Some say they’re reshaping classical music using traditional rock instruments – surely the most damning insult one could receive? Being told you sound conservative AND antiquated! It’s more they’re recreating the work of their hero Morricone for the kids that have never seen Once Upon A Time In America. Who knows the name of the songs? Who shot JR Ewing? This is music that is touching to anyone with even the slightest shred of the human condition but must never be appropriated by reformed indie-pop fans, born again proggies or anyone that listens to Primus.
But aren’t they just another generic post-rock band? No. They’re the real deal. Cause they’ve work with Steve Albini? No. It’s cause they’re cast iron. Watch the players swing, snatch, thrash and batter their instruments, all in a transcendental state of the whitest of white noise & rhythmic oblivion. Watch them sway, look for the intent in their eyes as they ring each note, the deftness of touch as the cymbals are played ‘` a band so utterly true to their art, oblivious to anything other than The Sound. Watch the crowd, mostly of youth – there is the odd old aforementioned middle-aged proggie type lurking at the back, cape left in a dusty cupboard beside old Star Trek comics ‘` intent, ensconced as each piece builds, readying themselves for that instant; the aural bombast; that very moment of an almighty, all-encompassing, surge of intensity that sends the mental and physical into overdrive. And be it only for a minute, it reminds us all why we bother with our bloody lives at all.
And yes, what the music means to our seemingly pointless existence is everything. One piece ‘` not bloody songs – can evoke the emotions of half a dozen of your favourite records ‘` a reminder of that snatched moment of tenderness, the nihilism of youth, the surge in adrenalin of the righteousness and conviction of your beliefs, the venomous feeling of revenge ‘` beginning as melodic, melancholic strands of sound, creeping and growing in stature, into triumphant, ecstatic epiphanies; instantaneously blasting off into inter-stellar, monolithic, poly-rhythmic orbits, then back to a place that has forever irrevocably changed. Let’s get things straight though, it isn’t some elitist, intergalactic prog-metal nonsense purely for the musos (actually, that sounds fabulous), they’re more the saviours for those that have become desensitised by endless indie drivel and over-hyped recent Mogwai records.
Looking on and listening as ‘`Moonlight’ is played out, comes the realisation you’re witnessing something truly special; for once a band worth placing your faith in; creating and playing music mined from the very depths of their hearts and souls and sharing it without ego.
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