January 17, 2000 - Explosions In The Sky and How Strange, Innocence

Happy new year and new milennium! Seven weeks after my last release a new band joins my library when Explosions In The Sky released their debut album "How Strange, Innocence" on January 17, 2000. But who are Explosions in the Sky? They are a four-piece post-rock band from Austin and Midland, Texas consisting of Chris Hrasky (drums, percussion), Mark Smith (guitar, keyboards), Munaf Rayani (guitar, keyboards) and Michael James (guitar, bass, keyboards). With such flexibility to be able to play however many guitars/keyboards at any time, Explosions plays a cool style of post-rock that is mostly pretty quiet, but at times can hit some loud peaks. Let's see what Explosions in the Sky is all about!

The album begins with "A Song For Our Fathers" and James plays a solid light bass riff to start things off. Smith and Rayani each play a different light guitar riff and along with Hrasky's light drums we have an interesting medley of music. They seamlessly change the guitar riffs every now and then to keep things fresh and interesting and eventually one of them plays a cool louder guitar riff and Hrasky's drumming changes to a nice loud beat. Things continue to get louder from here with some droning backing guitars and it's a pretty good finish to this slow-building song before they end it as it began on bass. A pretty solid opener that is a good introduction to what Explosions are all about. Up next is "Snow And Lights" and they open with a nice fast part with some solid drums and lots of clashing guitars, but things quiet down after a minute and one guitarist takes the spotlight with a new slow but interesting riff. Everyone starts to slowly build around this riff as Hrasky starts up a nice slow drum beat and James and the other guitarist add some different stuff to the background that all mixes together quite nicely. Eventually the drums fall away and things sound very quiet, but also kind of epic as the slow guitar continues. When the guitar starts to speed up the drums return and they jam out a nice ending riff that takes us past the eight minute mark. A nice finish to a good song. Track 3 is "Magic Hours" and it starts with a cool guitar riff and we hear another guitar and bass join in along with a light drum beat and this is certainly an interesting opening. After several minutes the mood stays light, but the riff shifts in a new direction as they once again do a really nice slow build-up. And they do it real slow, over several minutes of things getting a little louder and a little more interesting. Once Hrasky is going all out with some pretty great drums things sound pretty sweet and the guitars are very loud and distorted, and this takes us all the way to the end of another eight-plus minute song. Well done guys! The next track is "Look Into The Air" and one guitarist plays a light but solid lead riff while the other guitarist, bass and drums all build around it with their own parts to complete an interesting main riff that is light, but has lots going on. This goes on for several minutes of solid light jamming until a loud distorted note signals a shift to a new direction. A new guitar riff starts to lead the way and Hrasky plays some pretty cool fast drums in this part that takes us right to the end of the song. Track 5 is "Glittering Blackness" and one guitarist plays a really slow and simple main riff, the other guitarist complements things with a slow, high guitar riff and James and Hrasky provide a light rhythm section to match. When things get louder they definitely sound better to me as the drums and guitars both increase in volume and sound pretty epic. After a bit of jamming this part out things get quieter again and then they start a slow build around this new riff that slowly takes us all the way to the end of the song. The quiet-to-loud dynamic was on great display on this one. Up next is the longest song on the album, the near ten minute "Time Stops". There's no drums for the first several minutes as one guitarist plays a solid light guitar riff and the other guitarist and bassist do their own slow riff. The two riffs are completely different and at different paces, but they mesh pretty well and although some might think this to be boring, I like what's going on and am happy to float along with the music. Almost five minutes in a new faster guitar riff starts up and I like this new direction we're headed in. Eventually things turns into a full-blown explosion as Hrasky finally joins with some loud and sweet drums and the sound of all three other members playing guitar, one of them pretty damn fast, sounds so loud and powerful! This loud part lasts for a good couple minutes and eventually things quiet down, but only at the very finish. The second half of this song was pretty awesome! The final track on the album is "Remember Me As A Time Of Day" and it has a slow and echo-y opening and we hear a twang-y acoustic guitar riff play along with it which makes for an interesting mix. They never really stray from this make-up for the whole five-plus minutes and things sound good, but it's all pretty light and fluffy.

That is the end of "How Strange, Innocence" and I thought it was a good album! Explosions in the Sky have really nailed their style with some pretty cool light but interesting music. I especially loved the louder parts, and Chris Hrasky seems like a pretty good drummer! It probably won't end up on the year-end list for it's awesomeness, but it is some cool post-rock that I'm happy to have in the collection. I look forward to seeing where they go from here!