ESPUMA

Tristeza are a post-rock band from the USA who started making music in the latter 90s, since then, they have gained recognition in North America mainly, but also in different parts of the world, including Europe and Japan. Their classic line-up, however, ended by 2003, when James LaValle decided to leave the band in order to create his alternative project: The Album Leaf. It is important to mention that a year earlier (2002) Stephen Swesey also left the band.

This EP is composed by some songs that did not fit in earlier albums, and also by new songs. "Espuma" released in 2003 features seven songs and a total time of 24 minutes. It kicks off with "Bankoku" which is a short one-minute introduction to the EP, just a nice soft atmospheric passage that will lead you to "Glimpse Exposure", this song has that guitar driven post-rock sound that bands like Explosions in the Sky or God is an Astronaut have. This is a nice song because of the different elements and nuances that can be heard while the seconds pass.

"Avant Reverse" is another short track which is not really interesting; you don't miss anything here, drums and keyboards and that's it. "Enchanter" is another short, well not that short track, it has some nice soundscapes and atmospheres, the bass lines and constant drums are quite nice, but the best thing here are the sounds make by keyboards.

At last a long song, "Living Stains" shares seven minutes of great post rock music. The guitar work here might not be astounding, but it is quite good, actually the mood and the atmosphere they create help a lot enjoying the song. If I am not wrong, this song was a live performance taken for this EP, it is a nice experience to hear how the song gradually grows and progresses.

"This Trap" is a soft theme that does not necessarily sounds as a post rock one, the acoustic guitar sound adds a nice touch to the music. The track is repetitive and may bore you, honestly is not a song I would remember. But on the other hand "All Countries" is a great track that returns to that guitar driven post rock sound creating emotions and images.

It is a nice EP, but honestly it is far from being one of Tristeza's highlights. Overall the songs are nice, maybe repetitive in moments and there are a couple of tracks easy to forget, though I would love to give this EP three stars, I actually would not say it is good and recommendable for anyone, so I would only recommend it to both, post-rock and of course, Tristeza fans.

Enjoy it!