Here we are my friends - getting close to wrapping up another year. It was a great one for post-rock, even if it did have a massive dry spell in its middle. On a personal level, this is probably the year where I consumed the most post-rock, both music and community; attending Post. Fest tends to do that to you and I can't wait to do it again next year. As you know by now, probably, we'll be running our end of year content in January, to give the year proper time to wrap up and a proper time off for our writers. But I think it's safe to say that many post-rock and post-rock adjacent entries will be making our various lists.
For now, we have October's releases to contend with and there are some of the best albums of the year in our little genre, and out of it, contained therein. So, without further ado, let us dive into some most post-rock excellence. See you soon, stay warm, and stay post.
-Eden Kupermintz
This Is The Glasshouse - 867
This Is The Glasshouse is a newer project from the post-rock meets indie-art-rock school of thought. A solo project from creation, the 21-year old from up north in Yukon, Canada showed maturity in being unafraid to bring on the efforts of over 20 guest musicians and collaborators from his music program at university to fill his ambitious song-writing, from backing vox to saxophones, cellos and marimbas. A true labor of love after three albums in the past three years, Ezekiel (the person behind This Is The Glasshouse) states finishing this album in particular almost killed their love of making music. With so much layering, delicate details and textures and the sort of untethered song-writing that had who knows how long to fester and maturate in their head, it’s understandable.
“It is still shocking to me how just ten tracks somewhat ruined my mental fortitude by slowly grinding it down until I had memorized every pitch and sound of each song” states Ezekiel via Bandcamp. “If you could see the level of obsessive and detailed consideration that those involved with the creation of this record saw consume me over the past 12 months, it would be easy to understand why that on the final hour of its original release date, I had the worst panic attack of my life.” What translates from that experience is something that truly feels like someone completely emptying themselves into it, and it’s powerful and effective. With presumptive influence from Black Country New Road, by way of Slint, they find a balance between stretched out, progressive post-rock arrangements and surrealist indie rock that blends the anxious chaos of noise rock and post-hardcore. And this is all complimented by a sporadic vocal performance and intense lyricism, that may be a make or break for some listeners.
Every song here would be entirely sufficient and enjoyable as an instrumental, it has enough strength in it’s post-rock footholds to hold itself up there, but this becomes something entirely more when the story-telling, at times rambling spoken word delivery that’s not afraid of a good harmony is incorporated. It’s an incredibly human performance, imperfect around the edges to the point of breaking, not unlike the great album by Ramper from a few months ago, adding to the emotional depth of this release. There’s impressive range to his vocal performance too, from frothing with intensity and passion like mewithoutyou or the underappreciated Portal to the God Damn Blood Dimension to soothing emo-indie melodies. Some of what you could call the chorus of “January” is even oddly reminiscent of Muse. They might not be for everyone, but if you’re able to connect with them, or just the appreciation of the human voice as another layer among the soundscape, I hope you find them to be what completes this album.
Apparently part of the internet has decided that furryrock is a thing, and this apparently is also it? I don’t really know what that means, but this is not the first album I’ve enjoyed this year that might fit that niche (acloudyskye, Samlrc). It’s very Gen-Z energy that as a millennial is sometimes hard to relate to, but the LGBT positivity, openness, and cryptic weirdness soaked in existential melancholy is hard to not be fascinated and a little in awe of. It’s the sort of thing that feels slightly amateurish, yet also timeless. Ambitious, yet comforting. From song to song there’s plenty of contrast and dynamic shifts to not feel too one-note, or one-feeling. Tracks like “Old George” have a very intimate, tucked away in a cabin feel. The cozy slowcore is warm and droney, eventually building in some unique field recordings of what sounds like a growing clatter of tea cups and utensils. It takes me back to being a dishwasher at a restaurant as a teen, but this time it’s oddly mesmerizing and soothing and a lot less sweaty and anxiety-filled. But again they’re not afraid to use that anxious energy in other songs, showing a range of the human experience across the hour-long run-time that’s best experienced from start to finish. You can feel everything that was put into this, and it leaves a mark. 867 is out now, released independently through bandcamp. Grab a cassette, enjoy one of the best albums of the year, and support this artist’s bright future
-TB
Whale Fall - Five
Five is the sixth full le- (just kidding, can you imagine?) from LA-based post-rock quintet Whale Fall. The group write cinematic post-rock, augmented by some standout trumpet playing, and crafty song-writing. From the opening notes, you are immediately hit by the personality injected into this album. The twangy guitars and almost salsa-like beat are soon met by the beaming radiance of that aforementioned trumpet, like something out of the triumphant climax of a Western. While the prominence of the trumpet continues throughout the album, that western flair doesn’t completely. By the second track “Chronophobia”, the heaviness of things picks up with a chugging rhythm accented by the trumpet in a way that feels pleasantly very *shels (please come back, *shels). These are just a taste of the dynamic swings throughout this album, showing plenty of eclectic flair and emotion-stirring catharsis.
