John Bemis
Reporter
To be a guitar-driven post-rock band in Texas is to be compared with Explosions in the Sky. Since rising to considerable popularity through hit LP’s like The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place, and the rising use of instrumental rock bands in film scores, popular acts like Mogwai or The Album Leaf have left the genre increasingly strict, requiring calming-melodic instrumentals exploding into triumphant bliss to be considered legitimate.
This Will Destroy You have always managed to subtly set themselves apart from similar acts, with some of their more notable works featuring tracks that lack these common dynamics. On their latest LP, Another Language they are experimenting sonically more than ever, yet clinging to an over-used, crescendo-focused compositional form. These tracks meditate, jump into a sprint, run out of breath, and collapse on themselves; an aesthetic concept that, although enjoyable, doesn’t warrant an entire album of near-synonymous material.
The album starts off with track New Utopia, beginning with smooth electric piano drones and shrill echoing plucked guitar melodies, a combination of sounds one might find on a Tortoise record. Drums find their way into the track surprisingly early, marching steadily into the tracks explosive, out-of-left-field climax; a barrage of skipping, pummeling drums and tremolo guitar leads. Distorted lo-fi guitar effects on the latter half allow the track to fade out in a wave of noise, and from the first track it’s easy to see that on Another Language the loud and climactic endings may not always offer melodic release. Tonally, many of these tracks remain tense and moody up to and throughout their pinnacle. This idea of consistent tension can be traced back to TWDY’s earlier albums such as the Tunnel Blanket.
Another Language is in no way a step backwards, but rather a lateral motion into semi-relevant territory. A good example is Track Serpent Mound, which shows fairly liberal experimentation within the quieter dynamics of their sound, yet takes a predictably loud turn on its latter half. Smooth electric piano backs up tape distortion noises that add a new texture to run-of-the-mill compressed guitar tones, before the track explodes like any post-rock fan would expect. War Prayer takes the same approach, intriguing the listener with a legitimately interesting chord progression and beautiful guitar leads, yet predictably becoming a loud, drum-bashing dirge before droning out.
In summation, Another Language catches This Will Destroy You at an interesting point in their career. Where they are at, it seems, experimenting on any level comes at the cost of having to appeal to the formatic cliches of what is, at the moment, a very pigeonholed genre. Ironically enough, to remain listenable in a musical style teetering on the edge of obscurity and mainstream cred, you must go full force to the right or to the left, which is recognizably difficult for a band like This Will Destroy you who have always been caught in the middle. In this listener’s opinion, they have created a very praisable yet forgettable LP .
The album ends on God’s Teeth, a slow-burning ballad-like piano and guitar duet, moving up and down major and minor chords in a way that hints at a blissful release but never truly allows it, suggesting perhaps that they have something more promising to give in the future, or that This Will Destroy You really aren’t sure whether to climb towards the light or fade to black.
Rating: 5.5/10
