Part I of the UK series.

Undoubtedly, the UK rock scene plays a vital role in the music world at large. Bands such as the Beatles, Radiohead, and Mogwai--just to name a few--have reached out of the United Kingdom and into the minds and hearts of music lovers everywhere. Interestingly enough, it's easy to feel as if Mogwai still hasn't come anywhere near the pinnacle of its career, and the future is bright for this established band, whom celebrates its 10 year anniversary next year. Mogwai is one of the most commonly cited influences to instrumental bands far and wide, and it's rare to see a band having such an enormous effect on its contemporaries in a way that Mogwai has. Similarly, Oxford experimental rock superstar, also known as Radiohead, is easily one of the most influential bands from the 1990s. Critically acclaimed across the board, Radiohead could do little wrong. The new millennium has shifted them into the background a bit, as Amnesiac and Hail to the Thief was received with raised eyebrows among some critics and fans. Perhaps the main phenomenon here is that the Gen-X'ers have grown up and Radiohead no longer commands the college charts like it used to, instead allowing bands like--surprise--Mogwai to be embraced by the new generation of cool, hip students.

So where does this place the current state of British Rock? On the whole there are some great acts in bands like Oceansize, BIffy Clyro, and Devil Sold His Soul, all of whom are criminally overlooked in their own right. Yet, for the scope of this article, I was concerned mainly with artists exploring the instrumental side of the coin. To my great surprise, the UK has enough of these bands to fill the quota for several countries, and there is a great diversity in the approach given to the genre. Some stick to more traditional post-rock environments, some delve into ambient and electronic layers, and some let the experimental influences flow freely. Some bands perform a combination of these, and some accomplish all. The first part of this series presents five absolutely stunning acts. I decided to start with bands that are more well known and established in the homeland, and future parts will get increasingly obscure. This week presents 65 Days of Static, Loss of a Child, Souls Vibrating in the Universe, Moly, and Detwiije.


65 Days of Static
Sheffield, England

Website: 65 Days of Static
Music: Myspace

Leading the UK scene, if not the world at large, in every way, shape and form imaginable, 65 Days of Static proves that lightening can strike twice with the release of their sophomore album, just a year after their critically acclaimed debut effort. One Time for All Time doesn't deviate from the signature 65 Days of Static sound--that blissful blending of electronic forces with aggressive instrumental structures, but a large maturity appears on the new release which was not readily apparent on The Fall of Math. 65 Days of Static has turned down the intensity a knob or two for One Time for All Time, and the result is that the looming sense of urgency and epic clashing of man and machine that radiated from The Fall of Math has been replaced with an album that is more consistent in its pacing and overall better balanced from start to finish. A revision of the band's coherency would be enough to throw this new album on the top of any "best of" list for the year, but One Time for All Time manages to pull a trick lacking in every other experimental release out there: it pulls at the heart strings. The glitch-kid craze was never able to fully mimic the human emotional response in the way that traditional instrumental bands are able to weave in and out of the emotional core so easily. There is just something about a guy at a computer that shuts off the emotional response--something about the flawless production sound that kills the capacity to care. 65 Days of Static reaches a frightening epiphany as they artificially recreate the emotion of the best of the instrumental world while trumping the work of the aforementioned tenfold in artistic vision.

While reviewing The Fall of Math I openly hoped that more bands would catch on to this craze. Things this good can not be ignored. Although London's Loss of a Child may have some common ground with this Sheffield quartet, there is still little evidence that anyone else can create music as endearing as 65 Days of Static. I kid you not when I say that this a band that will go down in the history books, what these four guys are doing is just that monumental. Even the best of the UK's brighest had their contemporaries. Even The Beatles had competition in the homeland, but 65 Days of Static stands alone for now, a single revolutionary in a battlefield of clones.



Loss of a Child
London, England

Website: Loss of a Child
Music: Myspace

I struggled all summer to get a good hold on this UK band that seemingly appeared out of nowhere and into my ears one day. Foregoing all pubescent pleasures of demos, eps, and mini albums to test the waters and get a feel for its "sound," Loss of a Child plunges headfirst into the water with a double disc of ambient, piano-driven instrumental rock with a heavy experimental edge that sees them sampling a healthy amount of electronic sounds. Loss of a Child somewhat follows the line of thinking employed by 65 Days of Static (and may be the first other band to do so) by obliterating the lines between traditional song writing and more experimental computer-based music while delving into a pool of influences that is a deep as it is broad. However, whereas 65 Days of Static cultivates an aggressive, yet strangely poppy sound, Loss of a Child runs perpendicular to this mindset by laying its foundations in more classical notions and scratching the surface with a rough ambient texture. The end result of all this noise is a challenging and thought-provoking dose of coma inducing psycho-therapy. The Future Symphony doesn't warp the mind like many experimental outfits try to do; but instead they seek to suspend the illusion of reality for a brief moment and embark on a multi-tiered journey through the deepest human memories. It's not all happy experiences and sunshine, for darker moments litter the way, but it's a spectacular ride through and through, and one that has unforeseen importance in the modern world of music.

