Ambiguous band name; Check. Even more
ambiguous album name; Check. Thoughtful cover-art and packaging;
Check. Ridiculously young band-members; Check. This has all the
ingredients of post-rock but sonically, this isn’t your
average kind of post-rock band. ‘Our Brother The Native’
is one of the new breed of post-rocker’s (post post-rock?)
which deftly fuse dreamy atmospherics with subtle post-rock dynamics
to create a sound which pulls at the heart-strings without attempting
to destroy the speakers. Consisting of John Michael Foss (guitar,
drums/percussion, piano, bass), Joshua Bertram (guitar, bowed
banjo, sounds/samples, synth, vocals) and Chaz Knapp (piano, bass,
guitar), ‘Our Brother The Native’ is a trio of talented
American teenagers who have changed musical direction for their
sophomore release. Whilst their 2006 debut, ‘Tooth and Claw’
was a more traditionally structured, electronica-laced alt. folk
release, ‘Make Amends….’ is an album of drawn-out
and progressively structured tracks which utilise fuzzy and sub-merged
post-rock dynamics.
Press play and you are immediately greeted
with a dark and minimal astral-electro soundscape full of subtle
sci-fi rumblings. One might be forgiven for thinking they’d
placed in a Murcof album by mistake but as you start to become
consumed by this otherworldly sound, a distant guitar melody starts
to rise from the sonic-drift and is swiftly accompanied by intermittent
guitar-feedback, an ever-growing wall of drone and Bertram’s
tortured yelping. These elements start dancing around each other
in a psychedelic fanfare which will have you on the verge of freaking
out but suddenly, out-of-nowhere, a striking shard of light exudes
from the sonic-aesthetic, and as the psycho-babble dies down it
is gracefully replaced by warm, organic sounds and distant angelic
vocal murmurs which have the track wafting and gliding towards
infinity.
The shimmering and hazy instrumental post-rock
intro of ‘As They Fell Beneath Us’ is strangely compelling
as it entrances the listener through using a subtle formula of
elongated-instrumentation. Bertram’s tortured, rasping and
slightly unhinged vocals enter the fray after a few minutes and
act as another layer of instrumentation, just before the whole
track suddenly gains momentum. Military percussive motifs, shimmering
strings and keys and submerged screeching start moving threateningly
towards a towering crescendo before being reigned back into a
minute or so of ‘Mono-esque’ instrumental beauty.
On ‘We Are The Living’, the band again utilise vocals
as an accompanying instrument, this time forging forward with
a glowing yet relatively downtrodden slice of post-rock exotica
which mirrors some of Mogwai’s latter works. Like a soundtrack
to a fading photograph showcasing good-time’s now lost and
never to be recovered, the aesthetic of the track is steeped in
an unnerving melancholy that starts to manifest itself increasingly
in conjunction with the ever-growing waves of instrumental ferocity.
As the track reaches its bombastic and nebulous finale it feels
as if it has given the listener the energy to move on from their
somber reflection of the past 6 minutes.
The middle of the album is made up of the
12 minute ‘Trees Part 1’ and the slightly shorter
‘Trees Part 2’. The first part of this two-piece monolith
serves to reduce the listener to their most meditative state with
its subdued, aquatic burble and drawn-out vocal chants. As the
track comes to a close the listener will either be in a deep-slumber
or will be fully engrossed, unable to move and keenly attentive
to any change of pace. That change of pace arrives immediately
with the second part of the track which serves to be a far darker
affair. Commencing initially with a brief period of dark-ambient
resonance, twinkling instrumentation grows from the darkness like
neon lights dancing in a moonless sky. Shrieking vocals add a
sense of rebelliousness, hopelessness and injustice to the piece
whilst the instruments grow subtlety in stature until they burst
forth with purposeful venom. After the meditative lull of Part
1, the dynamics of the second part are massively accentuated and
speak volumes to the listener.
‘Younger’
is a glorious illustration of outsider Americana with its conspiracy-theory
believing, new-world order announcing, campfire-haze. Riding upon
a dissonant yet infectious melodic setting, the abrasive vocal
chants and lilting melodic motifs soon turn rapturous, consuming
the listener into their (imaginary) leftist ideological sphere
within a heartbeat. Images of latter day ‘A Silver Mount
Zion’ are hard not to think of as Bertram’s vocals
more than echo those of the Zion-collective. The meandering sonic-deliberations
of ‘Untitled’ showcase ‘Our Brother The Native’
at their most pensive. It’s hard to think of such a young
band creating such a mature sound, as this is music for experienced
people to reflect back on their experiences, but they do it with
aplomb. Utilising thoughtful arrangements and thick atmospherics,
they create a mystical and enchanting slice of post-rock ambience
which threatens to leave the listener with a tear in their eye.
Finishing off with ‘The Multitudes Are Dispersing’
the band creates a sound that acts as a score to the study of
Eschatology. A sullen lullaby existing on a foundation of skeletal
keys and ghostly interference, it plods hauntingly towards an
almost certain end until it is buoyed by the addition of choral
vocals, before once again disappearing into the abyss. As the
melody dies, a wall of dark ambience takes over only for the instrumentation
and campfire vocals to rise up again.
Throughout
the album, ‘Our Brother The Native’ refuse to succumb
to clichés that have sullied the good name of post-rock.
You won’t find any forced crescendo’s or meaningless
structuring as the band attempt to create emotive arrangements
that will have a real effect on listeners. One has to be forewarned
that this is an album that requires time and thought. On the surface
it tends to drift aimlessly, but play it in the right context
and the sounds on this album will seep deep within your psyche
and transport you to a contemplative zone which you would not
wish to leave. The submerged, elongated soundscapes which suck
you in, serve to heighten the intermittent melodic uprising’s,
and therefore, this album has a tangible effect on the listener
which is what good music is all about. (KS)
For fans of: Mono, A Silver Mount Zion, Culper Ring, Mogwai,
EITS, Sigur Ros, Stars of the Lid
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