ARTIST: ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead
ALBUM:The Century of Self
SOUNDS LIKE: Les Savy Fav x Yeasayer x At the Drive-in
FUN FACT: Lead singer Conrad Keeley drew the cover art using a blue ballpoint pen.
WHY COMPLEX IS CO-SIGNING IT: The Austin, Texas rockers sound liberated after an unpleasant stint with Interscope Records. Indie once more, the band created a cohesive album that revisits Trail of Dead's dark, driving punk roots without betraying its penchant for progressive epics. Frontman Conrad Keely wrote under the influence of New York rock standouts like Yeasayer and the Dirty Projectors, groups that impressed him when he relocated to Brooklyn, and members of Yeasayer and Dragons Of Zynth lend their vocal talents to the album (Chris Coady, known for his work with TV On The Radio and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, produced). Overall, the album sounds considerably less constrained than ToD's previous two efforts because the group abandoned the painstaking click-track method of overdubbing and learned their parts so they could just record everything together live. It's one instance when less anal is definitely better.
KEY TRACKS (LISTEN):
"Isis Unveiled"
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