If It Carries On Like This We Are Moving To Morecambe
This is a treat from across the pond that found me via email a few weeks ago. Within the last few years I have taken a deeper look into the realms of progressive and post-rock, resulting in some ear pleasing rewards. The Fierce and the Dead — the trio of Matt Stevens on guitar, Kev Feazey on bass, synthesizers and production, and Stuart Marshall on drums – are proving to be contenders for post-rock glory.
Taking the normal rock music ingredients of guitars and drums, ditching verse-chorus-verse style writing, and blending in elements of free jazz improvisation is the easiest explanation of post-rock and TFATD that I can come up with. This is instrumental music with big nods to Tortoise, Slint, Mogwai, Pink Floyd and King Crimson all over. Their 2010 EP Part 1, featured one track clocking in less than 19 minutes long that brought to mind Tortoise’s epic jam “Djed”.
This outing sees the boys with a post-punk aesthetic floating around; stripping out all the garbage, focusing on the instruments and crafting shorter songs. My biggest gripe is that the songs are almost too short and I wish a few were at least twice as long. Album opener “Flint” will get you moving as it transitions to ‘Part 2’ that explodes around the midway point. Middle tracks “Landcrab” and “H.R.” keep the record going at a steady pace. There are a few melodic moments throughout “The Wait”, “Hotel No. 6″, yet for the most part this album keeps you on your toes. Post-rock is not an easy genre to listen to at times and it can’t be easy to break into but these lads are off to an excellent start.
Aside from the tracks I mentioned above you should also try “10×10″,”Daddies Little Helper” and epic closer “Andy Fox” both featuring some solid saxophone work from Terry Edwards. You can check out TFATD at their site, listen to their albums and download them. I have a feeling I’ll spring for a physical copy at some point and you should too.
[...] Stevens, Relic, 2011 – You may recall Matt from one of my earlier reviews of his band The Fierce and The Dead – this album is an extension of his guitar prowess. Moving between moments of Radiohead, [...]