God is an Astronaut - God is an Astronaut [2008]

Wicklow, Ireland’s God is an Astronaut are stocking up on guitar picks for what will in all likelihood become their most successful album release and tour schedule to date. The pride of Wicklow’s newest self-titled LP, God is an Astronaut, promises to follow up 2007’s Far from Refuge with more of the band’s trademark spacey guitar wails, seamless instrumentation, and even brief doses of electronic beat-box magic.

To GIAA’s credit, I’d argue that few cuts within the post-rock canon compare to the sheer celebratory and melodic gusto of Far From Refuge’s “Beyond the Dying Light.” For this reviewer, the track defines the GIAA sound. Fortunately, we get more arrangements of this ilk on the newest release, such as “Post Mortem,” which builds upon a familiar stratospheric guitar chord hurled over a lush-sounding snare drum pattern.

“Echoes” is a stirring and dynamic piece, building from melodic key strokes into a pitch-perfect air raid siren and finally punching out a series of proggy “hits” for the outro. “Snowfall” blends together a more stark and austere mixture of musical themes. You can almost see the bright flakes tumbling down, almost see the dark underbellies of winter clouds as they scrape across the landscape. GIAA don’t let the mood become too bleak, however. Perhaps uncomfortable with the risk of boring listeners, they quickly vault into another tried-and-true blissed-out rock groove.

Originality within post-rockdom seems increasingly rare, what with the legions of shameless clone bands. God is an Astronaut do their part to resist the insidious post-rock factory sound, ladling up a rich and sophisticated sound and an upbeat spirit which remains distinct throughout. As musicians, they’re also gifted technicians, attempting much more challenging rhythms and orchestrated lock-ups than many of their ilk, who opt instead for slow, ponderous simplicity.

For this reviewer, none of the cuts on God is an Astronaut seem quite as arresting as “Beyond the Dying Light.” Regardless, this album offers up its share of highlights and also manages to wander into some slightly riskier territory on tracks like “No Return” and “Zodiac.” This brings me to my only real criticism of the album: it sounds polished—maybe a little too polished. After a few years of tuning (detuning?) my ears to obscure records bankrolled on shoestring budgets, God is an Astronaut sounds a bit too sterile, a bit too “Pro Tools.” True, they’ve never been a band to attempt that raw, visceral sound—a la Godspeed You! Black Emperor—but something about the newest album makes this especially apparent, leaving me hungry for some grit and dissonance.

Bottom line: over-produced or not, God is an Astronaut plays like gospel for devoted space cadets, and it’s surely worth a listen, especially for those of who who would just like a chance to "bliss out" a bit.

Buy the record!

Visit God is an Astronaut on Myspace

—Major Tom

Major Tom Interviews September Malevolence

A few months ago I reviewed September Malevolence’s After This Darkness, There’s a Next for Captain Obvious’s fine blog. This week, The Astronaut Farm interviews Martin Lundmark, September Malevolence’s front man. Hope you enjoy the interview, and please pick up a copy of this album. The music and the artwork are excellent!

Major Tom interviews Martin Lundmark

MT: Your band hails from Gothenburg, Sweden. How would you describe the Swedish music scene for those of us who are not familiar with the area?

ML: Well, despite the fact that Sweden is a small country, we are actually the world’s 3rd largest music exporter after USA and the UK. So, there’s a lot of bands here and there has been an interesting underground scene going on for years. I’ve always listened to a lot of Swedish bands and artists and been inspired by them.


MT: SM almost sounds like a band with roots in the realm of “post-rock,” yet unlike bands such as Mogwai, Mono, or Explosions in the Sky, your music is lyrical. Was SM originally inspired by instrumental band, or is your sound more the result of a natural progression?

ML: Originally, we were inspired by instrumental bands, but none us really listen that much to post-rock anymore—in fact, most the new post-rock kinda bores me . . . so we didn’t want to do a record that sounded like our debut . We wanted to do something different when we made the songs for After This Darkness… and think I think that for the most part we succeeded.


MT: The lyrics of After This Darkness, There’s a Next are pretty dark (no pun intended), especially on tracks such as “Who Watches the Watchmen?” and “I Shut Doors and Windows.” What inspires you as a writer?

ML: I think it’s easier to write about “darker” themes. I mean, lyrics that go “The sun is shining and I’m happy yeah yeah,”—that doesn’t really grab my attention. Also, 2007 was a really shitty year with a lot of bad things happening to me, which I guess affected the way the lyrics came out. I also think it’s important that the lyrics fit the music, and “Who Watches the Watchmen?” and “I Shut Doors and Windows” has this gloomy and dark feel to them that I wanted to emphasize.


MT: Though the album’s lyrics often inspire a sense of desolation and brooding, the music itself is often full and powerful. What is the atmosphere like at a live SM show?

ML: If it’s a good show: pretty intense!


MT: How does the average SM song come about? Do the ideas develop organically or does the band attempt a more structured approach to songwriting?

ML: Most of the time me and Tobias has a melody, a riff or something and then we start building from that. We don’t really have a structured approach; we come up with ideas as we go along, so it’s definitely more of an organic approach. Me and Tobias have pretty clear ideas most of the time of how we want it to sound I guess, but as always, when you play in a band, your vision for a song might not be fulfilled the way you thought it would be. But the song might actually benefit from that.


MT: How did the recording process go for After This Darkness?

ML: Pretty smooth. We laid the basic tracks in about a week and then we did overdubs and vocals. Doing vocals and writing lyrics was the most time-consuming part of the recording process. For our next album, however, we’re not gonna enter studio with a more or less finished album; we’re gonna record the album over a longer period of time and, as soon as a song is “set,” start writing on the next song.


MT: What are your general feelings about the current state of mainstream music?

ML: Hmm . . . I don’t really know. I don’t listen that much to mainstream music. But I guess it’s safe to say, boring!


MT: Finally, if you were stranded in space, what would you take with you?

ML: A guitar!


MT: Thanks, Martin!

September Malevolence on myspace

Shop for September Malevolence via Tenderversion

—Major Tom