Love Rarely – Pain Travels Review

It’s been a big year for the Leeds quintet, Love Rarely, following the release of their 2024 EP, Lonely People. Not only did they announce their signing to UK indie label powerhouse Big Scary Monsters, but they also geared up to release their debut album, Pain Travels. And oh boy was I excited for this one.

For those who don’t know, Love Rarely are a post-hardcore, math-rock, swancore band that have been making waves in the UK alternative scene over the past couple of years. They’re equal parts energetic, aggressive, and melodic, and a band that definitely needs to be watched. This project is a culmination of previous bands and solo projects by its members over the years, and I, for one, am glad they finally came together.

I initially heard Love Rarely, as many of us are probably discovering new music at the moment: via good old social media. Their track And You Know It repeatedly showed up on my For You Page, and that particular breakdown will forever be stuck in my head. I immediately shot on over to Bandcamp and grabbed their EP and have had it on repeat ever since.

So cut to 2026. They’re signed to Big Scary Monsters and have released their debut album, and it’s genuinely a banger.

Pain Travels opens up with the track Will, and it’s insanely danceable. That’s something that Love Rarely does well, and for them to come out of the gate swinging with such a catchy bop is almost criminal. Will sets the album up really well with a blend of rhythmic, twangy guitar, head-nodding drums, and catchy hooks from vocalist Courtney Jade Levitt, only to then switch to a slightly heavier breakdown with skittery, muted strums that bounce between your ears before switching to a soulful R&B/funk groove later in the track with Lewis Taylor joining Levitt on vocals.

One thing that really stands out to me throughout Pain Travels is the guitar tone. Initially, I thought the clean, treble-heavy twanginess of the guitars would grate on me, but it actually works to the album’s and band’s benefit. Love Rarely manage to create a heavy sound without treading too far into the distorted chug territory. In fact, the guitar tone rarely breaks away from the crystal-clean tone. Even during the heavier parts of tracks, the gain is rarely turned up, yet somehow it sounds heavy.

I gotta hand it to Love Rarely; there’s an immense level of talent here. I also learned that Taylor produced and mixed the album, which I also have to applaud. The production on this album is immense; the technical guitar work is clear, the guitar tones are sparkling, the bass fills out the low end, adding extra oomph to the heavier parts and bringing those massive choruses to the front.

Lyrically, Pain Travels, as the name might suggest, is an open wound of emotions, touching on heartbreak to family trauma all of which is thrust upon us with a mix of angelic cleans and agressive screams. This push and pull of vocal styles mixed with the ups and downs of the instrumentation creates a technically rich soundscape while also being instantly accessible.