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Explosions in the Sky, "How Strange, Innocence"
This is another reissue that is perfect for existing fans, as it's beena sought after item, fetching high prices at online auctions. Honestly,and the band is well aware of this, while there are some great songscontained, it's simply not as strong a caliber as is the writing andproduction that the band have found their international acclaim with.I'm probably one of the only people who actually own the originalCD-R release of this. I can say that safely because I think I was theonly person in the audience their first time through Boston who wasn'tin one of the bands on stage that night. My review of the night waseven posted here on Brainwashed, which featured Tigersaw, 27, Sonna,and Chris Brokaw up in the now closed Artspace in Gloucester, Mass.Like Kinski, (whose reissue is also reviewed today), this band blew meaway from the first second. However, like them, the young group made dowith the resources they had to create their first album.
Explosions haven't really changed their sound from album to album,however, so don't expect to find a completely different band containedon How Strange, Innoncence. The arrangement is still handled byone drummer and three guitar players (one who uses bass sometimes). Themeandering melodies have more bright than dark sides to them, as songtitles like "Look Into the Air," "Magic Hours," and "Snow and Lights"are undeniably optimistic sounding. The band isn't nearly as cynical ason their most recent full-length album, The Earth Is Not a Cold, Dead Place(whose title, contrary to what some high profile critics haveerroneousely assumed, represents the writings of a person who iswriting the title over and over and over again to try and convincehimself it to be true).
Argue as much as you may about how much better a remastering job canmake an album sound, but if the songs are fairly average to begin with,it's not going to do all that much in the grand scheme of things. Fansof Explosions in the Sky who only have exposure to their two big albumsare pretty spoiled. We are used to getting a consise album of 5-6focused songs, all of which are well-crafted, original sounding, andover the top in terms of power, passion, and production. Here, I canonly say a couple of these tracks come close to that level. "Look Intothe Air" is perhaps my favorite yet it strays from what they're knownfor: it has a very memorable riff and keeps to a moderate pace whichdoesn't actually scream bloody murder somewhere in the middle. Whileit's a great song, it doesn't do much to distinguish Explosions fromother instrumental post-rock bands of the late 1990s. "Remember Me as aTime of Day" closes the album with a very acoustic sounding guitarinterplay whose beauty and charm hints at the better moments of whatwas to come from the band, but the band doesn't go too far with themelodies contained. I appreciate the arrangement on somethinglike the predominantly drum-free "Time Stops," with a bowed instrumentof some sort at the beginning and a picked up pace towards the middlewith some faster guitar finger-picking. Their playing was always greatand their ear for balance of the instruments hasn't ever been at fault,but the songwriting of the group hadn't quite blossomed yet, as themelodies simply aren't as powerful as they are now.
This is not a bad album, despite the band apologizing for it profusely in theliner notes printed on the CD iteself. They are correct in admitting that itshows a certain brightness that they probably won't pursue again. It does sound better than a lot ofthe instrumental bands who are trying their hand at the loud/softpretty/abrasive juxtapositioning, but it should be well understood thatthe quality control the Austin-based quartet has enforced over theirrecent work is simply not present. The important thing is now anybodycan get the full fidelity experience and decide for themselves ratherthan pay way too much or resort to filesharing compressed and glitchy,quality-compromised MP3s.
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