The Phoenix Network:
 
 
About  |  Advertise
 
CD Reviews  |  Classical  |  Live Reviews  |  Music Features
2_StudentSurvivalv2_1000x50

Explosions in the Sky | Take Care, Take Care, Take Care

Temporary Residence Limited (2011)
By RYAN REED  |  April 27, 2011
3.5 3.5 Stars

Explosions main
Led Zep's Robert Plant once philosophized, "If it keeps on rainin', the levee is going to break." In their sturdy 12-year career as instrumental post-rock titans, Explosions in the Sky have broken a shitload of levees — and hearts — with their expansive sonic boom. With "Last Known Surroundings," the opening jam from their awesome fourth studio album, this Austin quartet begin from an unusual starting place: upbeat indie rock, outfitted with handclaps and acoustic fingerpicking. But when the guitar pyrotechnics kick in at around the three-minute mark, they activate the band's trademark emotive launch sequence: 3/4 time, oceanic reverb, mega-enveloping six-strings bouncing counter-rhythmic melodic fragments around like ping-pong balls. "Human Qualities" is representative of Explosion in the Sky's colorful reinvention: a heartbeat kick drum keeps time, a distant orchestra scratches electricity. A mournful bass consoles itself; guitar harmonies soar alongside wordless backing vocal coos. The production is more varied: new drum sounds pop out of nowhere, new instruments flutter on the fringes. The four players wander through these six epic tracks like bewildered astronauts surveying strange new life forms on an exotic alien planet. Building levees of emotion and tearing those bitches down — Explosions in the Sky have never sounded more thrilling.
Related: Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears | Scandalous, Yelle | Safari Disco Club, The Sounds | Something To Die For, More more >
  Topics: CD Reviews , Music, New Music, Explosions in the Sky,  More more >
| More
Add Comment
HTML Prohibited

 Friends' Activity   Popular   Most Viewed 
ARTICLES BY RYAN REED
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   FEIST | METALS  |  October 05, 2011
    Feist should be making perfect albums every time.
  •   BJORK | BIOPHILIA  |  September 27, 2011
    What the hell is Biophilia ?
  •   CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH | HYSTERICAL  |  September 20, 2011
    Deploying the magic touch of indie producer-superhero John Congleton, these five musicians have never sounded more like a rock band, and these 12 spacious, dreamy excursions benefit from the added muscle.
  •   MATES OF STATE | MOUNTAINTOPS  |  September 13, 2011
    As the sequenced synths and handsome beats unfold, matched in merriment by the husband-and-wife vocals of Jason Hammel and Kori Gardner, your mind is miles away from the raging fires of the underworld.
  •   CYMBALS EAT GUITARS | LENSES ALIEN  |  September 07, 2011
    It's the most indie-rock-sounding thing you'll hear all year — which means, briefly, Cymbals Eat Guitars sound kinda-sorta conventional.

 See all articles by: RYAN REED

MOST POPULAR
RSS Feed of for the most popular articles
 Most Viewed   Most Emailed