Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra and Tra La La Band - 13 Blues for Thirteen Moons (Constellation)
4/5
By: Jim Carroll
The Godspeed You Black Emperor side project with the name that expands proportionately with their membership return with their fifth album. This time they have plumped for Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra and Tra-La-La-La Band. At first glance fans of the seminal Vancouver epiticians will feel they are in familiar territory, as there are many of the post-rock conventions that Godspeed helped to invent and popularize. These are shimmering soundscapes; with single brittle phrases wrung out to within inches of their life over the course of a dozen or so minutes; climaxing with crescendos of cacophonic pandemonium. There is also the requisite post rock pretentiousness. On this sixteen-track album, the first twelve are simply atmospheric noise lasting about five seconds apiece.
But when things finally get going on number thirteen, Thee Silver Mt. Zion manage to avoid falling into post-rock cliché. Well, for starters, there are vocals. Front man Efrim Menuck's creaking wavering anguished opines - constantly teetering on the brink of being in tune. Thoroughly pained and polemic, his enemies are two-headed. It doesn't need Andrew Marr to explain what Menuck is alluding to when he bewails on the tile track, 'it's the sixth year of their wars, I'm pacing shotgun hallways while my f**king neighbour snores'.
But its not only political inertia that Thee Mt. Zion want to wage a seven-man assault upon. As Menuck wails with acerbic menace; 'there's no heroes on my radio, all I want is some action...your band's bland!' you can't help but begin to feel penitent. This is an album with a sense of praxis - designed to educate, mobilize and get you off your arse. Thee Silver Mt. Zion want you to break free of apathy, get creative and start rebelling.
It is also more bluesy and elemental than Godspeed have ever been - haggard, world weary and soused in bourbon. Menuck's ghoulish sloganeering continues as he screams 'the hangman's got a hard-on!' The haunting eerie imagery akin to Lift to Experience is accompanied by ethereally evocative choral chanting. Make no mistake, although they last over 10 minutes apiece, these are structured songs, building from fragile guitar riffs that are reminiscent of Low. As the intensity increases, these are augmented by the string section, as dissonant violins intermittently swoop in as if John Cale himself had sensed the need to apply his Black Death Angel song. With outright post-rock increasingly appearing passé, it is good to see that bands like Thee Silver Mt. Zion still manage to find something relevant to say.
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