AND THE BATTLE IS WON

A moderately interesting post-rock band from the UK with a clever name (I assume a cheat code for some sort of video game) and a checkered discography. I don’t know much about them and only picked this up because the name struck me.

In some ways these guys remind me a little of Explosions in the Sky, with their heavy use of repetitive guitar progressions and stark but energetic drums, plus these guys add some fairly restrained synthesizers to flesh out their sound a bit. Also like Explosions Up-C have a tendency to sometimes become a bit too repetitive, and that results in an album that runs for more than an hour and a half but doesn’t really need to.

Half the tracks on the album run in the 10-minute plus range, with only the rather inspiring “Comfort me, I've Lost my Heart” meriting such lengthy treatment. The others, and especially “Sadako's Fury” and the closing “I Think about Forever” start off with promising vigor, but after a while I find myself waiting for a breakout arrangement or climax of some sort that never really develops. The term ‘noodling’ comes to mind.

Of the shorter tracks “New Year” is probably the most well-constructed with its gradual ascension into guitar feedback and aggressive percussion followed by a thudding and somewhat depressing letdown. Sort of like the way New Year’s turns out for many of those who celebrate it in liquid fashion.

Back to “Comfort me, I've Lost my Heart”. This is a standout track not only because the repetitive arrangement gets infused with a fair amount of percussive experimentation and synthesized strings; but also because the band doesn’t attempt to overwhelm and instead takes its time building to the inevitable climax, seemingly enjoying the ride for its own sake. I distinctly recall writing a similar description of an Explosions tune a while back. This is a very inspiring and thought-provoking piece of music and saves an otherwise pretty generic album.

There’s not enough material from Up-C available yet to form much of an opinion, but if they can manage to introduce a little discipline in their compositions and avoid sounding like a live jam band in the studio on future releases, I could see them having a bright future in the post-rock world. I’m going to give this three stars for effort and in deference to the fact that it technically represents their commercial debut. Hopefully their next album will be much more impressive, but if you’re into experimental rock and bands like Explosions and Mogwai (although a bit more hopped-up than them) you will probably find these guys worth listening to.

peace

Up-C Down-C's And the Battle is Won finds the band playing a fairly generic brand of post-rock based mainly on the sort of sound established by the likes of Mogwai and Godspeed You Black Emperor, though what they lack in originality they more than make up for in terms of performance and compositional skill. With expert production and sonic quality, the band are able to make best use of their adept command of tone and atmosphere to create epic soundscapes suitable to a film soundtrack. Creating the impression of an apocalypse every bit as terrifying as the foreboding album artwork, the band have crafted an excellent album.