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The Century of Self

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And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead

 
The Century of Self
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Grandiose, proggy punkers edge nearer to their Quadrophenia

  • We Say...

    Review by Steve Hochman

    Prog without the pomposity, emo without the pity pleas, the sixth album from Austin quartet …And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead stands as both a statement of independence after a stint with major Interscope Records and the result of hard-earned maturity. It's a record full of grand quests, appeals to God (and gods) and raging Texas torrents, all of them carried away on swelling, keyboard-heavy crescendos. Having tempered its early rep for musical mayhem, the group has managed to channel their considerable talents into music that hits Who-like peaks one moment and releases Sonic Youthian power-washes the next. The Century of Self's instrumental intro, "Giants Causeway," manages to do both at once — a pretty neat trick — before giving way to a bit of Yes-like pomp.

    Founders and core members Jason Reece, Conrad Keely and Kevin Allen layer the guitars and drums, but it's the keyboards — supplemental player Clay Morris handling most of those duties — that give the music its character and color. On "Bells of Creation," the piano and power chords echo "Baba O'Reilly." There are also some nicely subdued passages — the somber, sentimental "Luna Park" extends the album's emotional and sonic range, while the piano ballads "Insatiable One" and "Insatiable Two" frame a closing four-part sequence in classic quasi-concept album form.

    And yet for all its qualities and coherence, there's still a sense that there's something missing — perhaps fitting for a band with an ellipsis in its name. But even if Reece and Keely, with their emo-ish nasality, can't quite sell a tune the way a great rock singer would, the best moments of Century suggest that … Trail of Dead might have a Quadrophenia in them yet.

  • They Say...

    Review by Heather Phares, All Music Guide

    On the surface, The Century of Self is more than a little similar to ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead's previous two albums, Worlds Apart and So Divided: The songs' sounds and scopes are of epic proportions, and just as high concept as the band's previous work, if not more so -- the album takes its name from an acclaimed BBC documentary, and war and religion are just some of the heady topics it tackles. However, The Century of Self sounds liberated where Worlds Apart and So Divided often seemed labored. This is no coincidence. The Century of Self is the Trail of Dead's first album for their own Richter Scale label after a troubled stint on Interscope, and the first album the band has recorded without a click track since their breakthrough Source Tags & Codes. The Festival Thyme EP hinted that this album would be ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead's freest, most fiery work in some time, and two of its songs reappear here. "Bells of Creation," with its striding, pounding piano and well-placed power chords, feels like a spiritual cousin to the Who's "Love Reign O'er Me," while "Inland Sea" underscores how organic and graceful the band's interplay is when it's not shackled to a click track. Most excitingly for longtime fans, the Trail of Dead's punk roots show up just as loud and proud as their prog rock ambitions -- the excellent "Ascending" has the dual vocal attack, guitar onslaughts, and smart passion that Source Tags & Codes had in spades. Meanwhile, "Isis Unveiled" blends that sound with Celtic-tinged strings (a book written by singer/guitarist Conrad Keely's Irish Nationalist grandfather was a major influence on the album), and "Far Pavilions" is a perfect example of the band's flair for giving raw-sounding songs titles that should be graced with Roger Dean artwork. As much of a return to form as The Century of Self is, it still falls prey to some of the pitfalls that bogged down So Divided and Worlds Apart. The Trail of Dead still aren't big on nuance: "Giants Causeway" opens The Century of Self at a fevered pitch that continues until "Luna Park" begins the album with a string of ballads that, when taken together, feel nearly as exhausting as the first half's wall-to-wall rockers. The interlude "An August Theme" and "Insatiable (One)" and "Insatiable (Two)" feel fussy and overly theatrical in comparison to the more powerful songs that surround them, and on songs like "Pictures of an Only Child," emotions get hidden behind gargantuan arrangements and dynamic shifts. Nevertheless, this album offers the Trail of Dead's best balance of heart-on-sleeve outbursts and orchestrated bombast in some time, and it's the band's most cohesive, satisfying music since Source Tags & Codes. As they sing on "Luna Park," "in order to live, it's gotta be free," and The Century of Self is compelling proof that the only way a band as fiercely ambitious, righteous, and single-minded as ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead can do things is on their own.

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