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andyouwillknowus lostsongs
Artist: ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead
Title: Lost Songs
Genre: Punk / Pop
Release Date: 22nd October 2012
Label: Superball Music


Album Review

Since their inception in 1994 ...AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD may have left carnage and devastation in their wake, especially at their live shows and in terms of former members who’ve fallen by the wayside, but the overriding sense is one of catharsis rather destructive nihilism. And while their eighth full-length outing was inspired by – and is a reaction to – the way the independent music scene has been woefully apathetic to real world events, ‘Lost Songs’ avoids dumb sloganeering and blank negativity, instead channeling frustration into something altogether more positive.

And while ...AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD continue to meld punk energy with the ambitious theatricality of prog, ‘Lost Songs’ is by no means a concept album or set on a single theme. So while ‘Open Doors’ deals with human trafficking in Cambodia, ‘A Place To Rest’ is about Game Of Thrones. For some, of course, Game of Thrones is ‘the real world’, but that’s by the by. Similarly, while ‘epic’ is a term that’s chronically overused in music reviewing, and crops up in pretty much every review of Trail of the Dead, it’s entirely appropriate in relation to ‘Lost Songs ‘ in every sense but that concerning the length of the songs. What they’ve found here is a real focus, compressing those epic tendencies into concise, compact statements.

The band’s influences are wide-ranging, with Fugazi, Melvins, Bikini Kill, KARP, Unwound, Sonic Youth, Led Zeppelin, Rush, Genesis, Pink Floyd, Public Enemy, Yes, Bach and Vivaldi all cited, while the musical inspiration for ‘Lost Songs’ concentrates on the likes of the Cure, KARP, Ros Sereysothea, Human League and Hildegard von Bingen. It shows, too: the title track draws together the loping drums and fat, flanged bass of early Cure with a dense production and a buoyant yet bleak vocal melody and weaving guitar that’s utterly compelling.

Yet this is no amiable amble into dreamy pop or even the hazy gloom of early 80s post punk (although there are hints to be found here and there): no, ‘Lost Songs’ is sharp and direct, and of all the bands it calls to mind, The God Machine is the one that makes the best fit. I’m talking ‘Scenes From the Second Storey’ here: it’s full-on, ferocious, yet grand and breathtakingly emotive.


Tracklist

01. Open Doors
02. Pinhole Cameras
03. Up to Infinity
04. Opera Obscura
05. Lost Songs
06. Flower Card Games
07. A Place to Rest
08. Heart of Wires
09. Catatonic
10. Awestruck
11. Bright Young Things
12. Time and Again


Line-up

Conrad Keely – Vocals, guitar, drums, piano
Jason Reece – Drums, vocals, guitar
Autry Fulbright II – Bass, vocals
Jamie Miller – Drums, guitar


Website

www.trailofdead.com


Cover Picture

andyouwillknowus lostsongs


Rating

Music: 9
Sound: 8
Total: 8.5 / 10





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