UNTIL SUNRISE

As a popular and increasingly crowded form of progressive music, the realm of post-rock has expanded far beyond it's underground roots, now flowing into parts of the indie mainstream. Bands like Sigur Rós, Explosions In The Sky, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor have all captured the hearts of listeners who otherwise wouldn't have much to do with the prog rock scene. For it's concentration on feeling and atmosphere over everything else, there have been legions of bands that have come to try their hand at fashioning some post-rock of their own; some going on to do beautiful things, but many falling into a passive state of mediocrity. Hailing from Maryland, young rockers Until Sunrise show a measure of promise beyond many of their peers, and although this charming debut album has a fair deal of flaws to it's name, there's the undeniable feeling that with a little extra polish, this talented act could do amazing things.

Throughout the course of this self-titled release, Until Sunrise cycles through sounding like alot of the giants that made the genre so popular to begin with. While the sound here isn't incredibly unique however, Until Sunrise impresses with some very keen performing skills. Keeping in mind that at the time of recording this, the ages of the musicians ranges from 18 to as low as 13 years, the fact that such young artists can put a cohesive piece of work together is a feat all it's own. Each musician here is very inspired at playing his respective instrument. On a particularly impressive note is the skilled percussive work of Sam Dorsey, who for such a young musician, earns alot more emphasis and attention for his work than many other established drummers in post-rock. The guitar and bass work here is a bit more conventional for the genre, but very well done. Soaring guitar atmospherics of Joe Dorsey tear through the sound, being held down tightly by the catchy bass playing of Tanner Beard.

The songwriting here ranges from decent to excellent. The Sigur Rós-style ambiance of 'Sunset' is a beautiful opener to the album, and leads in well to 'Pink,' which despite being ten minutes long, is the most catchy track here and most accessible, thanks in no small part to the sensible bass work. 'Midnight' is a pretty typical post-rock track, but packs some nice guitar beauty into the four minutes. Next is by far the most energetic and peppy track; 'Insomnia.' Here, the pumped up speed doesn't work quite as well as the reflective pace of the other tracks, and while being an interesting dose of caffeine in the album, there are a few issues with the playing here that detracts from the composition itself.

Anyone who has looked at the track listing and song lengths will instantly have their attention caught by the existence of a twenty three minute long epic thrown into the middle of the album. While the prospect of such a long (and hopefully involving) piece is obviously exciting, the reality is that 'As The City Quietly Sleeps...' did seem to do what the title suggests; it lulled with into a drowsy state. While the epic has a few very powerful sections (particularly the grandiose finale), the track doesn't really feel like a cohesive piece, and may have been better off dividing into smaller songs, or doing without the less important sections of the track. 'As The City' does leave off on a good note however; the last few minutes are greeted by the introduction of some very nice violin flourishes which add to the epic feel that seemed to be lacking throughout a fair deal of the track.

Following an epic is generally a very difficult task for a song to accomplish. Ironically, the short interlude that follows doesn't only merit more love from me than the epic it trails, it is without a doubt, my most loved piece on the album. Wearing the influence of avant-garde metal legends maudlin of the Well on their sleeve, Until Sunrise fashions an acoustic interlude that truly would not sound out of place as an interlude on one of Maudlin's albums. With an organic production quality that seems to evade the rest of the album, it seems clear that if Until Sunrise continues to delve out pieces of quality like 'A Maudlin Interlude,' they will eventually have a masterpiece on their hands.

The next two tracks seem to follow the acoustically-tinged sound that was introduced by the interlude. While not as impressive, they incorporate the acoustic sound very well into the mix, leading towards the final piece on the album, 'Nostalgic Moment.' With some beautifully piano work and plenty of Devin Townsend-like ambiance, the track does well to finish the album.

While the album is generally enjoyable throughout, the biggest issue that 'Until Sunrise' faces is the production itself. Not that the quality of recording decides whether a piece of music is 'great' or not, but the production values here are very inconsistent throughout the album, which can lead to some confusion. While the first track works perfectly in both the way it is performed and recorded, some of the tracks that follow have a muddied production sound, which makes the heavier, distorted sections of the album incredibly noisy to the point of being throwaway. What makes this production issue confusing is that some sections of the album sound much more professional than others. For example, while sections of 'Insomnia' do retain quite a bit of the amateur execution, 'Sunset', 'Sunrise' and especially 'A Maudlin Interlude' sound perfect for what they are. But as it is, each song seems to have different production values under it's belt, which sounds to me like the album may need a good case of remastering.

As it stands however, Until Sunrise has crafted an impressive indie recording with their debut. While post-rock does seem to be an increasingly tired style of music, this band definitely deserves recognition for their work, and despite not having found a unique voice for themselves yet, each member of the band proves through their skill that they have what it takes to make a real mark on the scene.

The wave of post-rock music had been recently getting a little ridiculous. Bands like Sigur Ros, Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Do Say Make Think are good, and so is Until Sunrise, but albums such as these really take a good hour to waste and the willingness to subject yourself to an hour of sub-par grade ambient rock music. True, some songs on the album can be seen as enjoyable, but most ramble on into the obscurity from effected guitars and overly complex drums.

Sunset, the opening track, can be seen as one of the best on the album. It takes quite a while for the album to open, but when it does the song soars above the simple ambient rock that the majority of the album encompasses.

Pink is another good track, but, despite the fact that I love long songs, the 10 minute length of this song is tedious. The musicianship could be cleaned up also, but musically the track is just about par. Recommendations for this track: simplify, simplify, simplify: complex fast solos and overly difficult drumlines don't work when they can't be played properly.

