The post-rock tag was applied to bands who used rock instruments to do something different with them, renouncing tired forms and clichés. Soon, though, most bands began aping formulas, and now the genre is synonymous with a certain kind of instrumental guitar music that can be traced back to two or three bands from the last 15 years.
That’s why listening to the eponymous album by Mexico City’s Sunset Images is a breath of fresh air. Yes, they dabble in certain elements that will place them among many bands within the current post-rock pantheon, but the band lives for its details. There’s plenty of volume swells and drama in their material, as well as an askew method of writing and executing their music; shades of odd instruments decorate certain turns in their arrangements and they manage to play at tempos many of their peers might not attempt. No wonder they namecheck contemporary composer Arvo Pärt, post punk/ambient icon Brian Eno and jazz, and colossus Miles Davis among their influences alongside Tortoise and The Cinematic Orchestra.
Sunset Images have been playing around town, and even had a recent trio of dates in New York. The young band has a long road ahead of them– luckily they have a big, original sound to do battle along the way.