer correctly? How many of you would answer correctly? (Hint: None of them has a Zip code starting in 04.)

So, if even great nationally recognized bands — bands that land at number one on people’s lists of best discs of the year — can’t get a minute of commercial-radio airplay, where does that leave our local folks?

Does anyone even know that the Wu-Tang Clan released their first album in six years last week? Public Enemy the week before that?

Yet more bands than ever toil over songwriting and recording to produce precious works of art that deserve to be heard and discussed and argued over. I almost lost friends over this year’s Wilco album (it’s awesome. Shut up), but it’s pretty rare to find someone else who wants to talk local music.
Hopefully, the following list of my 20 favorite local albums of 2007 will inspire some debate. It was not hastily or easily put together, but it represents my standard criteria: Albums are ranked by originality, musicianship, how long something from the disc lasts in my head, the number of plays they got on the iPod, and whether or not they contain a truly outstanding song.

Last year, I expanded the list from 20 albums to 30. This year, I’m cutting back to 20. There’s more to argue about that way. After two years of moving down, qualifying albums moved back up this year, in a big way. There were 52 in 2004, 28 in 2005, 46 in 2006, and now 61 in 2007. “Qualifying,” like last year, means a full-length studio effort, all by one artist or band, with no bands coming from outside the Maine borders, no CD-Rs or online-only releases, no live albums, no compilations, no EPs (see the sidebar for those).

1) Rustic Overtones Light at the End
2) Cosades Tusks and a Mustache
3) Project Dark ...And it Was Black
4) Cult Maze 35, 36
5) Lost on Liftoff Mixtape Blackouts
6) Spouse Relocation Tactics
7) Too Late the Hero Is This Thing On?
8) Citadelle Laser Bridge to Eagle City
9) By Blood Alone Seas of Blood
10) Allen Lowe Jews in Hell: Radical Jewish Acculturation; Or: All the Blues You Could Play by Now if Stanley Crouch Was Your Uncle; Or: Dance of the Creative Economy: How I Learned to Stop Worrying About the SPACE Gallery and Love the Music Business
11) The Leftovers On the Move
12) Sontiago Steel Yourself
13) Covered in Bees Portland Death Punk Vol. 2: Louder than Fire
14) Twisted Roots 12 Skies Fire and the Black
15) Jason Spooner Flame You Follow
16) Frank Hopkins Make Love Til Doomsday
17) Boombazi Boombazi
18) Satellite Lot Sleepwalk in a Burning Building
19) Trey Hughes Poplar Street Demos
20) Sara Cox Crowded Is the New Lonely

- The Phoenix

It happens every handful of years. The all-ages music scene gets a shake up. Some musicians turn into students or nine to fivers. Others carry on their work. Some give their sound and line up a facial. Either ways, the youth music scene always churns into the unknown leaving many to wonder, “what do I believe in now?” Maybe believe in this band that’s holding ground and ready for round three, Too Late The Hero.

On the eve of an unfortunate finale for Cambiata, seeing Sparks the Rescue take off, watching Kyle Gervais move beyond Cosades to reinvent with Grand Hotel and enjoying the Leftovers finally getting the attention they deserve – what’s to be of an other all-ages monster, Too Late the Hero? They've been doing it for a long time too. They put on wild, energetic shows. They've made solid records. They've hit the road to test the waters. Hey, they even take great photos like everyone else. They say you're as strong as what you've got going on right now. That being the case, TLTH has some strength to burn.

The band's new release, The Revenge is basically a CD/EP/DVD. The DVD contains a live show filmed at the Dover Brickhouse, Dover, New Hampshire in summer of 2008. As you'll see in this well filmed concert, it was a sardine scene. Tons of sweaty teens filling in the long, narrow room that is the Dover Brickhouse. The film laces various interview bits in between live tracks. You probably should be a fan or super interested party to watch the DVD straight as one piece. There’s a lot of “getting to know you stuff." Otherwise if you want just the tunes, opt for the concert only portion at the front menu. One thing is evident in this performance, when you get to see TLTH, you are seeing one of the tightest all ages bands around. After years of musician swapping and changes; the band now seems to be enjoying a firm line up that works really well together on and off stage.

Brotherly love once again strikes with TLTH. The DVD was directed by frontman Jared Wilbur and “broduced” by Jared's older brother, producer and mixing whiz Josh Wilbur (lamb of god, hatebreed). The sound and filming is top notch for a local band. The elder Wilbur handles the production on the audio side of things as well. The Revenge’s CD portion contains the entire concert as well as five new tracks recorded at Wilbur’s home base, Spin Studios in Brooklyn while still under construction. TLTH were the studio’s guinea pigs and the results are sparkling considering they lived amongst sheet rock and nail guns while piecing together their third release.

The anthem sound of Too Late continues and Wilbur, Josh does a great job of caputing that “gang” vibe once again. He surely has cemented his spot as the fifth Beatle or sixth in TLTH’s case. I know they can’t be complaining and I’m sure he’s just as happy. Looking at his resume you know he could stay busy with many other bands, but there’s something about Too Late The Hero that keeps him coming back and believing every time. I’ll bet the same can be said for the all agers who know this band. As long as they do come back, they won’t be disappointed with this generous new release.

(Mark Curdo is a DJ on 94.3 WCYY and the owner of a record label, Labor Day Records, based in Portland. Mark is not only a board member of the Portland Music Foundation, but he loves the Boston Celtics, Ginger Ale and Jack Lemmon movies. He is a weekly Daily Sun music columnist.)
- Portland Daily Sun