One thing that stands out is how balanced this record is, from both a mix and songwriting standpoint. No one instrument dominates the sound waves for an extended period. There's plenty of moments where there's no guitar at all, or very little percussion, such as “Apocalyptic Wow!” which features a largely bass and harmonica driven section.This song eventually builds into something of a dancy-lounge vibe, before the distorted guitars and trumpet kick in for a huge finish. Five is an album full of character, imagination and nuance, where no two tracks feel the same, and sitting down for the full 40-minute runtime feels as rewarding as finishing a good novel.
-TB
Overhead, The Albatross - I Leave You This
What an amazing feeling it is to wait for years for a follow up album only to have every single one of our expectations blown out of the water. This is, in no simpler words, exactly what happened to me with Overhead, The Albatross’ I Leave You This. The album comes to us after the beloved Learning to Growl, a “classic” post-rock album in the best meaning of the word. I would have been perfectly fine if the band had stuck to that style but I am delighted that they chose to do so much more. I Leave You This is chock full of different influences and new sounds for Overhead, The Albatross, including, but not limited to, EDM, post-metal, and trip-hop. And, of course, there’s still post-rock there, albeit of a punchier, more “urban” variety.
On that latter sound, heard on tracks like “Your Last Breath”, the second track on the album, it appears that the band have been keeping up with acts in the spaces and themes around electronic, punchy post-rock. Comparisons like Jaga Jazzist, Reformat, and VIRTA spring to mind, offering a more metallic, darker approach to Overhead’s intimate, delicate post-rock. It’s made all the more powerful for it; the aforementioned “Your Last Breath” has one of my favorite riffs from this space in years, a staccato, groovy, and string-tinged affair that never fails to get my heart pumping. Couple that with sounds we knew Overhead were great at, like the percussive piano and the art of the engaging build up, and you have yourself one piece I Leave You This puzzle.
But as alluded to above, there are so many pieces and they all fit in so well. “Hibakusha” for example is a post-metal/math-rock epic, at almost ten minutes, which wouldn’t feel misplaced in an And So I Watch You From Afar album, especially the most recent one. “This Is Like Love”, probably my favorite track, is a whirling, intense, and multi-layered EDM dervish, with a sample in what I believe is Hindi at its center. Elsewhere, there are ambient, quiet passages, more “classic” post-rock for die hard fans of the genre, and everywhere a dedication to making all of these disparate pieces work. Which is perhaps the album’s biggest feat and accomplishment, taking this massively varied palette and making out of it a picture that makes sense.
It’s even more impressive because I was not expecting this to be what the album is like, at all. It feels like a whole new band bursting forth from the boundaries of their previous works into a whole new space. Even though I cited several other bands above, they are only similar in style to I Leave You This, each corresponding to some facet of this release. But constructed like this, in these configurations? I’ve never heard an album quite like this and it was worth every day of waiting.
Oh, and it’s released on our good friends A Cheery Wave Records. What joy!
-EK