And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead

The year was 2002. I was 16. I lived in America. There was a store called Best Buy, and they used to have a $5 section. You could pick up some great new albums by bands not well known and for the price, even if it was bad, you would not feel ripped off. That $5 bin opened my mind to music and exposed me to most of what I listen to today.

One of the greatest albums I got from it was called Source Tags and Codes and was by a band with a most kick-ass name: And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead. Earlier in the year I'd seen the band name on a shirt worn by one of the guys in Brand New, and I thought it was a cool band name with an awesome graphic (side note, I own that same shirt and wear the shit out of it). That, coupled with the weird hardcore come indie come prog-rock sound that emanated from my speakers, sealed it. I was a Trail of Dead fan boy.

I still am.

In 2009 I finally got to see them, playing at the Zoo. Although their sound wasn't great (the levels were way too loud and drowned out most of the sound) I was in heaven. I was going to post the video I took of that night, but because of the high levels it just sounds like distorted noise. Instead, here's one of the same song played live:

Over the years, their plethora of albums came and went across all sorts of sort-of-related genres: noise-rock, prog-rock, hardcore, alternative, indie, but without fail, every album would have lots of moments when I'd just sit back and think, "whoa, this is epic."

They put out a new album this year, which was almost a return to form of the greatness of Source Tags and Code (I gave it a 4/5 in my Twitter reviews). To go on the back of this album, it appears we're getting a tour!

September 9 at the HiFi (18+)

I hope the amazing sound system at the HiFi does justice to this amazing band.

One sentence album reviews (#11)

I do these reviews on Twitter during the day sometimes. Find me here @moshpitson.

Lower Dens - Twin-Hand Movement (2010): Moody post-punk with a female singer means I am less likely to bedpressed while listening 3.5/5

Mark McGuire - Living With Yourself (2010): Beautiful ambient guitar-based music, reminds me a lot of some slower Buckethead stuff. 4/5

And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead - Tao of the Dead (2011): Not quite as noisy as past, but a return of form for this unclassifiable band. 4/5

Architects - Here and Now (2011): A bit softer from them; as such I now refer to them as "Britain's Alexisonfire" 3/5

Bright Eyes - The People's Key (2011): It is beautiful, but there's something about Conor's voice that just doesn't seem to cut it. 3.5/5

Cold War Kids - Mine Is Yours (2011): As always, the Kids deliver an album of relaxed indie; although it seems to be more stripped back than previous releases. 3.5/5

Destroyer - Kaputt (2010): Laid back rock from my favourite, albeit part-time, member of the New Pornographers. 4/5

Everyone Everywhere - The Rookie (2011): This is not the emo band of awesome. However, it is the debut of a pop-punk band of fairly good. 3.5/5

Iron and Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean (2011): I only knew him for his acoustic stuff, this is great band-backed folk. Even a bit jazzy 4/5

Nick Cave and Warren Ellis - White Lunar (2009): a collection of cinematic scores from classic garage-rockers is surprising and gorgeous 4.5/5

Social Distortion - Hard Times And Nursery Rhymes (2011): More country than punk, but I guess that happens after a few decades 3/5

Scott & Charlene's Wedding - Paravista Social Club (2010): this album continues a grand tradition of excellent Australian garage rock 4.5/5

Yuck - ST (2011): It's awesome lo-fi fuzz, as if Dinosaur Jr mated with Sonic Youth

and their child dated the Japandroids. 4.5/5

The Methadones - ST (2010): I wouldn't exactly call this punk. It's very slow if it is. 2/5

Toro y Moi - Underneath the Pine (2010): I think I finally figured out what chillwave is, thanks to this album: modern elevator music 2/5

No Joy - Ghost Blonde (2010): noisy shoegaze with beautiful sirens crooning over the top 4/5