This Great October: This Great October
Rating: 
(Taffy Fountain, 2006) It’s not often that we here at MusicBeet get to review a genuinely underground album. This is one of those delightful occasions. This Great October are a local Wichita, KS, band whose eponymous debut album was released this January at a four band concert in a smoke-filled Eagles Lodge in their hometown. Before they performed, I heard their music compared to Mogwai or Sigur Ros, and I suppose those are appropriate touchstones. The name that came to mind while I listened was Godspeed! You Black Emperor. All of those comparisons are valid, in the sense that This Great October play epic post-rock compositions, with slow builds and huge climaxes. After a live show that bordered on a religious experience, I was eager to hear the album.
Opener “We Need These Arms More Than Bread” is divided into two sections, building from a rather plain intro to a fantastic final three minutes, which contrasts echoing Edge-styled guitars with dulcet tones emanating from the keyboard. This is the point at which This Great October establish their signature sound, which is quite a powerful one. Virtually every climax on This Great October features those chiming guitars and beautifully rounded keyboard tones, backed by the freight train bass and drums. “A Colassal” is the closest thing on the album to a misstep, and even it is solid post-rock. “Mattress” features a ringing guitar line that will have listeners singing along to an album with no vocals, and the two-part epic “In Love In The Eighties” is an archetypal effort from the band, growing almost perfectly over its eight-minute length. The real highlights of This Great October, however, are the two final numbers, “Twilight Assembly” and “Removed From Distance.” “Twilight Assembly” is the only piece to really break loose and (post-)ROCK, even if only for a few seconds at a time. It spends much of the rest of its course pulsating just below the surface, building tension, until it finally breaks free at the end. “Removed From Distance” was the peak in concert, and it remains that on record. The song features the most complete intergration of all the instruments together, some of the best intertwining guitar parts, the most interesting bass work, the most emotionally resonant drums that you will find on any post-rock record.
Two caveats: First, This Great October is the kind of record that needs to be focused on, like a work of literature. It may appear boring as background music. Second, it is an album that needs to be listened to at high volumes with decent speakers. It will sound like crap on your iPod earbuds, but great on your component system. All in all, a very good record. Unfortunately, there have been rumblings around Wichita that one of its most interesting bands will be breaking up soon. Here’s hoping that’s just the rumor mill turning out more rumors.
1. We Need These Arms More Than Bread
2. A Colassal
3. Mattress
4. In Love In The Eighties (part 1)
5. In Love In The Eighties (part 2)
6. Twilight Assembly
7. Removed From Distance
– Kevin