2 out of 5

Label: Murailles Music, Empty Cellar Records

Produced by: Theo Karon (recorded by)

It’s very clear from the various glowing reviews that Pillars and Tongues’ End-dances has its fans, and given the band’s pretty deep catalogue, presumably a supportive audience overall. So while I’m going to sit here and criticize, music is, of course, subjectively enjoyed or not enjoyed, and I offer this preamble because I believe I’m being even more subjective than usual on this one.

Because: although PaT’s music is adjacent to a kind of moody minimalism I can enjoy (something like Timber Timbre comes to mind), this particular version of it hits on a lot of elements I just don’t enjoy. I’m normally able to work past this in reviews, though, by being patient, and listening “past” my biases, and sampling other albums from the genre or artist to compare. In this instance, though, that approach only served to deepen my take: to me, nothing about End-dances stands out, and in such an all-across-the-board way as to weigh the rating negative.

The approach: steady drumming, and clean guitar and bass plucks affect a folk-dusted, somber pop; singer Mark Trecka has a midrange, slowroll vocal that’s right in line with the music. Some harmonies appear; strings; keys. Certain tracks will have a relative buildup, like the impassioned drumming on opener Knifelike, but ‘relative’ is key: it’s all about the same tempo (a stroll) and pitch, such that even when things are kicking off with a full band, it sounds about the same as when it’s just singing and guitar.

The production plays a big part of that: this is softened to EZ listening softness: the bass is nice and round but has no weight; guitars and drums are crisp but relatively flat; the vocals are warm but not deep. It’s the affect of prettiness or twee but without any real flourish.

And so it goes for every song. When I tuned in to try to appreciate the compositional layers (which are there!), the lack of range defeated me. Perhaps as slocore or drone, but there’s not enough depth for immersion.

End-dances is, for me, the definition of background music. I can appreciate Pillars and Tongues having a sound, though I can’t quite get to a point of considering it uniquely their own in any concrete fashion.