& YET & YET

Do Make Say Think have not made one album that sounds like another, but there first two albums were very much along the defining lines of post-rock in sound and attitude. Here, with & Yet &Yet, the band starts to expand (and would continue to do so with their subsequent release) the scope of their music. The group has developed a sound that stands in stark contrast with their contemporaries: a cheery sound. Anyone would be able to note the generally dark or melancholy aura emitted by post-rock music. Certainly the beauty of the music is enough to give you a feeling of warmth and joy inside, but as beautiful as it gets, one will never be able to have a feel-good post- rock unless they have this album. The undertones still bear the melancholic mark of post-rock, but the atmospheres presented are very perky.

Musically speaking, the group has shown growth. They are experimenting more often with horns and effects, and it's very much to their benefit here. They never do too much, and they never stray too far from one vision throughout the whole album, which works both for and against them; on the following album, the group would have trouble keeping a coherent album with all of the ideas they endeavor to use, but they manage to reach even greater heights on a handful of the songs. This album has a distinct set of relative riffs including delicate, jocular bass lines, horn segments, and soft clean guitars - not a single note on this album is distorted , which is also hard to come by in post-rock, as it does make for mesmerizing climaxes. All backed by nice, jazzy drumming. The songs will not climax like a typical post-rock song, but instead, they soothe you from start to finish; no surprises or changes of pace. This album is much like a musical masseuse, and you can hear her sing a little on "Soul and Onward." It is a short, but quite nice vocal humming, by whom I have no idea.

As this album is very relaxing and monotone, it's more of a background album. It is a great album for when you're just "chillin" alone, or even with company. You won't have much to really disect when listening to this, and heck, even if you tried to, you would lose your concentration. It's somewhat enigmatic in the sense that you probably will never fully understand it because you never will be able to focus on it the whole time. I can't decide whether if that should be counted as a postive or negative feat. You decide.