How To Sound Like Touché Amoré - Flowers and You

Mar 10 2024

Touché Amoré's "Flowers and You" is a great example of a song that excels in two specific tones that guitarists Clayton Stevens and Nick Steinhardt are known for.

Post-hardcore is not a genre I'm super familiar with, so I reached out to my internet pal Fabian from dots.sounds to help me out with this one. He's a big fan of the band and was kind enough to record the sounds for the "miniboard" demos below.

Verse

The verse features cleanish, spacious and modulated guitar tones – reminiscent of 80s post-punk and dreampop.

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Mute backing track

Big Ear Pedals Elle

The Elle provides a simple and lush hall reverb for the softer sounds in the verse. We get a bit of movement from its internal modulation that can be dialed in with the COLOR control.

Links:

Buy directly from Big Ear Pedals
Alternatives: Can't go wrong with a simple reverb like the EHX Holy Grail*, a reverb+delay combo like the EQD Dispatch Master* or the Walrus Audio Slö* if you're after a bit more modulation.

Caroline Guitar Company Somersault

To get the full 80s flavor, the verse part needs a bit of chorus/vibrato action from the Somersault. Fabian dialed in a subtle but noticeable modulation here.

Links:

Get it from Perfect Circuit*
Alternatives: If you want to go the super boutique route, try the ACV-1 Analoger Series Chorus + Vibrato Pedal*. A quirkier choice but an absolute classic would be the ZVEX Instant Lo-Fi Junky*.

Bondi Effects Del Mar MkII

The Del Mar seems like the perfect choice for an articulate, low-gain overdrive. It just adds a little sparkly presence and a hint of compression.

Links:

Check out my fully interactive demo
Alternatives: The EQD Plumes* is a no-brainer for low-gain drive. Another elegant, cleanish drive is the 1981 Inventions LVL Boost + Drive*. For a unique and extremely sweet drive tone, try the 29 Pedals FLWR*.

Chorus

The chorus is a wall of chime-y, driven guitars that are drenched in reverb to wash over you.

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Mute backing track

electronic audio experiments limelight v2

Caroline Guitar Company Météore

The Météore is another classic and simple reverb to make the guitars sit beautifully in the mix. Fabian turned down the lo-fi part of the pedal so this is just a clean, medium sized reverb.

Links:

Get it from Perfect Circuit*

Electronic Audio Experiments Limelight v2

The Limelight is the star of the show hear. Touché Amoré fans might recognize the logo on the enclosure design. This is an overdrive developed in collaboration with the band and especially designed to get their bright, clear and articulate drive tones.

Links:

Get it from Perfect Circuit*

Oats and Molasses Panorama Boost

While the Limelight also features a boost switch, Fabian decided to add another pedal with roots in the post-hardcore screen. The Panorama Boost was created to be used for the band La Dispute and is featured on nearly every guitar track on their album "Panorama".

Links:

Fabian used an older version of the OAM Panorama Boost. The current, updated version is called the Pano Boost and is available directly from Oats and Molasses.
Alternatives: You can probably get similar sounds with other JFET boosts like the Champion Leccy Fettle Boost* or the 29 Pedals JFET Boost*.

Fabian's Signal Chain

Jazzmaster with Fender Wide Range CuNiFe Humbuckers (bridge position) and aluminum neck from Robot Graves Industries
The pedals in the demo widget, from right to left (like you would put them on a pedalboard)
Hiwatt Custom 100 into Universal Audio Ox Box*

Thanks again, Fabian, for the excellent sounds and pedal choices.

*Affiliate links: If you buy something through these links, you're supporting Loopy Demos without any extra cost for you. Thank you!