We're From Japan! [Post-Rock / USA]

Тема: We're From Japan! [Post-Rock / USA] Пн Ноя 10, 2008 4:05 pm

Исполнитель: Were From Japan!
Название: Now Breathe
Битрейт: 205kbps avg
Дата выхода: 2008-10-08

Треклист:
1. Black Bag Work 3:50
2. Bleed 2:30
3. Climb Mountain, O Snail 10:16
4. There Are Horses In The Streets 6:57
5. In Every Hive, A Queen 6:19
6. Run Shoot Dont Panic 5:32
7. September 13, 1848 12:39

Цитата :: First things first: Were from Japan! is actually from Portland, Oregon. But
they may as well be from Japan, because theyre signed to Zankyo Records, and
their overseas fan base adores them. Its always embarrassing when another
country gets the music of a quality act before the home country, but even
Jesus wasnt appreciated in his home town. I, for one, would love to see this
band break big in the U.S. Theyve been paying their dues for five years now,
theyre enormously appealing, and they have demonstrated that they are willing
to take creative, counter-instinctive risks to further their sound.

Were from Japan!s last album, 48 Minutes, 07 Seconds, Then the Open Air
(available domestically from Jackpot Records) was a solid post-rock effort that
presented the requisite builds, drops and crescendos, but did so in a relatively
unassuming way. Standout track Larsen B concluded in a wash of strings that
peaked all too early other tracks tended toward the languid and soothing. While
there was nothing wrong with this, and the album was certainly worth purchasing,
it was not especially memorable, and the listening experience soon faded from
memory.

How then would the band improve their sound? Oddly enough, by dropping the piano
and strings, a move that I would normally never recommend. Many post-rock bands
would kill to have these elements, but either cant afford them or cant find
suitable, talented candidates. (Two are now available!) Then again, Saxon Shore
performs live with four guitarists and a drummer, and they do just fine. Were
from Japan! sounds a little like that East Coast collective, and a little like
the recent incarnation of Gifts From Enola. While not particularly unique, they
do modern post-rock particularly well, a welcome addition to the field during a
time in which we are suffering a dearth of truly qualified performers. Losing
the piano and strings has freed the band to be more aggressive: their peaks are
higher, and they have shoveled extra guitar into their valleys.

In the age of iTunes, the pressure is off of groups to present coherent albums.
Many are content to coast on the buzz created by one or two catchy tunes. Thats
why its so refreshing to encounter an album that offers not a single duff
track, an album that can be listened to repeatedly, an album that offers
different highlights with every encounter. Usually I find that after a few
listens, certain tracks begin to present themselves as disposable. Not so in
this case. That being said, there are two tracks on Now Breathe that truly stand
out, albeit in diametrically-opposed ways.

There Are Horses in the Streets is the track that makes the listener put down
the book, drop the spatula, put the caller on hold, stop texting, sit up and
take notice. It starts with a bang, a rustle of drums, a squelch of guitars, a
melodic propulsion, and swiftly enters into a series of swoops and swoons which
leave the listener breathless and the woofers gasping for air. The Big Moment
arrives four minutes in, as the song topples into a pounding, half-tempo trough.

The albums highlight, however, is the closing piece, the nearly 13-minute
September 13, 1848. On this date, rail worker Phineas Gage had a tamping iron
blasted through his frontal lobes. The 26-year old, with a bar sticking out of
his eye, walked toward assistance, sat upright all the way to town, and lived
another twelve years. His personality, however, was afterwards observed to
change from hard-working and responsible to capricious and profane. Were
from Japan!s truly epic piece seems to soundtrack the accident, the emotional
fluctuation, the slow, sad retreat from polite society. (The complete stop at
3:36 likely represents the moment after the impaling blow.) If not for the
absence of vocals, September 13, 1848 would be right at home on an iLiKETRAiNS
album. One of the tracks of the year? Absolutely.

Three years ago, Were From Japan! ended up on TSBs list of 25 Missed Releases
of 2005. Wed like to think that this corrects the injustice, so take it from
me: Dont miss out on this one!

-Richard Allen

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We're From Japan! [Post-Rock / USA]

We're From Japan! [Post-Rock / USA]

We're From Japan! [Post-Rock / USA]