It's always unfortunate when a band plays the right thing at the wrong point in time.
Portland, Oregon's alterna-rock trio, Stars of Track and Field, fashion a stylistic endeavor with their third outing, "Centuries before Love and War," but get washed out in a veritable sea of indie attempters. A few years back, the album might have been groundbreaking.
Highly emotive pieces packed with trickling keys and pulsing guitar set the stage for challenged rocktronics, which is at times sparse, at times compelling, but always fused into a comprehensive dynamism.
"Centuries before Love and War" is produced and mixed by Tony Lash, whose track record of working with Death Cab for Cutie and Elliott Smith is probably the best indicator of Stars of Track and Field's sound.
The lyrics, which are dark and at least an inch or so beneath the surface, accompany deceptively playful melodies and poignant refrains, always to an uplifting extent.
Borrowing their best bits from Radiohead, the guitars harp on tonics and simple intervals. Meanwhile, the percussion slips from taut digitals to full on, acoustic-kit blowout seamlessly.
It might not be post-rock, per se, but the recipe undoubtedly signifies post-trauma. Kevin Calaba's voice is strangely brave in its reticence and is almost unbearable in songs like "Lullaby for a G.I."
"Don't close your eyes / You might fall asleep / Don't close your eyes / You might fall to pieces."
The group's driving languor might momentarily appease Mogwai fans, while fans of The Postal Service could dig other points, as long as either group hadn't heard Mogwai and The Postal Service four years ago.
Otherwise, there are no lulls along the progression of this album, only the risk of weariness throughout.
This record's first minute and a half tells all one needs to know. On "Centuries," major keys and processed beats that set the tempo for the heavily effected vocals, which, prior to an acoustic eruption, lazily hum a handful of elusive lines.
"Fool Cut your face / Comedown, you're up in space / Are you here? Or are you there? / Join the cause, or are you scared?"
If pained expression and post-dialectics don't please the listener's palate, the next hour will be a test of endurance.
"Centuries before Love and War" is a decent record that merely runs the risk of having been done before, or of being a bore. Stars of Track and Field are sincere, but sincerity was last year's fad.
