Because of Ghosts - TheTomorrow We Were PromisedYesterday

Thu 30th Nov, 2006 in Music Reviews

To the (inquisitive) outsider looking in it may appear that our Great Southern Land is enjoying somewhat of a fine harvest this year in the worldly field of challenging instrumental music. The past few months have yielded applauded albums by the likes of Laura (here), The Instant (here) and now also Melbourne’s Because of Ghosts that take listeners on journeys – bumpy, exhilarating, emotional, clearly not prog-rock style adventures – and deserve to put Australia’s post-rock (more on this soon) scene squarely on the map, not just internationally but for the benefit of the nation’s own. Of course fans of the genre (also known as “it’s not post-rock”) might argue that the quality has always been there – and they may well be right in saying so – but let’s just rejoice in the fact that there is much to be excited by at the moment.

Because of Ghosts, and in particular the three-piece’s debut album The Tomorrow We Were Promised Yesterday, are well worthy of said excitement. Through a slew of independent/relatively low-profile releases, the trio have built up a strong reputation for their moody, slow-burning and, importantly, not always head-down instrumental music. The new album should see that standing solidify if not grow.

Raw and calculated are two words that are considered all too often to be polar opposites but Because of Ghosts combine the pair to often stunning effect. Most significantly you can forget most modern touchstones – Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky, Godspeed You Black Emperor! – these guys stand alone, lonely, although the ghosts of Dirty Three tiptoe quietly in the background. Overall, Because of Ghosts deserve the accolades Because of Themselves.

It begins in a subdued manner; the brief The Stars The Stars The Stars ushers in a sense hushed innocence before opener-proper ‘Fall Short of Certainty’ introduces a surprisingly successful emotion-rendering tool, the glockenspiel. The track is nothing short of wonderful – evoking thoughts of encroaching winter, the destruction it foresees, and the doubtful times ahead. When it rains it pours, for the beauty continues on to So Quick, a slowly building piece replete with enticing guitar flourishes.

Further along, tracks eight and nine, Let Words Help Pictures and Bright Things Come to Confusion respectively, conjure varying, though even more enlivening takes on the template. The former, at eight minutes, is the album’s epic, a menacingly quiet to loud exploration of sound, whilst the latter offers the biggest surprise on record. Opening with a hazy, late night, chorale recital the song initially takes the form of a conventional singsong before it all gets a bit raucous although still mid-paced, much to the delight of ears such as mine.

With The Tomorrow We Were Promised Yesterday Because of Ghosts have done the footwork for a marvellous expedition, all the while veering away from the much-trodden paths of their post-rocking forefathers. It is hard to say exactly where it differentiates from others’ efforts but that is the beauty of listening for one’s self – you only truly reap what you, yourself, sow.