Tom Lynch

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Of course, that philosophy doesn't exactly work in all mediums of life, indeed music, where you always want to see a band or artist explore new ground rather than tread the already-driven path. However, there's a distinction between rehashing the same old material and fine-tuning your craft, and Austin's instrumental post-rock creation Explosions in the Sky seems to be doing just that. The band has taken some heat in reviews for its latest, "All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone," for not branching out enough with its sound and just recreating old faithfuls from its past. Others have looked more positively, as the band has sharpened its edge, made its most-effective record yet, one that could only come with maturity and the catalogue of songs and sounds that came before it. It's easy to find yourself in the latter camp.

In the indie-instrumental world, the term atmosphere is thrown around a lot.

However, Explosions in the Sky, while basing much of its song structure in a quiet-loud-quiet method, creates just that--a swirling, astral wonderwave of echoed guitars, smart bass and penetrating drum patterning, with moderate piano and keyboard parts glittered about. The formula is simple, the results complicated: ever intoxicating, especially live, the band hypnotizes you, storms your brain and senses. You don't need words with this powerful sound--it's its own language, its own communication, an atmosphere in itself.

"Generally we like to have it sound like we sound live," drummer Chris Hrasky, a Chicago-area native, says of the band's process. "I think this is the first one that has captured it best." He continues: "I like to think that we've gotten better. We're focused a little more, things are more concise. That's the weird thing--some people who've talked about the record say there's not a lot of advancement, it's more of the same. A lot of time a band moves forward, or advances, but I don't know if they're actually talking about composition. We didn't add a string section or anything, but I think we continue to refine what we do, and that seems like advancement to me. But I'm also highly biased."

Hrasky prefers this record--its first studio album in four years--to the band's past endeavors, as he feels it best represents what the band does, its theory, its practice. "It [feels] a lot more immediate to me," he says. "It sounds a lot more live. It feels a lot more ragged than, particularly, the last record, more intense and visceral. That's how the four of us hear it. Those are the main things. For me, personally, I just like the songs better."

The intense experience is something the band strives for every time the four are on stage. "Always," Hrasky says. "We definitely want the music to be fairly visceral even if it's not something blaring and heavy. That's definitely important to us. That it feels human, I guess. When we play live, we want it to be a visceral experience."

Explosions in the Sky have released three full-lengths besides the new record, an EP and also scored 2004's "Friday Night Lights," a soundtrack that brought them much attention for its poignant, heartfelt pieces. The group has also lent its music to "Walk the Line," "Shop Girl" and David Gordon Green's "All the Real Girls," a film in which the music is as important and overwhelming as the characters' bittersweet dialogue. "Scoring the movie was actually pretty easy," Hrasky says of working in films. "Before we did it there was nervousness--we're just this sort-of-known indie-rock band, and all of a sudden we're thrown into this movie-studio movie. It was really low-key though, and it was a lot easier because it's basically supposed to be background music, where the songs you write for an album aren't supposed to be in the background."

Hrasky says that making a new record, even for a band that depends so much on its live show for its livelihood, is still a good experience. "I love it," he says. "It's totally not always great--we want it to be something that we all love and feel strongly about, and it takes a while to get there. Just like with anything, if you feel like you're not producing something that's very good, you get depressed. Ultimately when we do finish a song though, it's a great feeling."

Explosions in the Sky play March 28 at Metro, 3730 North Clark, (773)549-0203, at 6:30pm. $15.

(2007-03-20)

Also by Tom Lynch

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Matthew Kerstein, formerly of Scotland Yard Gospel Choir, has perhaps eclipsed his previous band with his new project Brighton, MA, whose upcoming self-titled debut features some truly gorgeous pop nostalgia, taking influence from The Cure, The Replacements and even a little bit of The Who
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Tip of the Week
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