III. From Fathoms (by) Gifts From Enola Post-Rock / Shoegaze / Post-Hardcore
Gifts From Enola's approach to an over-crowded genre is as subtle as it is interesting. A casual listener might dismiss them as "yet another post-rock band," but that would be a mere knee-jerk response, and a terrible mistake. GFE is another post-rock band, but they're deceptively clever about it. I was bored with most of 2009's post-rock contenders, even many albums from skilled old hands. From Fathoms contains no fancy gimmicks to set it apart, no orchestra or tap-dancing or Egyptian-themed lyrics with 4000 year old chord-progressions. There are hints of electronica, a few sound clips here and there and casually-dispersed vocals. But for the most part, this is upfront no-bullshit post-rock. With emphasis on the rock.
Gifts From Enola's main asset is their directness. Led by clean-toned guitars that explode into the mix, songs wash over you with astonishing freshness, wave upon wave of thick solid riffs. That, I think, is the greatest compliment I can give this album, especially considering its genre: more than half a year after it came out, From Fathoms still sounds incredibly fresh each of the many times I listen to it. There is so much energy here, so much enthusiasm and vigor for their music, GFE washes away all the rote, timid post-rock conventions, the epic build-ups and simmering, stewing guitar haze. Sure, there's reverb and delay and crescendos, and song-structures often lead to a pretty epic conclusion, but they do so much more than that along the way. Too many post-rock bands have discovered that a few choice guitar chords and ponderous effects will evoke certain basic emotions, and they dwell upon this, plucking away at melancholy as if it were a result and not a feeling. From Fathoms deconstructs the formula and reassembles it as something new and interesting. Songs are thick and fluid—if Do Make Say Think creates tidal music, GFE has created oceanic music, a background of beautiful storms led by a refreshingly earnest, unpretentious crash of guitars. Song structures don't follow any particular conventions, simply going where they wish, building up and knocking down, often thicker and deeper than you can see through—a major part of the album's freshness and energy. When they want to drop you into a bit of shoegazey indie rock with light vocals, they make sure you notice, they don't waste space with meaningless interludes. When screams come in and then fade out, there's suddenly space, an open sky and a sense of place, a beautiful Alcest-ian acoustic passage to move you forward into the next storm. From Fathoms is often heavy but never sludgey, and so the music seems to drench you, tugging and pushing and tossing you around instead of simply burying you in the mud.
Few bands can pull off the transition from light to dark or beautiful to catastrophic as sublimely as GFE. It's no coincidence that so much of this album mirrors a trip out to sea, and From Fathoms could easily be considered a concept album of sorts, ruthlessly shredding your ship with the colossal "Trieste," stuffing your head in the sink for a while before ending in a trio of surprisingly uplifting, heavy-hitting jams. I have no real qualms with this album, but it should be noted that it is very much an "album"—songs are not meant to stand on their own, and to some (unimportant) extent, they don't. I cannot listen to From Fathoms without listening to the whole thing, a testament to GFE's ability to rush you forward without ever seeming forced or hurried about it. This album covers vast emotional ground (emotional water?), impressively pulling off both sorrow and optimism without ever being manipulative or dull.
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