To be honest, during my first few listens of this album, I hated it. I couldn't pinpoint the source of my hatred for this band, which made me dislike the album even more, and I put it away to never be listened to again. A few months later, after having a rather dismal day, I was looking through my post-rock collection of cd's for something calming to listen to when I stumbled upon a blank cd with an X hastily written through the title. It was, of course, Do Make Say Think- & Yet & Yet. I eyed it warily, as some sort of a showdown and threw it in my CD player, pressed play and layed down, deciding that it had won and I was going to give it another open minded listen.
I layed in my bed, already spaced out as the music began with a guitar playing over tightly played cymbals somewhat off tempo and trying to find its place in the rhythym, dwelling on the events of my day, when, around the 2 minute mark, where everything comes together and melts into this wonderful groove, I understood the music. & Yet & Yet didnt care about my day; it didnt matter if I had just had the best or the worst moment of my life, the music wasnt going to emphasize or show pity or empathy for my feelings and try to make me feel better, it was just going to keep flowing, regardless of whether I listened or left the room or slept. So of course I listened to the whole CD nonstop for awhile and took in everything it had to say. I realized that the thing that had made me hate them was the lack of emotion. Instead of going for songs that made you feel really sad or really happy, they create songs that are nothing but mellow, which isn't a bad thing, but rather a unique thing that seems to set Do Make Say Think apart from other post-rock bands.
Their music is very similar to that of a river, sometimes an ocean. The music can swell, recede, and carve a path through the tight drumming of James Payment and Dave Mitchell. It can be calm and relaxing, lazy, or strong and powerful. It seems to be totally unaware of what the listener thinks, and seems to flow the way it wants, taking side paths into different breakdowns, branching out, and growing. The guitars can sound anywhere from Explosions in the Sky, to droning and delayed like those of My Bloody Valentine, and like in White Light Of and Reitschule, can sound alot like labelmates Godspeed You! Black Emperor. They usually take guitar riffs and work around them, keeping things repetitive, while a nice subtle guitar, horn, string, etc. melody shines through. Even the plain repetitiveness doesn't get boring because there is so much going on and it's not dragged out. It also makes for a fresh, different listen every time. As well as guitar and drums, this 5-some also has a superb bass player who is featured on "Reitschule", various strings, an organ, samples, a trumpet (also featured on Reitschule and White Light Of ), and the almost Talk Talk-esque vocals of Tamara Willamson in "Soul and Onward".
In all, this is a fantastic album to just space out to, but also makes for a very lovely, interesting listen on its own. All of the tracks are pretty solid; and have enough spacing to where you can pick where one song ends and another begins. Do Make Say Think are finally growing into themselves as a band with this fine third release, and have brought their own style and sound to the great table of post-rock, and seem to fit there nicely.
Suggested Songs:
End of Music
White Light Of
Reitschule
Soul and Onward
