Editor note: Welcome to a new periodic column: Genre Spotlight! Essentially these are dives into pieces of specific genres, beginning with Nick’s foray into some post-rock album recommendations.
The world of post-rock is vast and ever expanding. It seems like there’s a dozen new groups emerging every day. The genre’s relative simplicity makes it so the entry level is low and as a result, fans of the genre have more bands than they know what to do with. As a way of kicking off one of our new periodic columns, I wanted to highlight three of my favorite unknown post-rock groups. There are so many more bands that I want to gush about, and many other genres that some of my fellow Subway members want to tackle; so be sure to keep an eye out for future installments!
S/T by We All Die! What A Circus!
We’re all going to die, all of us, what a circus! That alone should make us love each other but it doesn’t. We are terrorized and flattened by trivialities, we are eaten up by nothing.
Charles Bukowski
That’s the quote from which this band derived its name. Knowing the full quote gives a sort of extra life to the beautiful yet melancholy music.
One of my favorite things about post-rock is that most songs rely on only a title to tell a story. It gives each listener a unique experience and a chance to make up their own imagery to go along with the artist’s suggestion. There’s few other bands that I’ve seen accomplish this as well as We All Die. A song like “Emil Cioran’s Nightwalk”, which makes reference to the Romanian philosopher known for his cynicism, paints a perfect picture and lends itself to beautiful imagery specific to whoever is listening.
The centerpiece of the album, in my opinion, is the stunning “Bluebird”. The first seven minutes alone are emotional enough to bring anyone to their knees, but it’s at the end that the track really hammers the point home. The final couple minutes are capped off with a poem by Charles Bukowski (the same one they got their name from) which is about a rugged man who buries his emotions in the depths of his soul. This last part gives a whole new context for the tear jerking song that precedes it and heightens the raw emotion in a way no traditional lyrics ever could.
The cynicism and melancholy portrayed by this album make it a perfect winter listen, although I find myself regularly returning year-round whenever I’m feeling down and need some comfort. It’s a great album. And it’s so unfortunate that the band officially hung up the towel last year, but at least they left us with this masterpiece.
Infinity Mirror by Man Mountain
One of the most promising acts emerging right now hails from my own home state of Michigan. Their debut album Infinity Mirror snuck onto the scene around three years ago, and despite having released no follow up since, the album is still a fairly common mention within discussions for obscure releases. Musically, it’s very inspired by Explosions in the Sky and that sort of ‘traditional’ post rock. While they play with crescendos a lot, as most modern post-rock bands do (especially those inspired by EitS), their melodies and subtly technical playing are enough to make them stand tall above their contemporaries.
Songs like “Elysian” have especially notable complexities in the drums, almost adding a sort of mathy or progressive feel to the track. Normally in post-rock, drums are relegated to basic rhythms. This makes Jacob Goins’s drum work on this album especially stand out. Pair that with the throbbing chorus-filtered bass and the beautiful echoing guitars and you have a strong base to carry their spine-chilling guitar-driven melodies!
They’re currently working on a second LP, so I recommend checking them out so you’re prepared when that comes! Also, be sure sure to catch them live if you get the chance. They put on a hell of a show.
S/T by Beast, Please Be Still!
There’s a certain aesthetic to 2000s indie. It’s that Portland-esque hipster aesthetic that leans strongly into folk, the type of aesthetic perpetuated by bands like Neutral Milk Hotel and early Arcade Fire. It’s an aesthetic that I haven’t been able to really find in post-rock, so any band who has it is boosted up among my favorites almost immediately.
Beast, Please Be Still grabs hold of this aesthetic and never lets go. Through a winding album filled with absolute bangers, you’ll be presented with a strong attention to atmosphere and emotion rather than just reverbed guitar loops. Strings, horns, winds, musical box type keys, accordions, and so much more are used for extra layers. This is obviously a sound and aesthetic that was first really perfected in the genre by Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Explosions in the Sky, but the album never feels bogged down by their influences.
As for what song I recommend, I’m gonna have to be cliché and pick the longest track, which would be “Clouds”. This thirteen-minute long epic is best listened to with headphones in a dark room, possibly with your favorite scent of incense going if that’s your sort of thing, and a window open to a nice breeze. It starts slow yet emotional with occasional bleeps and bloops peaking in through the thick layers of guitar and accordion. From this intro, the track goes on to hit pretty much every emotional note you can think of all while evolving completely naturally. If you listen to one song from this article, make it this one.
Out of the innumerable one-and-done artists in the genre, Beast, Please Be Still may just be my favorite. It’s a tragedy that we never got to see where they could go and I’ve never found anyone since who does it quite like they did.
To start a post-rock band is to pit yourself against the odds. With an ever-expanding world of bands and artists all entering any of the hundreds of local scenes daily, it’s unlikely that you’ll ever truly ‘make it’. This overall acceptance of obscurity makes post rock a genre almost purely based on love for the music. Each album is a passion project made for the sake of the music itself and the emotion it brings. This is why post-rock is possibly my personal favorite genre overall.
If you’re new to the genre I hope this article intrigued you enough to dig in deeper and if you’re already a fan, I hope that at least one of these bands was new to you! I’ve put links for each band so you can send some love their way. I’ve also embedded my massive Spotify playlist of obscure post-rock albums for those foaming at the teeth for more.
Related links for We All Die! What a Circus!: Bandcamp | Spotify
Related links for Man Mountain: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
Related links for Beast, Please Be Still!: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook
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Review: Tacoma Narrows Bridge Disaster – The World Inside – The Progressive Subway · August 20, 2021 at 14:00
[…] I’m no closer to determining what makes a mostly instrumental album like this a 10/10. The gripes I mentioned are entirely personal but distracting enough for me to not consider the record flawless. On the other hand, it is excellent. It checks all the boxes of a post-rock record being emotive, introspective, and features phenomenal build ups and spine tingling apexes. There are plenty of gritty and dark riffs to appeal to fans of the heavier side of things, yet an abundance of melody, groove, and dreamy atmosphere to appeal to just about anyone else.Side note: If this isn’t enough post-rock for you, our very own Nick wrote a fantastic feature on three amazing, lesser-known post-rock records we really think you should check out! You can read that article here. […]