There was a time when Austin, Texas’ sonic maelstrom and all round mouth-full …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead were as hot as iron ore at melting point (1530° celsius, science fans) and had hipsters queuing round the block to get branded. Ever since At the Drive In pile-drove in though and elasticised their way past them, searing a lasting impression into the earth and then promptly and impressively imploding, Trail Of Dead have struggled to retake their crown in spite of some engaging attempts to rise from the ashes of their beginnings and move forward, not to mention some mesmerising live performances. ‘Worlds Apart’ for instance, major-label streamlined but far from flat-lined, should have really made them Arcade Fire big before the famous Canadians even had chance, though obviously it didn’t. But with 2006’s ‘So Divided’ so drearily funereal compared to their visceral, concussive triumphs of old, they suddenly sounded like ill-serviced machinery giving up the ghost. But nothing forces you back to your feet like a fall and accordingly ‘The Century Of Self’ actually turns out to be a rich, pent up, fuzz-explosion of audio shrapnel, torrents of melody flung around wildly in the resultant whirlwind. Still trying to prove there’s more to them than an appropriation of Sonic Youth’s back catalogue, furious Celtic jig ‘Isis Unveiled’ verges on The Levellers’ ‘Battle Of the Beanfield’ but to no detriment, ‘Giant Causeway’ is statuesque like Mogwai and ‘Insatiable’ parts 1 and 2 are veritably 16th century banquet. It is still the work of an older band – this is no straight reversion back to the impulsive dynamite force of ‘Source Tags & Codes’ and ‘Madonna’ – and we’re sure we can hear a classic Tom Petty record knocking on the underside of the surface discord trying to get out (see the anthemic ‘Halcyon Days’ and ‘Fields Of Coal’), but it is fluidly jarring, constantly creative and often unremittingly loud. The trail very much continues…
share this:
