This is right about where I say that, post rock has a profoundly poetic nature, due to some kind of cosmic coincidence and as a direct consequence, it’s beautiful and blah blah blah. Something along those lines, eh? Nope. Not today. What I will tell you though, is that post rock is much like pizza, generally speaking. Even when it’s bad, it’s kind of good and you have to actively put effort into screwing it up, to make it wholly unpalatable. Granted, I have some kind of natural weakness for post rock, so this rings especially true to me.
It’s definitely a selling point that Repeater is the product of Kristian Karlsson, one of the members of Cult of Luna and PG.LOST, however, I can’t say it was for me. I’m not particularly enamored with Cult of Luna and while I like PG.LOST, I’m not head over heels for their tunes. Still, my interest was piqued enough to give SOARS and Repeater a listen. It’s generally hard for me to pass up a post rock record.
Keeping it real as I always have, I can’t say that SOARS is pushing any boundaries right away. While I would have liked that, since the genre is heavily saturated with lots of bands that are alike each other, I can’t turn down, or knock on a solid record. Repeater is exactly that, a solid record from SOARS. I’m not going to dwell on technicalities, since post rock was never about anything of the sort. What I will note though, is that the production is super spacious, neat, tidy, articulate, sharp, balanced, and sweet. That’s a huge plus to me and it makes the album extremely easy and natural to listen to, much like chugging a large pitcher of water when you’re positively parched.
Repeater is a concise affair, expanding on that all-too-familiar genre classic cosmic/stellar/sidereal mood, throwing in a pinch of some of that warm, yet wistful/melancholic spice to really make it stick when it starts playing. The arrangements/compositions aren’t something spectacular, but they are very tastefully layered and considered, with most of the magic emanating from the tonal side of things. The instrumentation is lush, but thoughtfully shaped in such a way that it’s fun to experience without being tiresome.
There’s enough drama, as seen on “The Waiting”, and there’s enough leisurely paced strolling, as seen on “Grow” throughout the record. The kicker is being patient with it though. After a few listens you start to ease in with its demeanor and immerse more easily in the fairly otherworldly textures dancing around. Once I did this, it was highly visual as a musical experience. It became almost reflexive to picture vast vistas on alien planets, on top of tall mountains, basking in the light embrace of the wind, the billowing clouds, and the vividly scintillating colors of the sky, as well as a large assortment of other similar kinds of scenery from SOARS.
The steady narrative flow of the music makes it comfortable to keep doing this and imparts the feeling that we’re on a journey. I like that a lot. What’s the point of music if it doesn’t take me out of my daily mundane circuit? Repeater does a great job at grabbing my hand and whisking me to worlds distant and prepossessing. For that, I wholeheartedly recommend it as a brisk city break option for those on an insanely tight budget (but not only).
