This Will Destroy You - Young Mountain

This Will Destroy You's debut EP is pretty comparable to their subsequent self-titled full length, which I reviewed recently. It's shorter but still pretty long for an EP at about 40 minutes. They were doing the same thing then that they're still doing now, which means voiceless yet seemingly heartfelt post-rock building to distorted climaxes that often grab you much harder than most normal music does. The thing that jumps out the most about it are the weird song titles like "The World Is Our ___" and "Happiness: We're In This Together", but the tracks themselves do work their way into your good graces through the simple beauty of their musicianship. They continue to mix in piano and some electronic elements to good effect, adding layers of depth onto the production. It's another album that should be listened through, not skipped around in. I guess it's as good a starting point as any for the genre.

This Will Destroy You

This is instrumental post-rock, which means long songs that take a while to develop and no attention-grabbing choruses. Some would probably find it boring, but I enjoy it quite a bit. I often like to read while listening to music, and some bands work better for this than others. This Will Destroy You's self-titled first full length album is great for it. Nearly every track is a slow burn, either building a melody to a chilling, hard crescendo or just letting it linger for several minutes. The band knows how to play their instruments, and there is great artistry and subtle beauty in the textures they weave. There has to be something that lets them hold a tune so simple for so long without boring me.

Besides the normal rock standards of guitar, drum, and bass, they also include some simple electronic elements in a few of the songs. Not much, maybe just a drum loop or something to add a little twist to the sound. I'm not too well versed in post-rock, but they've been compared favorably to elements of Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky, two bands I know to be favorites of the genre. It's not exactly something to throw on at parties, but as a personal experience, it can be quite interesting. I won't point out favorite tracks, because they're all pretty consistent and entertaining. The real difference is whether they build to an epic climax or not, and I enjoy it when they do.