RADIO SWAN IS DOWN

It took a while but this band has won me over. I was surprised at how loud, chaotic, dark and heavy this album is at times. It really is an emotional rollercoaster with sadness, anger and despair being prominant much of the time. There's also beauty and joy like on the song "I Hope". LAURA are a six piece Post-Rock band from Melbourne, Australia. One of the members plays cello which adds to the emotion at times. They supported ISIS on their tour of Australia back in 2007, so yes they can bring the wall of sound when they want to.

"Radio Swan Is Down Part 1" opens with melancholic cello and heavy but slowly beaten drums. Distorted guitar comes in before a minute making some noise.The tempo picks up before 3 1/2 minutes until it's chaotic and loud 5 minutes in. "Is There No Help For The Widow's Son" is atmospheric to open with strange sounds effects. A guitar melody comes in and then the sound gets fuller 2 minutes in. Even fuller a minute later as drums come in. It's loud and chaotic 4 minutes in, and the Post-Rock style guitars are killer after 5 1/2 minutes. "I Hope" has vocals in it. We get some heaviness 1 1/2 minutes in but I love the sound when it settles somewhat.The contrast continues. It's so uplifting after 4 minutes as the vocals cry out. Emotional. "Numbers Stations" opens with weird sounds as the drums come in and guitar follows. Great sound here. Cello and a calm after 2 minutes. It's building to a heavy and emotional finale. "Every Light" opens with some intricate guitar melodies before the drums and fuller sound arrive. It gets louder and fuller. "Like Vostack Beachfront" begins softly and slowly builds but it never gets that loud or full before calming back down.

"It's Kind Of Like The Innocent Smiles You Get At the start Of A Relationship Before You Fuck it Up" opens with drums, keys and guitar that are slowly building. I like this one.It settles somewhat (love the keys) before building again. Nice. "Radio Swan Is Down Part 2" opens with spoken word samples as mellow music plays along. Cello before 1 1/2 minutes. It becomes more hopeful and peaceful sounding 4 minutes in. Spoken word samples return before 5 1/2 minutes. "Patterns Not People" is the one song i'm not a fan of. It's experimental with vocals. "Cambridge Bypass" is spacey to start out with synths. It's dark. Some distorted guitar sounds come in. A louder sound with drums 3 1/2 minutes in. Vocal samples 5 minutes in as it settles. A spacey calm before 7 minutes to end it. Good track. "Another Near Miss" makes me smile with the acoustic guitar melodies early. Light drums come in at 1 1/2 minutes. Distorted guitar and a fuller sound 2 minutes in. Great sound as the tempo picks up. It calms right down before 4 minutes. Some guest trumpet here as well.

4 stars in my opinion and if your into Post-Rock I highly recommend you check this album out.