Top Ten of 2009 – Number Nine

And So I Watch You From Afar – S/T

Out of nowhere, this band emerged into my computer. I gather intelligence from across vast galaxies of digital space, and it’s hard to say which rover brought me back this Moon rock. But that rover is gettin’ a raise.

Take instrumental rock. Take all the good that comes with the best bands that perform it. But take all the droning out and replace it with guitar solos.

I love a good post-rock band, but generally you get with some explosive moments surrounded by subtlety. The subtlety is back on the bus with this band and instead, again, its been replaced with guitar solos. Not just solos, but fuckin’ good ones. This is not a band afraid to play their music, and I say that in a time where being different is almost impossible.

The album contains some of the best uses of funny song titles in recent memory, including “Tip of the Hat, Punch in the Face”, “If it Ain’t Broke… Break it”, and my favorite, the opener, “Set Guitars to Kill.” And that they do, from the start to the finish, and with only one track under four minutes and most over six, this isn’t about short fuses and quick impulse rock. It’s as methodical, complex, and thought-out as your Mogwais or your Flaming Lips or Appleseed Cast…it’s just aggressive and heavy….heavier than just about anything else I’ve listened to this year that didn’t come from an Eastern German metal band.

I’ll let Cuzin Mank fill ya in, the best way he can, and I suggest watching the attached Youtube vid of some of their awesomeness.