Release Date: May 10th, 2011
Reviewed By Court Smoots
Wide-open and sprawling, The Antlers are no longer defined by the bedroom music once associated with their stellar LP Hospice. Pete Silberman has broken free from those four walls and brought some friends along for the ride, a spacey range before them, Silberman’s angelic falsetto as always, in tow.
Burst Apart, The Antlers newest endeavor is growth embodied. It feels less like one man alone in a room, bleeding all over a record (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing) and more like a collective jamboree, with sadness, as it’s bedfellow. Thankfully Mr. Silberman has yet to shake that tender heart of his, never more apparent then on “Hounds” with which he quietly confesses, “I want to burden you, belong to you”.
Some might consider this record a slow grower, but I fell for it immediately. Songs like “Putting The Dog To Sleep” with it’s breathy intro (literally) and bellowing chorus “Put your trust in me, I’m not gonna die alone” and “Rolled Together” with it’s distant backbeat and siren sound vocals kept me enthralled from beginning to end.
This record in the arch of a career is the hardest to pull off. For after having so much early success with Hospice, everyone was anticipating it’s release, patiently awaiting the drop off to desolation or the ascent to something greater, myself included. I’m always intrigued to hear how a band will grow, which direction they’ll take as they begin to work on the dreaded “follow up”. After all, you have a lifetime to write your first record, to tweak, to trash, to start over, nobody knows who you are, nobody has any expectations. That said, I think it’s fair to say, The Antlers took those expectations and exceeded them with the effortless grace only a band on the ascent has the prowess to pull off. And I personally can’t wait to see where they go next.
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