Loss of a Child is still in the process of tightening up its line-up in order to finalize the live set for a UK tour in the near future. It's not often that a band is able to establish a buzz as quickly as Loss of a Child has done, but with an album as ambitious in scope and evident of the band's talent, it's no wonder that they are the next biggest thing out of the UK.


Souls Vibrating in the Universe
Essex, England

Website: Souls Vibrating in the Universe
Music: Myspace

The debut album from Souls Vibrating in the Universe will find a comfortable home in any music lover's collection. All These Worlds are Yours combines the haunting space rock mentality with the slow brooding of post-rock to emphasize an abundantly human emotion in the album. Thoughtful, intelligent compositions strip away the glamour of electronica and return the instrumental genre to its organic roots, minimalizing distortion effects in the process to allow Richard Loader's vocals to passively subvert the tangential instrumental lines. The experience is enhanced further along the way with the help of strings, as seen in the placating message of "Engine Down." Those familiar with the vocal stylings of Paul Murphy (Wintersleep/Kary) will find a familiarity in Loader's gentle croons, which add a humble, yet effective touch to the rich sound of this Essex trio. With hints of progressive rock thrown in during tracks like "Stars Everywhere" and "Zircons", All These Worlds Are For You is an album that doesn't unwind itself, but rather steadily expands and engulfs the surrounding landscapes in a backwash of sonic resonance and spacey deconstruction. Towards the album's end a swelling of emotional fulfillment threatens to escape, but ultimately it recedes ever so slowly into the background.

While unique in their sound and presentation, Souls Vibrating in the Universe recall a similar feeling to several of today's spectacular, yet heavily overlooked bands. The band has a vision similar to that of the US's Hundred Year Storm, an essence the encapsulates the undying passion of Canada's Wintersleep, an organic flair comparable to the elusive Ermine, and an honesty that overshadows the corpse of Clann Zu. With a stellar debut album behind them, Souls Vibrating in the Universe poises itself to join the upper echelon of the world's great unknown bands. Unlike so many other acts, can they grab the attention they so deserve? Only time will tell...



Moly
Glasgow, Scotland

Website: Moly
Music:Moly

Representing Scotland's only band on the list, Moly had successfully positioned themselves for a monstrous debut album by way of releasing several extended plays that showcased their unique take on the instrumental genre. By way of hypnotic, looming guitar lines and cascading symbols, Moly collectively creates a bizarre, eerie sound that resists the urge to gather momentum and build toward a climatic finale. Hence, the music is very one dimensional, as it slowly transverses though linear means of progression. That is not to say that the music contained within Moly is simple or flat; rather, it's the contrary, but Moly offers an alternative to the overused fomula of build-up/release that focuses so precisely on the quiet/loud dichotomy. As this seems to be such a major part of the "post-rock" genre these days, perhaps it's not fair to label Moly as such. Rather, they share much more in common with bands such as This is Your Captain Speaking or Tristeza, whom don't always go for the big cathartic ending. Indeed, the key to these bands is reaching a hypnotic stupor through excessive droning and repetition, and nailing the precision on the head. In that aspect, Moly comes up roses, offering a plethora of delicious sounds for your ears. The steady force of tracks like "This is Day One" or "Blood Will Flow" pushes the limits of the meaning of patience. What starts off innocently enough as a no-frills experience slowly evolves into an overbearing feeling of anxiousness as the expected point of release is never realized.

With the recent influx of interest in the post-rock medium, Moly offers a unique take on instrumental song-writing. The band has that creative vibe that is reminiscent of the early works of Mogwai, which should be exciting news to all fans of the British music scene. All signs indicate that Moly is on course to discover their full potential as a cohesive unit and blow the socks of the music world with subsequent releases.



Detwiije
London, England

Website: Detwiije
Music: Myspace

Would You Rather Be Followed By Forty Ducks for the Rest of Your Life?. This is one for those who love the violin. Detwiije leads strongly with the violin, backed by minimalist, fluttering guitar work and smooth, crisp drumming. The band's approach to the genre is a more traditional one, building up a tense sonic environment with repetitive licks and graceful meandering from the rhythm section only to level the plane through jarring compositional halts which reset the tempo and set back the clock. Such a method, albeit a bit unnerving, proves to be a useful tool over the course of a fifteen minute track where physical shifts are accented by the warm caress of that charming violin. The title track of Detwiije's album Would You Rather... introduces the listener to the band's style and storytelling, but the real treat is the album's closer, the mountainous "La Guerre de Mones," which effortlessly marches through the rocky terrain to the pinnacle at the song's end. Climax. Stop. Repeat. Although this isn't the first band to try such a formula--and won't be the last--there is no denying the effectiveness of this approach when put into the hands of skilled musicians and song-writers such as Detwiije .

With their debut album, Detwiije show a more than proficient understanding of the post-rock genre and are demonstrating a skill at composing lengthy songs that do not lose themselves in their own exploration or get bogged down by the sheer weight of the tracks. With top-notch song-writing, time is on the side of this band, who is showing a steady progression of their art from one release to the next and undoubtedly are on the heels of a breakthrough album.


~~Jordan Volz