Note to Eric Katz: The other problem with calling it “post punk” is that
there was already a post-punk movement back in the late 70’s and early 80’s
(the Gang of Four, Joy Division, and Public Image, Ltd. all being examples).
Too often, when a band signs to a major label, they’re instructed to change
the unique style that won them fans in the first place in favor of a more
generic, pop-oriented approach that will “sell records.” It happened to the
Velvet Underground in 1970, and it’s continued to happen right on through to
Guided By Voices a few years back. Fortunately, such is not the case with
…And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, an excellently named indie rock
band out of Austin, Texas, that built a cult following through two
independent releases and positively spectacular live shows that more often
than not culminated in the band destroying their instruments on stage.
There’s nothing even resembling pop sheen on their major label debut: no
overproduction, no definitive single, and, most importantly, the songs bleed
and flow together to form a cohesive album. The masterful production work on
Source Tags And Codes manages to both accentuate each member of the
band’s contribution to every song, and yet make the songs seem like more
than just the sum of their parts. In many ways, the studio treatment makes
the grittiness of …Trail Of Dead’s melodies stand out even more while at the
same time putting a coat of primer over their powerful musicianship.
To pigeonhole …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead into a single genre
or couple of adjectives would prove to be impossible to anyone with a
conscience. They’re often likened to At The Drive-In or the Queens Of The
Stone Age, but there’s a lot more going on here than throat-shredding
vocals, SAT words, and stoner rock. They’re also often labeled “emo” simply
because of their ability to evoke emotion, which again is unfair to the band
– they’re no more emo than either of the two previously mentioned bands.
Source Tags And Codes is a veritable masterpiece of sound collages,
brief interludes that flow perfectly out of and into new songs (“Another
Morning Stoner” is linked to “Baudelaire” with the help of an accordion
piece, footsteps, a ringing telephone, and some incomprehensible voices, for
instance), pre-recorded “found sounds,” and a build-release formula that
finds itself both applicable to the individual songs and the album as a
whole. It’s in many ways similar to another rock masterpiece, Radiohead’s
O.K. Computer (especially the track “After The Laughter,” which
employs a gentle piano melody, backing strings, and mumbled vocals – three
of Radiohead’s trademarks), although …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of
Dead carries a much heavier and more rocking vibe, the kind Radiohead really
only reached on the song “Electioneering.” In fact, this album is probably
best described as what it would sound like if Radiohead started flipping out
and breaking stuff every few minutes during the O.K. Computer
sessions.
Even with an album as consistent and solid as this, there are still standout
tracks. “Baudelaire” is the most straight-up rock song on this album, and it
rocks even harder than some of their older material. “Heart In The Hand Of
The Matter” features the ridiculously anthemic chorus “I’m so damned/I can’t
win” sung over a perfectly complimentary guitar and piano line. And, with an
album this epic, the band is unsurprisingly big on finishes. Virtually every
song is given a natural conclusion, and then segues into the next track, and
the last three songs are no exception – “After The Laughter” perfectly
combines the melody of previous track, “Relative Ways,” and the closer,
“Source Tags And Codes,” effectively bridging the three songs into one. Of
course, an album of this magnitude deserves an equally epic closer, and
“Source Tags And Codes” does not disappoint – it manages to distill all the
mixed and paradoxical emotions of the album into one song. After a brief
silence, a semi-hidden track consisting of a string ensemble playing a short
piece, both disarming and yet brooding, comes up to end the album.
This album is an expression of everything and nothing; it’s a distillation
of anger and tranquility, of mood swings and apathy, of sleepwalking and
nightmares. To mix metaphors, Source Tags And Codes is a lot like
nitroglycerine – it hardly ever explodes when it really has every reason to,
but instead combusts in spite of your precautions to the contrary. Brimming
with both furious anger and dead calm, it will suck the wind out of your
sails and leave you gasping for breath. It’s not often that an album can
have this effect on a person, and I recommend that we all write a thank-you
note to Interscope Records for allowing such a masterpiece to gain
mainstream exposure. Source Tags And Codes is the absolute epitome of
“worthwhile purchase.”
The 411: An absolutely incredible album that manages to capture perfectly
