| · Three-minute pop songs are for wimps. Explosions in the Sky pick up the post-rock torch and stretch five songs out to 40 minutes.
Somwhere along the line, classical music got cool again. Bands like Mogwai and Godspeed You Black Emperor, with their epic song structures and elliptical melody lines, have appropriated at least a few of the principles utilized by the great composers.
Music critics have compared Explosions in the Sky to both of the aforementioned bands, and rightly so – the four men in EITS can take a song from minimal noodling to a guitar blow-out and back again, and still have room for more. Without the need for vocals, songs such as "First Breath After Coma" run through their movements, revisiting themes and creating a cohesive whole without the benefit of a verse or chorus. Offering an optimism not usually found with Mogwai or Godspeed, the album flows with an organic charm. Fans of this genre will not be disappointed (even if the opening of "The Only Moment We Are Alone" sounds a lot like Vangelis’s theme from Chariots of Fire).
While some might think it a stretch to compare this album to classical heavyweights, Explosions in the Sky, with their melodic delivery and predilection for snappy snare, offer a lot more than your typical rock ’n’ roll four piece.
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