GRACE CATHEDRAL PARK
In the Evening of Regret
La Verdad
· So… very… sleepy.
It’s always remarkable when an instrumental band performing slow, atmospheric songs can surprise these days. While such luminaries as Mogwai struggle to find new ways to approach the sub-genre they created, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor temporarily breathe new life into slow core, or quiet core or whatever the hell it is (I’m so sick of cores that I actually need medication for it), and Low mature by shearing their trademark nine-minute-long dirges to efficient four-minute numbers that feature (gasp!) hooks, the death rattle of slow core already seemed to have sounded well before Sigur Ros began to be mentioned on CNN.
Grace Cathedral Park’s In the Evening of Regret is a revelation, then, albeit a small, quiet, soothing one. The 10-member band has crafted a loving, intimate album out of a form thought dead by more than a few. Sure, they swathe themselves in the same clichés and progressions as the bands mentioned above, but they imbue it with subtle touches – the lap steel that colours "It’s All Well Above Wonder Anyways" and the fusion of country and ’50s pop into the sparse-yet-lavish "Hey Pretty Could You Stay Awhile," are distinctively Grace Cathedral Park’s own. Though they never achieve the dynamic drama of Godspeed et al., they never really seem to want to. Their collective restraint allows them to avoid the inevitable build-build-build-explode-into-cacophony formula so many instrumental bands rely on. Grace Cathedral Park have room to improve, but that will happen through maturity and growth. In the meantime, insomniacs and late-night readers, drinkers and lovers have another CD to add to their collection.
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