AS THE POETS AFFIRM

This album should have been good. As the Poets Affirm have a very standard post-rock sound with the embellishments of a cello and a pocket trumpet for good measure, with a very lush sound and even some underlying jazz influences, but things just never get off the ground. Besides not having a stand-out sound, the songs just lack memorability. As I am writing this review, I can't even think of any songs to mention for any reason whatsoever. Nothing struck me in a bad way, but nothing struck me in a good way either. It's just plain mediocre. [After going back to look for something I can highlight, I think "The Snick-Berry Switch" is a nice piece with a particularly nice, simple melody toward the end by the cello.] The band has a lot of good ideas, and instrumental interplay; there is no doubt about it. It all feels genuine and even sounds good. You can go listen to some clips online and I guarentee that if you're at all into post-rock you will feel intrigued enough to listen to some more clips, and probably even delve into a full album. Then, you will realize that getting through the whole thing is rather difficult. Something doesn't connect, and all of those good ideas that sound good in 30 second clips just don't make magic together. If you don't have time to read medium-sized paragraph, just read this one. The album is, unfortunately, a dud. If you're a post-rock fiend, you will probably like this enough to throw it on sometimes. Even then, it won't satisfy you like, say, Godspeed or Explosions in the Sky.

I did see that the band has gone in a wildly different direction since this album. I haven't heard much of it, but hopefully the change has allowed them to unlock the clear potential they have.

There are a few bands in the post rock genre that you can clearly say, These guys are completely different than what people think post rock sounds like. Although As the Poets Affirm may not be one of those bands, what they've got in talent and songwriting exceeds many of their contemporaries. The listener discovers this right from the first song. Polyhymnia is a song that is dramatic and explosive, switching back and forth between a light piano and distorted guitar at will. The band immediately presents to you their grasp of melody and dynamics and does not let down from there. The songs are very guitar centered and still use the cello very nicely, it adds a great touch to the rhythm section. This instrumental album does carry with it a rather despondent tone, but somewhere in the more distant parts of the music, there seems to be a more upbeat part playing at the same time. The two go really well together and create a unique mood, a mood from which the album gets a lot of its strength as a composition. This band is far too overlooked given their talent as shown on this album. This debut shows huge amounts of potential and is itself one of the more impressive releases. Post-rock fans, pay attention because you would certainly be drawn to this band. What a fine collection of beautiful, expressive music!