Explosions in the Sky
Artist: Explosions in the Sky
Venue: Manchester Academy
Date: 29/01/08
Rating: * * * *
Post-rock is a curious genre. Often characterised by purely instrumental music, long titles and tortured looking young men gazing wistfully at their shoes, it’s not difficult to appreciate why some critics have accused it of being pretentious. A four-piece from Texas, Explosions In The Sky are one of the best-known proponents of the post-rock style. Their most recent album All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone offers a more polished production than previous efforts, but by-and-large their formula remains the same: phases of light, abstract guitar gradually building up to a cacophony of heavier noise.
Their hour and a half long set offered a satisfying mix of old and new material, with the likes of ‘Birth And Death Of A Nation’ sitting well alongside old favourites such as ‘Greet Death’ and ‘The Only Moment We Were Alone’. Despite the tracks working well as single entities, the band’s tendency to segue between songs was at times a little messy. The length of the set meant that the band had plenty of scope to stretch out and flex their post-rock muscles; unfortunately this occasionally resulted in some slightly dull moments. However, these occasional lapses were more than atoned for by the large passages of breathtaking beauty.
