F# A# ∞

This debut album from the Canadian post-rock outfit is so titled because on the original l.p. the first side started with f sharp, the second with a sharp, and there was a locked groove at the end that would go on forever. I found that rather interesting, much like the music at hand. The first song, The Dead Flag Blues, is one of the most depressing things I have ever heard. It starts off with a monologue, which unlike most monologues, just adds to the song where in most instances it just gets cheesy. Slowly, instrumentation comes in and builds up to epic climaxes. The songs do tend to follow that formula of protracted crescendos but it doesn't really get old, as it's not very predictable, it's just how the band works. East Hastings is probably my favourite song by this band at the time, and it contains some moments that I would even venture to describe as heavy, not something usually found in this type of band. Providence has some spoken word samples from a preacher preaching the coming apocalypse on the streets of Providence, Rhode Island. The band makes use of these spoken samples throughout the album, and they add an interesting element to the music. I wouldn't say this is quite a masterpiece, but it's an excellent piece of music nonetheless. If you already are a fan of the band, I'm sure you'll like it, and if not I recommend it, but you need to have a certain amount of patience to listen to get through it, as the songs are all very long and minimalistic in nature, and many people might find that boring.