…And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead

The Century Of Self

[4/5]

…And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead have become notorious for bitching about being underappreciated, which understandable considering the less-than-stratospheric sales of 2006’s grand and ambitious So Divided. Rather than give their “fans” what they want-namely a rerun of 2002’s daydream nation-flavored breakthrough Source Tags & Codes–The Century Of Self finds the pride of Austin, Texas, continuing to push baroque prog-rock to orchestral new heights. Forget distortion-glazed guitar workouts; the bulk of the album’s ornately constructed, keyboard-heavy killers sound like Godspeed You! Black Emperor hot-knifing Afghani border hash with 1967-era Pink Floyd. Which means, sadly, Trail Of Dead will further piss off those who can’t accept that one of the most criminally underrated bands in America would rather move forward than revisit past glories. Cue the bitching. (RICHTER SCALE; trailofdead.com) Mike Usinger