It seems odd that instrumental bands even bother to name their songs, especially if they all flow so well collectively. In fact, the tracks off of Firmament, the new release from the Raleigh-based trio Gray Young, flow so well that they seem like one big piece. The group has graced the Triangle scene before, with the lulling Kindle Field E.P., but this is a more personal progress. The album’s epic miniature symphonies of soaring post-rock anthems evoke a forceful pounding of drums and bass, culminating in a cathartic slumber. It leaves many a listener moodily swaying in its brilliance.
While one cannot help but notice obvious similarities to bands like Explosions in the Sky, Caspian, Mono and The Appleseed Cast, to name a few, Gray Young exploits its own familiar sound with gravitational potential. The soft, breathy vocals complement the melodic blare of guitars and bass. It’s forceful and gloomy, but ethereal and infectious. Gray Young does not bother with extremely long songs that tend to be a staple on most instrumental albums (Hello, Godspeed! You Black Emperor). Instead, the band focuses on creating a poignant parting in the album openers “Provenance” and “Convoy”, eliciting a meditative simplicity as brief and wistful as fading autumn leaves.
The droopy strumming does tends to wear off near the end of Firmament, however, as the band sluggishly relays the remainder of the record. The songs start sounding more and more alike as the album starts to thin. The strange murmurs of”(Ghost Notes)” clouts an otherwise vivid instrumentation, but the cascading forays are only minor in the album’s overall beauty.
What makes Gray Young special is its local sensibility and the sense of pride it creates for people of Raleigh and all of North Carolina in the same way Explosions in the Sky does for Austin, Texas. But geographical sentiments aside, Gray Young is a rhythmic harvest. The warm and distorted guitar tones in “Tilling the Wind” and the steady bass solo in “Cavalcade for Sundown” are rare finds in the recession-worn era of disbanding groups and suffering local music shops. But the soft teasing of brooding intensity, none more prevalent than in the luscious “Firmament” pleads a change, or a “new era of responsibility” if you will.
The thing about post-rock instrumental bands is that no member is more critical than any other. It’s all a collaborative effort. The members of Gray Young, post-rockers they are, give their all to this equivocal intimacy and receive the same incandescence tit-for-tat. Music this raw and delicate deserves more than to be mentioned or placed on a soundtrack of some television drama. It should be enjoyed beyond the scope of Raleigh’s backyard. It should be sought for.
Gray Young will be playing a CD release show with Goner at Slim’s Downtown on Feb. 20th.
