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Guest evenflowDDT

...and you will know us by the trail of dead

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Guest evenflowDDT

Hey Kinetic, this is specifically referring to you since you listed ...And You Will Know us by the Trail of Dead's Source Tags and Codes in your CD collection.  I was sent that CD for review, but I really don't know what to make of it.  I enjoy some of the lyrics, but some of the backing isn't really unique or distinguishable and some of the "outro"'s that bridge between tracks are just weird and don't work for me.  What do you think of the CD and band?

 

Of course, for anyone else who knows the band and CD, feel free to chime in.  I was just surprised Kinetic had it in his collection... anyone else?

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Guest converge241

I love source tags, but I heard the earlier stuff is better.. havent heard for myself..yet

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Guest Kinetic

I posted this a few weeks ago.  I really like the album, as evidenced by my rating.

 

...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead

Source Tags and Codes

 

Rating:  ****1/4

 

Source Tags and Codes, the major label debut of Austin, Texas' ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead, reminds me of an album I might have liked when I was 14.  You see, in those heady early teenage years, I was all about the heavy.  If it was loud, I listened to it.  If the adjective "bone-crunching" was at all apt, I listened to it.  If its content was likely to inspire a Bill O'Reilly special on Fox, you can be damn sure that I listened to it.  But, as a bit of foreshadowing for the musical awakening that was to take place in the years to come, I was never impressed by the wanky solos and guitar trickery so many metal types are wont to partake in.  The music's emotion, which seemed so raw and overwhelming compared to the MTV and radio fare that had already alienated me, was the main attraction.  Then I discovered indie rock, and it was all but over on that front.  Source Tags and Codes harkens back to that sound, while not abandoning the indie rock sensibility;  it's like equal parts Daydream Nation and Danzig.  And it'll rock your face.

 

The wall of sound-style production makes itself known within the first ten seconds of the album's opening track, "It Was There That I Saw You."  There's no negative space on this album; every bit is saturated by some noise.  Singer Conrad Keely waxes poetically about a former lover, wondering what became of her, as the band builds to gorgeous tempo change.  Eventually, it ends up back where it began before disappearing into static and the second song, "Another Morning Stoner."  The songs are all linked by ambience which, along with the saturated production quality, gives the impression of some otherwordly broadcast; a commercial-free radio transmission from purgatory.  The stand-out track here, however, is "How Near How Far."  Beginning with a rambling, typically noisy guitar part, it builds to a beautiful crescendo.  Nothing on the album matches it for sheer quality, but almost every track makes a valiant effort.

 

It's difficult to fault Source Tags and Codes for anything, really.  The art and lyrics could be accused of being the slightest bit pretentious, but so what?  Art is pretension, and nothing here is enough to make you gag.  All in all, ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead's Source Tags and Codes is perfect for the 14 year old in all of us:  Angry, pretentious, and harder than fuck

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Guest treble charged

So, is the album worth paying $11 CDN for?

(That's the price that the local Music World is selling it for)

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Guest evenflowDDT

Definitely! I wish music for "new" artists were that low around here, I'd be more inclined to try new music more often.

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Guest treble charged

Well, next time I'm up at the mall, I'll pick it up.  And if I don't like it, I'll just send you guys the bill.

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Guest The Man in Blak

From what I've heard of Source Tags and Codes, they've got some really interesting ideas, but the lyrics aren't there and they don't really seem that hard to me.  It's definitely in the same idea as a lot of the "garage rock" stuff going around, though, so if you really dig that scene, with a little more of a Sonic Youth-esque twist to that stuff, I would say pick it up.

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Guest
Definitely! I wish music for "new" artists were that low around here, I'd be more inclined to try new music more often.

No shit.  I mean 15-17 dollars for a not on sale album?  That is the reason for piracy.  I really think that you lower the prices to a more reasonable 7ish bucks and people will buy the albums because it would take less time then downloading.  I know I would.  I read somewhere it only costs the companies like a $1 - 1.50 to make.  That is still like a 600% profit.

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Guest evenflowDDT
From what I've heard of Source Tags and Codes, they've got some really interesting ideas, but the lyrics aren't there and they don't really seem that hard to me.  It's definitely in the same idea as a lot of the "garage rock" stuff going around, though, so if you really dig that scene, with a little more of a Sonic Youth-esque twist to that stuff, I would say pick it up.

It really depends on what you consider "hard".  Compared to what I usually listen to, I'd consider it very hard, but if you listen to a lot of black metal or something you'd probably disagree.  I'd also disagree as it being "garage rock".  I might be getting it wrong, but I always interpreted garage rock as very minimalist, more along the lines of the few White Stripes songs I've heard.  ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead's music is, in my opinion, pretty far from minimalist.  As for the lyrics, I still can't make most of 'em out so I still can't really comment ;)

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Guest

Simply put: ...And you will know us by the trail of dead = Sonic Youth + melody - artsy, pretenious bullshit. Granted, Trail of Dead may occasionally bust out some haiku over a screeching punk track, or name a song after a centuries dead French poet, but at least there's no vapid spoken word pieces from the painfully hip Kim Gordon.

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Guest Kinetic
Simply put: ...And you will know us by the trail of dead = Sonic Youth + melody - artsy, pretenious bullshit. Granted, Trail of Dead may occasionally bust out some haiku over a screeching punk track, or name a song after a centuries dead French poet, but at least there's no vapid spoken word pieces from the painfully hip Kim Gordon.

Amen.

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Might I add that I often like Sonic Youth--love them, even (Daydream Nation being a prime example of how good they can be)--but Kim Gordon is tolerable at best, and fucking excruciating at worst. If only she would contract throat cancer or something.

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Guest treble charged

Well, I picked the CD up today.  I've only listened to it once, though, so I haven't really been able to form much of an opinion on it yet.  In a day or two, after I've listened to it more, I'll check back in.

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Guest treble charged

This may sound weird, but I think I prefer the CD while listening to it while wearing headphones.  I think this is the haiku people are talking about, but when I heard that, I thought that the person next to me was saying something.  I never caught that in the first hearing while listening to it on my stereo.

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Guest The Man in Blak

By Garage Rock, I meant lo-fi and generally derivative from some other "classic" rock genre (in this case, I'd say Indie Rock, which would include, as you already mentioned, Sonic Youth).

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Guest

Haven't heard the new album yet, but the one before (Madonna) was great! They're nice guys, too, I got drunk with them after a show and they crashed at my place. Definitely worth checking out live.

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