Red Sparowes are one of those bands that have been around for some time now but don’t yet seem to be receiving the sort of admiration and coverage that they deserve, people into the whole ‘Post Rock’ scene will probably have heard of them but couldn’t claim to know any of their music, despite two successful albums and a whole heap of touring. A super group of sorts Red Sparowes contains members of Isis, Halifax Pier, Angel Hair and a whole host of other reasonably obscure bands, their instrumental onslaught is known for emphatic live performances, that have been known to blow away audiences all over the world with brooding, intricate melodies, heavy riffage and epic finales.
This being their third full album I had wondered what sort of direction they might go with it, a lot has changed for the band in the last few years, members leaving and equipment stolen, this was definitely a chance to make the most of the new additions, build upon the foundations of the last two and create something even more stunning. Sadly with ‘The Fear Is Excruciating, But Therein Lies The Answer’ this is not the case. It feels like they are playing it safe, producing music that is very hard to differentiate from any of their other releases, falling into that category of if you’ve heard one Red Sparowes album you’ve heard them all. With a lot of bands in their genre there is generally some progression between records especially those which are instrumental but minus a few subtle distinctions, Greg Burns with his slide guitar for one, Red Sparowes certainly aren’t getting rid of the ‘Post Rock’ stereotype that they surely want to.
That said the sound that the LA quintet have been perfecting for the last seven years is as good as ever. Their deep, dark atmospheric rock feels slower than previous endeavours, focusing more on the doom side of things than epic finishes but when they do kick things off with the final two minutes on ‘A Hail Of Bombs’ turning into a full on barrage of distortion and delay you do realise how good these guys are and how much of an affect it can have on the listener. where they really succeed is ‘Giving Birth To Imagined Saviors’ where they let up on the gloomy parts for just a few minutes and show the listener that they can also write music that’s just that little bit touching and the first long player ‘In Illusions Of Order’ showcasing
seven and a half minutes of pure instrumental goodness.
Although this album may be treading similar ground, it’s still a great album and one that will hopefully bring them over to these shores to blow audiences away once more.
Words : Gordon Reid
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