Releasing their first album in 2004, the Swedish band September Malevolence crafted a very good, albeit cookie-cutter post-rock album. Unfortunately for them, the beginning of 2004 was a period of time when post-rock went from the genre that annoying GY!BE/Mogwai following hipsters "listened to" to the genre that nauseatingly predictable mainstream hipsters started "listening to". During this flood of generic post-cock,(This was originally a typo but I will now refer to it this way throughout the remainder of this horrid little article.) their debut went almost completely unnoticed. The few who did notice gave it rave reviews and it remains one of the better post-cock albums released that year.
Sick and tired of bands regurgitating the same shit with a different album cover, they decided they wanted to do something a bit different with their follow-up release. Comparable to a less emo/annoying Jeniferever and a bit less abrasive Aereogramme(Sleep and Release era), they were able to create an album with post-cock undertones, mixed with fantastic vocals and even some decent lyrics thrown in.
The album starts off with the slow, gorgeous and extremely catchy "Who Watches the Watchmen", an Ode to the greatest graphic novel of our time, Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns". The third track,"A notion, I can't shake..." is a straight up acoustic folk song that may seem out of place based on my description, but in reality it fits perfectly with the remainder of the album as it segways seamlessly into the ferocious "...accidents happen so fast". The remainder of the album blurs all genre lines and by the end creates an album that is truly all their own.
As we wade waist deep in a pile of mediocre and unoriginal releases, it is such a relief to hear a band that isn't afraid to try something new and original, even if it means they alienate the few that initially loved them. If you've enjoyed anything we've shared on this site, give this album a shot. It's an understated classic that will hopefully be realized someday.
Hey, the "R" key and the "C" key aren't that close on the keyboard.
ReplyDeleteThey are when you're typing with your dick.
ReplyDeletehaha
ReplyDeletegross