Explosions in the Sky Albums (4)
'All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone'
Release Date 1/1/2006
Tracks 6
Label EMI Australia
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What The Critics Say
There is little middle ground for an instrumental post-rock band like the Austin, TX-based Explosions in the Sky. Endlessly compared to Mogwai -- who can make aggressively angry music when they want to -- this quartet consciously seeks what is meandering and beautiful. If there is a strategy behind their music as revealed by 2001's Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever and 2003's The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place, it's that beauty seeks tension to resolve itself and find itself even in seeming chaos. This music featuring layered guitars, piano, bass, and drums begins with melody and more often than not ends with it, no matter how far from the quiet and even halting lyricism the band wandered into at the beginning. Which raises two questions. First, is All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone different from the other pair of records on Temporary Residence? And, of course, since one must confront the seemingly eternal academically trained analysis and cynicism of the indie world, "Is it necessary?" The answer to both questions is "yes." While the surface of Explosions in the Sky's sonic sense of labyrinthine adventure is similar, the manner in which they get to the center of each piece is not. On "The Birth and Death of the Day," which opens the set, violence and noise are threatened from the beginning with distorted chords, feedback, and big crescendos. Space enters before lyricism here, though harmonically everything resonates as one, and for a moment one thinks that this is a forgotten intro to some lost and found U2 song of yore, but they quickly pass that mark and dig inside the chaos for its roots and branches. "It's Natural to Be Afraid" begins with subtle dissonance and the guitars emerging out of quiet chaos with sounds and pianos playing slowly and contrapuntally. It takes over 13 minutes to wind up, down, and around again, but it's an exercise that is rewarding for a patient listener -- or if you simply want to close your eyes and go with it. "So Long, Lonesome," at under four minutes, closes the set. Its piano lines take a front seat as guitars provide counterpoint and a sonic backdrop, and the tension force field never rises above a four. It's almost a chamber piece. Ultimately, there is real growth here, subtle and unpretentious as it is. All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone is another gorgeous exercise by Explosions in the Sky. How can listeners not need more music by a band that seeks beauty over everything else in its subtly expanding sonic universe? ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
'How Strange, Innocence'
Release Date 10/1/2005
Tracks 7
Label Temporary Residence
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What The Critics Say
How Strange, Innocence was recorded a year before Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever, the eventual breakthrough for Austin's Explosions in the Sky. But this 2005 Temporary Residence release is the first many will hear of it, since the original pressing was only a few hundred CD-Rs. It's an interesting listen for fans of the group, as it incorporates the layered guitar melodies and deliberate volume shifts of later EITS work but unfolds with a brittle uncertainty that reveals the band's brief lifespan at the time. Sometimes it sounds like a recital, as if Chris Hrasky, Michael James, Munaf Rayani, and Mark T. Smith, having learned their parts painstakingly and over time, were debuting the songs for an audience of proud parents. In "A Song for Our Fathers," brittle electric guitar notes find the melody over brushed snare and a stoic bassline until the song locks into a louder but still lingering groove, like a sleepwalking Pixies, while "Time Stops" builds from a gentle stroll to a storm of crash cymbals, shadowing vintage Bedhead in the din. The songs here are long -- nothing's under five minutes -- and Explosions in the Sky overuse some of the same effects that give their material strength. "Magic Hours," for example, is only a preamble to "Time Stops," glimmering, then building, then exploding at the usual pace. But despite some predictability, How Strange, Innocence shows remarkable tact for a band that was so unseasoned during its recording. As the ambitious "Snow and Lights" proves, they were already hashing out the pacing issues, heroic scope, and striking melodic sense that would define later releases. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
'The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place'
Release Date 11/3/2003
Tracks 5
Label Bella Union
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What The Critics Say
Explosions in the Sky's second effort takes a more studied, even lush approach to the literate chaos of their 2001 debut. But put on your sad sack thinking cap now, because Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place is a contemplative and heady rush of masterful melancholia. Its six songs are multi-minute, slow motion workouts of gentle electric guitar plucks and subtle/sudden washes of percussion -- they're still instrumental, but as lyrical as anything in the indie rock universe. "Only Moment We Were Alone" turns on a simple, melancholy guitar figure, the drums shifting from insistent catch-up mode to a studied march built to introduce the next layered crescendo. Explosions in the Sky doesn't shift as suddenly or jarringly on Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place; the quartet has applied more structural predictability this time out, but is still quick about setting the sad butterflies in your stomach to fluttering. "Memorial" is the album's meditative heart. It begins so quietly, reduced to brittle landscapes of tone. Lightly chiming guitars drift in, like the echoes of church bells off in narrow city streets. Then, like each of the album's movements, it surges forward in a rush, like the overtures of Sonic Youth separated, dried, and ultimately lengthened in the blistering Texas sun. The final blast of distortion and staccato drumming is Earth at full bittersweet bluster. "Your Hand in Mine" ends things as they began, with a pair of determined guitars picking out a melody that's both pretty and pretty damn heartbreaking. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
'Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever'
Release Date 9/4/2001
Tracks 6
Label Temporary Residence
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
The members of Explosions in the Sky may just be four soft-spoken guys from Texas, but on Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever they simply tear everything apart. Combining influences from classic rock to metal to goth, the band creates instrumental soundscapes that can turn from all-out destruction to heartfelt, dreamy melodies in the blink of an eye. The result is similar to Mogwai and Godspeed You Black Emperor! -- a musical journey that leads listeners through the entire range of emotion without even needing words. "Greet Death" matches a crunchy Dinosaur Jr. hook with warm Cure-esque bass grooves. "Moon Down" chimes and twists through ten minutes of calm night, leaving the listener with the feeling that something awesome is sure to happen. On "Have You Passed Through This Night?" a film-dialogue sample ponders in a near-whispering Texas drawl the meaning of the world. What follows is like the climax of a tense, mind-blowing movie, driven by relentless guitars and a thundering Master of Puppets-era Metallica drum march. "Poor Man's Memory" follows, offering some consolation in a sentimental melody. The album ends with the grand, 12-minute-long "With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept," a song that moves from Sonic Youth to Joy Division to Explosions in the Sky. Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever is nothing short of awe-inspiring and one of the best records of 2001. ~ Charles Spano, All Music Guide