Midnight is a little weaker, although it is much shorter and your attention won't wander into oblivion over the 4 minutes. The song gets interesting at some points, although the drumlines again could be simplified.

Insomnia is an odd change of pace for the album which is welcome in the monotony of overly extended notes and ambiance. It has a distinct funky quality, although the mastering is a little sub par, but that can be ignored, seeing as it is a home recording. Although, transitions between feels are very choppy and harsh. And again, the drumlines are way too bombastic for the music.

As the City Quietly Sleeps is good, but had more downsides than upsides. The length is extreme but acceptable, especially for this kind of music. The transition into the heavier more interesting sections doesn't take an obnoxious amount of time and the more bombastic sections aren't too difficult to listen to, although they are very odd mixed in with this type of music. Soloing in this song is more acceptable and the musicianship had improved.

A Maudlin Interlude is a very much needed break from the post-rock hosh posh with a much better mastered acoustic piece that is a nice happy variety to the music.

Sunrise is a much darker and disturbing song. In my opinion, it is one of the better songs on the album, where the overly bombastic drumlines are somewhat nice behind the soaring guitars.

First Sign of Summer is similar to the Interlude, a nice well mastered somewhat acoustic song with distinguishable melody and harmony that adds a nice touch to the album.

Nostalgic Moment is a very nice ending to a very sub-par album. The piano is a nice addition to the mainly ambient guitar album. The melodic work with the piano is creative and enjoyable amongst bombastic drums and still ambient guitar.

ALBUM OVERALL: A very sub-par album. I was under the impression that I had received the "remastered" edition of each song... and if this is true, I would never want to hear the original, because these songs are horrible mastered. A recommendation for the release: get someone who remotely knows what they are doing to record you, get simpler more workable drumlines (you don't need to constantly show off) and make more interesting tracks that are different from each other, such as the interludes and Insomnia. I feel bad giving such a bad review to a new band, but there is way too much room for improvement. I'm hoping for a better album in a year or two. 2- stars.

Until Sunrise is a young US post band whose first self-titled album was released in 2010, but the one I am reviewing now is the re-release with the alternate name of "Oxide Tones", here it features ten compositions that make a total time of 75 minutes, so yeah, it is a long album. The music here is post rock in its soft, mellow side, with instrumental tracks that create beautiful atmospheres, calm passages and peaceful moments.

The first song is entitled "Sunset", and since this piece I could say Until Sunrise shows us their style and musical tendency; the music starts softly but then it flows and little by little becomes more intense, creating that inherent emotional sound in post rock acts. "Pink" is one of the longer tracks of the album, reaching the ten minutes. The first moments are calm, smooth and relaxing, later it progresses and more elements can be heard, however the music in my point of view never reaches a climax, never explodes, in spite of that weird guitar riff after four minutes. So despite it is a good composition, I expected a moment of seduction, a nucleus, and it may has it, but I simply did not find it.

"Midnight" starts with drums, later bass, guitars and the atmospheric synth join and create a nice and mellow track. It later takes us to "Insomnia" which has a kind of funky guitar that creates a funky post rock sound. Before reaching two minutes the music becomes a bit crazy, they change the direction and try to experiment, but in my honest opinion, the result fails because it does not attract me at all. Anyway is a nice try, it is always good to experiment, not all people dare to do it, but well, sorry guys I did not like this particular track, though its second half is much better.

Until Sunrise surprises us with a challenging 23-minute song in their debut album, something that has to be applauded just for the fact they were capable to compose it. The name is "As the City Quietly Sleeps" and it really starts as softly as if people were sleeping or getting relaxed, that's the good news, the bad news is that all of a sudden after three minutes they wanted to wake up everybody and make a drastic change into a much heavier sound, which is out of place in my opinion. Later it becomes rockier, not that heavier, but the experimentation does not seem to end because they create mini-songs in this whole track, I mean, we can appreciate different passages, some of them are pretty cool, some others aren't, the heavier ones in particular, which actually sound really amateurish and as I said, out of place.

"A Maudlin Interlude" is one of the shortest compositions, with two and a half minutes of acoustic guitar, delicate percussion, some piano notes and a complementary harmonica, sweet. "Sunrise" is a nice track that starts with a dark atmosphere that later is becoming lighter. Here we can listen to a combination of both, acoustic and electric guitar, accompanied by drums and bass, as usual. The acoustic feeling continues until the song finishes, but also continues in the next track entitled "First Signs of Summer" which happens to be the shortest of the whole album. This three-song part of the record seems to be contrast with what the band offered in the previous tracks, which is not bad at all, but it is also an indication that they are trying to find out their own identity, their own sound.

The album finishes with "Nostalgic Moment" and "Another Nostalgic Moment", two songs that judging by the title may perfectly work together. The music is mellow, relaxing and beautiful mainly due to the piano; later it becomes a bit heavier and more emotional, but here it perfectly flows, it is not forced like previous tracks. In the second nostalgic moment I can listen a better quality mainly in the bass, though the music is practically the same, they could have made a 14 minute track instead of these two, but anyway, I believe this is my favorite part of the album.

I cannot deny the trio has talent, these guys are working hard and one really appreciates that, however, I invite them to work even harder because I am sure they have more to learn offer in the near future. This album shows the first steps, but now I expect their upcoming productions with surely more mature stuff. My final grade will be 2.75 rounded to three.

Enjoy it!