Album Review: A Place To Bury Strangers - Onwards To The Wall EP

A Place To Bury Strangers - Onwards To The Wall EP (2012, Dead Oceans)

Spotify

Mog

-By Justin

A Place To Bury Strangers last released an album in 2009. It feels like a long time now, and much too long for a band of this quality to release a sequel to the excellent Exploding Head. It’s been almost as long since we’ve heard legitimate new material from the band either. Luckily, they’ve released an EP that we can only hope will be a glimpse of their next record. Onwards To The Wall employs the more structured and pop-oriented sound that made the best tracks on Exploding Head so great, and shows that the band is heading in the right direction.

The EP opens with the pounding bass line in “I Lost You”. While the band keeps most of its loud and noisy style, the lyrics are much more clear and easier to decipher than on earlier releases. This is a problem for most noise oriented bands, bridging the gap between just straight up loudness and intelligible lyrics. The band has a done a good job of finding a nice middle ground here. Another thing that is just as noticeable throughout the EP is actual choruses in many of the songs. While songs like “So Far Away” and “It’ll Be Alright” feel more formulaic, they still have a dangerous amount of feedback and other randomness to them that doesn’t betray the band’s signature style.

Probably the biggest surprise on the album is the title track, which features vocals from Alanna Nuala. The addition of vocals from the opposite sex is one of my favorite things that a band can do (for example “The Great Fire” by Future Islands and “We Are Fine” by Sharon Van Etten). It’s an unexpected move from a band that seems entrenched in a large amount of macho musical styles. The fact that it works so well is just an added bonus.

The finale, “Drill It Up” begins as almost unlistenable, but works into a nice fervor. It shows that they still have the ability to throw noise at you and make in enjoyable. A Place To Bury Strangers keeps moving closer and closer to the comparisons to The Jesus and Mary Chain and Joy Division that have followed them throughout their career. If they are able to continue to grow and improve, and make songs like the ones on this EP, then it will be a well-earned compliment.

8.0/10

Songs I Starred On Spotify:

• I Lost You
• So Far Away
• Onwards To The Wall
• It’ll Be Alright