Review Summary: Great new post-rock? In this economy?
Halfway Line’s three-song debut EP feels as if one of those post-rock bands that emerged in the mid-2000s (think Caspian or This Will Destroy You) had concealed some of their finest songs in a time capsule, to be unveiled a few decades in the future. While that style is fairly played out now, few have executed it better than on
Halfway Line. Vocals are used sparingly but with perfect taste, crunchy riffs and powerful drums propel the songs forward, everything shimmers with just the right kind of crystalline beauty, and the totally immaculate production provides the final touch. Halfway Line, formed out of the dissolution of Australian group iiah, artfully balance a sense of restraint with moments of reckless abandon, and while this is a fairly short release even by EP standards, there’s not a moment wasted, with the entire runtime both incredibly pretty and quite stirring - opener “We Are Not Motions Adrift” feels both pristine and gritty, while the middleman “A Mountain Passage” is a soaring epic in under four minutes, and closer “Tide Pools” sees the band at their most mellow before an inevitable climax. “Admittedly, in 2024 the market for post-rock which does basically nothing to divert from the genre’s standard formulation isn’t nearly what it once was, but Halfway Line’s basically flawless delivery upon their vision should garner some attention regardless. Ecclesiastes’ famous dictum that “
there’s nothing new under the sun” has rarely been more true than here, but who cares. Originality is overrated - while I don’t have a Bible verse citation for that statement, you’ll have to trust me.
