Search - Do Make Say Think :: You You're a History in Rust (Dig)

Doing, making, saying and thinking their most consistent alb

IRate | 02/27/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Impressive combination of growth and retrospect help earn DMST's latest their most compelling spin yet. It is a highly balanced album, never feeling drowned out in artistic grandeur, rarely missing an appealing transition in the band's collective array of melodic assaults, and hardly rambling on any of their thoughtfully constructed jams before producing some of post-rocks most non-generic musical celebrations. In short, their tightest album to date, as eclectic in band member's unique musical insight as it is unilaterally appealing in a non-pretentious way, quite the accomplishment for this rather pigeon-holed genre of pseudo-epic, mopey mope constructs.



It may not hold all the cathartic release of previous master-tracks, but side-by-side this album is a more musically captivating whole then anything previous, all we could have asked for is a longer album with more cuts. Unfortunately, the band may even be trying a little too hard to branch out into the uncharted territories of, gasp, vocals, bleeding through their BSC influence on the disc's only lapse from an underlying constructive integrity all other songs provide (which in the latter half, so blatantly molds an awesome guitar line after Enemy Airship's "Apartment Song" that I hope it was some sort of intended reflection, but probably isn't). Rest assured, everything else manages to keep this band completely relevant, confident that they remain in an awesome state creatively.







1st impressions track by track:



1.Powerfully tight, fluid opener capitalizing on all their upbeat strengths



2.Plodding, vocal laden track, latter half paying homage? to an earlier album's riff



3.Melodically intricate, spirited, unrelenting rock flow predicated upon the bombastic simpleton chorus



4.Spacey intro giving way to acoustic melancholy of an introspective order



5.playfull yet mesmerizing, beautifully woven soft/loud dynamics amidst the romantic, historical musicality



6.convincing synthesis of past album's drugbore cowboy essence



7.another hypnotic new-school psychedelic jam caves in a little on itself before rising to the bombastic level of genius the band has cultivated and rides it to a sunrise end



8. winning down-home ditty that blasts off and manages to use it's other vocal section effectively despite an overbearing distortion fading out"

Yet another consistent and engaging album from the group

somethingexcellent | Lincoln, NE United States | 03/28/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Many years ago, I took a chance and bought three albums on a little upstart label from Canada. At the time, the only band that I'd actually heard on their roster was Godspeed You Black Emperor, but that was good enough for me, and I picked up releases by Exhaust, Sofa, and a group called Do Make Say Think. The rest, as they say, is history, and after a series of steady albums that little unknown group with four verbs as their name became artists that I could simply count on to release great music time in and time out with every album.



Times change a bit, and with seemingly every member of the group participating in about 3 other projects, there was bound to be a period where their other obligations would pull them away. With several members sharing time in the successful Broken Social Scene and other members having children and generally living their lives, it's been almost four years between the release of Winter Hymn Country Hymn Secret Hymn and the long-awaited You, You're A History In Rust. Like previous albums, there are places where the release doesn't sink in on first listen, and yet in most places it's like they haven't skipped a beat.



Opening track "Bound To Be That Way" is a perfect example of the group falling right back into things, as the song mixes gorgeous heavy strums of guitar with more propulsive sections that incorporate everything from banjo to buzzing bass while peaking in two delightful crescendos. "A With Living" follows, and it's a slight curveball, with vocal contributions from Akron/Family that really flesh things out in places while at the same time running a bit overlong at over nine minutes in length.



A nice mixture of upbeat and more measured instrumental work, the release shows off some nice dynamics from the group, with everything from cranked-up guitar workouts like "The Universe" to hushed acoustic guitar and ambience pieces like "A Tender History In Rust." In some ways, the release feels like sort of a fifty-minute compendium of all their work done to date, with songs that have similar feels to different tracks off past albums without sounding directly like anything else they've done before.



As a fan of the group, it's simply hard to argue with propulsive pieces like "Executioner's Blues," which scatters their insanely lush guitar chords and crisp polyrhythms over more guitar parts and synths that cascade and build to gleeful blowouts. Like their previous album, they even end things with a downright poppy track that's upbeat while holding just a hint of resignation (and an insanely loud ending). In the end, You, You're A History In Rust is eight more songs from a group who as mentioned above has become one of the more remarkably consistent and adventurous ones out there, especially considering the crowded playing field that they inhabit. One of my favorite albums so far in this very young year.



(from almost cool music reviews)"

Listener-friendly DMST -- quite a good album

M | USA | 05/21/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I've been listening to DMST for some time now but this I'm enjoying this new CD more than any of their others. Apart from the ridiculous song titles, this is a great mix of jazzy, catchy but not simple- or "pop"-sounding songs; and the vocal parts are actually very well integrated into the songs. Not one track that I skip. Bottom line: if you've ever been "on the fence" with DMST, this album is a good one to hear. Too many post-rock outfits are little more than Mogwai sound-a-likes (e.g. MONO), but DMST has a unique sound. And by the way, DMST is surprisingly good in concert. --- P.S. Other lesser-known post-rock outfits to sample: SAXON SHORE, MASERATI, GOD IS AN ASTRONAUT, and EL TEN ELEVEN."