The Silent Years

I was going to wait until tomorrow to post this, but I can't. I haven't stopped listening to the new Silent Years record "The Globe" since I not-so-legally obtained it. I think it comes out in August. Check out their Myspace page to hear a few tunes.

Previously there's a self-titled full length record and an EP, both which I like a lot, but "The Globe" will undoubtedly be one of my favorite records of the year, if not permanently glued to the #1 spot. It reminds me of the power that The National's "Boxer" still has. In the world of indie rock there are bands like Tapes 'N Tapes and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (I mean, seriously, those names are beyond bad) whose first records blew up, mostly because of Pitchfork.

I'm all for Pitchfork's Recommended and Best New Music lists giving bands some hype, but more often than not they're the wrong bands.

The Silent Years are, and have been, a cure for the stale ass indie rock that's been coming out for the last few years. All over "The Globe": great lyrics, Josh Epstein's amazing "Jeff Buckley's indie rocking rough-around-the-edges younger brother" voice, huge drums unafraid to push the cymbals loud into the mix, a lot of nice strings to compliment certain parts, and dynamics all over the place, whether it's proggy-polyrhyhmic-polytechnics, complimentary bubbling keyboards, or straightforward rock songs, they do it all. There's a darkness to the record, and there's light at the end of the tunnel. Everything about it's beautiful. It's a road trip record. I want to take a road trip just to listen to it. It'll be my staple for the summer.

The band and this record deserve to be at the top, to have tons of people coming to their shows. I really hope they get it, and I hope they come close to Richmond to tour. I'm afraid I'm going to play this so much I'll get sick of it, but I can't stop. Like my recent addiction to freeze pops. But I'm going to try. I've already had about 20 listens in the last week, and it keeps unfolding in amazing ways.