YOU, YOU'RE A HISTORY IN RUST

Having discovered them just recently after the sense of curiosity that was born in my mind when the relese of their 2009 album was announced, Do Make Say Think has already made a big impression on me. This Canadian post-rock act can certainly create exciting music with their micture of muscular drive and tecturial developments. No wonder that they are so highly praised usually in the current post-rock cirlces. Now it is my time to review their penultimate effort "You, You're A History In Rust", which I widely recommend as the perfect entrance for the non-initiated. The opener 'Bound To Be That Way' starts with a soft swing based on jazzy cadences, and then, an even softer set of guitar chords sets in to anticipate the elaboration of the main body, which turns out to be a simple yet powerfully evocative journey of meditative vibrations. 'A With Living' states a pulsating motion that heavily relies on the tribal drumming that installs itself beneath the mysterious arpeggios on the dual acoustic guitars. The warmth climax that gradually emerges from there until the 5 minute mark is properly fed by the vocal interventions. The track's second and final part revives the initial melancholy. It is in track no. 3, 'The Universe!', that the DMST guys start to frontally show their rocking facet, incorporating a stoner-like mood into the intense basic motifs that go flowing by. The emrgence of some cosmic ornaments serves as a neurotic resource from which a captivating, uneasy crescendo is built up by the ensemble. 'A Tender History In Rust' has an intro full of eerie tonalities, notably inspired in the musique concrete trend, before the main body shifts toward a mysterious amalgam of acoustic guitars, vibraphone, alleatory percussions, plus sweet string & horn arrangements. This unexpected shift toward some sort of avant-garde country allows the listenerto comprehend the not-so-usual bucolic aspect of DMST. 'Herstory Of Glory' brings out the GYBE! influence in full swing: a special mention goes to the careful treatment of the simplistic harmonic basis on an 11/8 tempo through multiple guitar and violin layers. This is really plethoric, but again, we must remember that the album has to go on, and so, 'You, You're Awesome' moves into introverted realms (not lacking energy at all, let's make it clear), bringing back the country-related colorfulness we had found earlier in 'A Tender History In Rust'. 'Executioner Blues' reintroduces the featured use of electric guitars and enthusiastic rhythms, but it is quite evident that the airs of mystery and melancholy prevail - I find this piece ver yrelated to the Indie spirit of 'A With Living'. After a spectacular climax near the end, the ethereal coda resumes the abundant nostalgia in a cohesive fashion. The album's last 4 minutes are occupied by 'In Mind', a soft piece that starts with ample room for the acoustic guitars, with the banjo, violins and synth layers adding extra textures little by little. The angelic chorale seems to announce the serene arrival of the first visions of sunlight at dawn, a new day dawning after an evening and night of melancholy. With this mental image of mine, I finish this review for an album that I regard as excellent. Do Make Say Think has been a great discovery for me in 2009, indeed.

Do Make Say Think tend to be overshadowed a lot by their fellow Canadian post-rockers in Godspeed You Black Emperor (and its many any varied side projects such as A Silver Mt Zion), and to be honest, whilst I've enjoyed some of their albums efforts like You, You're a History In Rust don't really thrill me. Playing in a jazzier style than Godspeed but with the same lo-fi, threadbare aesthetic, the band play a bit more loosely and freely, with less structure, and also tend to meander a little more. With a bit more focus, they can do well, as can be heard on the earlier album Goodbye Enemy Airship, but here they just sound like lukewarm post-rock dabblers.