By Jesse Cataldo
The evolution of popular music in the last century or so has been a long, winding road, split by countless sub-classifications and littered with broken dreams. Of course, all it takes is patience and a careful eye to track endless branches of this ancient, sagging willow to the present day. From the fertile soil of the American south came blues, winding up stems and bolls and into the calloused hands of enervated field workers. First intertwining with country’s sharp Midwestern twang, then homogenized and paved over by the white masses, rock and roll was born. Forty years later, addled with addiction and bloated with narcissistic gasconade, rock and roll exploded. The result, strewn across the dirty floor of a backstage dressing room, was post-rock.
Post-rock takes the tight structure of rock and stretches it out over an expansive canvas. The result is lengthy instrumental sections that closely resemble classical pieces. Enter Explosions in the Sky, the Austin, TX based quartet who melds the verse-chorus format with the resonant, warm qualities of classical music.
Each song begins on a quiet note, winding this way and that before swelling to an earth-shattering climax. First “Breath After Coma” is the embodiment of its title, awakening with solemn guitar notes, which speed up and build over the dull roar of cymbal swells. Bass drum hits pound, gaining confidence and volume, like a heartbeat battling back from the brink. The music is like waves, rolling tumultuously over itself before crashing to shore. Each song builds from stark ringing, to a roaring peak, before tumbling back down, often scaling the peak once again in a final dizzying rush.
The only problem is the similarity of the songs. Without taking a quick look at the track number, its hard to tell just where one ends and another begins. Despite that, this is still a fantastic album. For those turned off by the marathon lengths and repetetiveness of bands like Godspeed! and Sigur Ros, Explosions in the Sky is the perfect medium, an instrumental album that won’t put you to sleep.
