TULSA DRONE – SONGS FROM A MEAN SEASON (THE PERPETUAL MOTION MACHINE)
In a time where/when post-rock has been done to death, to the point of being offensively bland, the light tones and impending menace of Tulsa Drone dive in and remind you of how refreshing and invigorating the genre can still be at other times. With motions that display real drive I find myself indulging in a record from a category/genre that I have long since deserted.
Since it’s heyday around the turn of century when every band with a dick discovered Spiderland, the post-rock sound has really mutated in several variations of the same, the most oblique of which turned into mashed soundscapes of unlistenable feedback while the poorest turned into temper testing almost silent noodles. When people added narrative samples those gestures only saw them suffering from enduring comparisons to certain bands on Kranky. Compositions became too intricate, bellowing some kind of jazz-esqe self satisfying blow like a nail in the coffin. For me it all ended when the originators appeared to get bored of the genre, when the majority of latecomers sound 99% like Mogwai, a number of them began working on their song writing craft, adding lyrics and discovering some kind of twist on folk it would seem. The other fork in the road seemed to be a wrong turn towards the avant garde and the introduction of too many marginal instruments, a gesturing of concentrating too hard on making unique sounds rather than improving on the actual song writing process. Ultimately it felt lazy.
Tulsa Drone thankfully represent something refined and satisfying. The songs are light and airy as if addressing something significant. At times there is also what appears to be something of a Russian influence haunting the sound; in the distance believe. This could be the sound of a red dawn.
The band hails from Richmond, VA and can boast membership that includes appearances on records by such established acts of the genre as Pan American and Labradford, so this is not an act without pedigree. It works.
Thesaurus moment: reliable.
Tulsa Drone
In a time where/when post-rock has been done to death, to the point of being offensively bland, the light tones and impending menace of Tulsa Drone dive in and remind you of how refreshing and invigorating the genre can still be at other times. With motions that display real drive I find myself indulging in a record from a category/genre that I have long since deserted.
Since it’s heyday around the turn of century when every band with a dick discovered Spiderland, the post-rock sound has really mutated in several variations of the same, the most oblique of which turned into mashed soundscapes of unlistenable feedback while the poorest turned into temper testing almost silent noodles. When people added narrative samples those gestures only saw them suffering from enduring comparisons to certain bands on Kranky. Compositions became too intricate, bellowing some kind of jazz-esqe self satisfying blow like a nail in the coffin. For me it all ended when the originators appeared to get bored of the genre, when the majority of latecomers sound 99% like Mogwai, a number of them began working on their song writing craft, adding lyrics and discovering some kind of twist on folk it would seem. The other fork in the road seemed to be a wrong turn towards the avant garde and the introduction of too many marginal instruments, a gesturing of concentrating too hard on making unique sounds rather than improving on the actual song writing process. Ultimately it felt lazy.
Tulsa Drone thankfully represent something refined and satisfying. The songs are light and airy as if addressing something significant. At times there is also what appears to be something of a Russian influence haunting the sound; in the distance believe. This could be the sound of a red dawn.
The band hails from Richmond, VA and can boast membership that includes appearances on records by such established acts of the genre as Pan American and Labradford, so this is not an act without pedigree. It works.
Thesaurus moment: reliable.
Tulsa Drone
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