… And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead
You can’t blame …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead for not trying. After ripping onto the indie scene with its third full-length album, 2002’s Source Tags and Codes, the band has tried to recreate the same highly-revered anarchic magic. However, on the Austin, Texas-based quartet’s fifth effort, Worlds Apart, Trail of Dead takes on the lofty task of creating more grandiose orchestral indie-punk, and produces somewhat mixed results.
Like little symphonic suites, several of Worlds Apart’s tracks work in movements. At nearly seven minutes long, “Will You Smile Again For Me” is the album’s centerpiece.
After a minute and a half of crescendoing action movie score rock, the pounding drums and power chords drop out for smoky trumpet and a ’70s psychedelia interlude before breaking back into the final movement of thinking man’s hard rock.
Like many tracks on the album, “Will You Smile Again For Me” has lyrics from vocalist Conrad Keely’s that often walk the fine line between adolescent garage scribe and philosophic penman (“Close the door and drift away into a sea of uncertainty,” “have you forgot just what you are”) and can at times hamper even the best song.
Keely’s voice is an intriguing mix of Billy Joe Armstrong, Colin Meloy and Liam Gallagher, and the sometimes out-of-tune whelp, sometimes punk growl has a way of molding itself to each song.
On “Summer ’91,” Keely perfectly mixes the punk charm with simpler piano ballad-style longing that Dashboard Confessional’s Chris Carraba would kill for, and pens one of the album’s lyrical highlights, “although the summer’s past its mythic dreams will never last/do I care anymore?” With poppy background instrumentation and unusually peppy lyrics “Summer ’91” is a blend of questioning and nostalgia.
“Caterwaul” and “Classic Art Showcase,” which recall the early ’90s youthful aggression and rebelliousness of the Smashing Pumpkins and Sonic Youth, are held together tightly by Jason Reece’s rumbling drums.
There’s a lot packed into these 12 layered and densely orchestrated prog rock-inspired numbers, which clock in at a mere 45 minutes. And while the band attempts to distance itself from its contemporaries, Trail of Dead can be just as catchy and alt-rock radio ready.
In the end, Worlds Apart is a manicured album of sonic dominance, comprised of songs meant to wrap around your head and engulf the senses. And while the album often succeeds, even Trail of Dead’s best might not be good enough with such high expectations to live up to.
