Ben Russin, Jamie Rhoden, Shane Moran, Ned Russin
Title Fight is a an American Post-Hardcore/Shoegaze band from Kingston, Pensylvania, formed in 2003. They recorded their first titled EP, Down for the Count, the same year. In 2005, they were joined by Shane Moran on guitar. In 2007, they, with fellow local band The Erection Kids (whose members would later go on to start Balance and Composure), released a split LP under the Flight Plan record label, which was their first widely distributed album. In 2011, they signed to SideOneDummy and released their debut album Shed, following it up with their sophomore Floral Green the following year. The band parted with the label in 2013 and signed with ANTI- in 2014. Their latest album, Hyperview, was released the following year, featuring a radical change in sound as the band shifted from post-hardcore music to shoegaze.
In 2018, the band silently went into hiatus as each member pursued other projects, except for Jamie Rhoden who went off to college and possibly exited the music industry. In 2023, bassist and founding member Ned Russin had confirmed that Title Fight had not broken up, but wished to keep the band's future ambiguous. That same year, the band founded a vanity label, Purple Circle, with which they re-issued their EP Kingston as well as material from Ned's solo project Glitterer.
Discography:
- Down For the Count (EP, 2003)
- The Erection Kids vs. Title Fight (collaboration with The Erection Kids, 2007)
- Kingston (EP, 2007)
- The Last Thing You Forget (EP* , 2009)
- Shed (2011)
- "Missed" (Non-album single* , 2011)
- Floral Green (2012)
- Spring Songs (EP, 2013)
- Touche Amore / Title Fight (collaboration with Touché Amoré, Non-album single, 2013)
- Hyperview (2015)
Principal Members (Founding members in bold):
- Shane Moran — Guitar (2005-present)
- Jamie Rhoden — Guitar, vocals (2003-present)
- Ben Russin — Drums (2003-present)
- Ned Russin — Bass guitar, vocals (2003-present)
Tropes:
- Afraid of Doctors: "Youreyeah" is about how Ned hates going to the dentist.
- Analog Horror: The video for "Secret Society" is a Ur-Example, featuring fuzzy VHS footage of a girl violently killing an older man for rejecting her.
- Careful with That Axe: Ned's delivery is notably more aggressive on Floral Green.
- Deliberate VHS Quality: Their videos before Hyperview were recorded on VHS. They even released a behind the scenes VHS for the making of Shed.
- Emo: More specifically, Emo Revival, which this band served as the Trope Maker.
- Grief Song:
- "27" is about Ned and Ben's father dying in heart surgery and Ned repeating his father's name 27 times hoping to bring him back to life. Ned noted in an interview that 27 was his father's lucky number.
- "Frown" was written about the death of a friend of the band and Ned hoping he doesn't spend the rest of his life grieving.
- Later-Installment Weirdness: Their third (and to date final) album is a departure from their post-hardcore sound in favor of shoegaze.
- Miniscule Rocking: Since the band self-identified as a hardcore punk band for most of their career, many of their early songs barely pass the two minute mark, their first two albums The Last Thing You Forget and Shed don't even clock in at 30 minutes, and their single "Missed", when combined with the B-side "Dreamcatcher", only lasts 2:38. As they drifted to post-hardcore with Floral Green, their first album to exceed 30 minutes, their songs got longer.
- New Sound Album: Hyperview shifts the band's sound to shoegaze, something foreshadowed on Floral Green, most notably "Head in the Ceiling Fan".
- No Indoor Voice: A lot of their songs, but especially on Floral Green.
- Title Drop:
- The Floral Green track "Make You Cry" drops the album's title.
- Kingston's first track "Memorial Field".
"It was quiet as we walked through Kingston..." - Troubling Unchild Like Behavior: The music video for "Secret Society" features a little girl lusting over a 27-year-old, and kills him when he rejects her advances.
- Vocal Evolution: Ned's voice got notably deeper on Floral Green.
- Wanderlust Song: "Where Am I?" is about the band being happy with touring.
