Explosions In The Sky
Roundhouse, London
19/05/2011

Incendiary. Cathartic. Meditative? Running out of ways to describe the beauty in something is the kind of double-edged sword reserved for Hallmark card writers, heart-broken emos and admirers of Explosions In The Sky. Whilst all of the former compliments may be true, it unfortunately leaves a list of adjectives so exhausted this review may just end up as a string of shaky red crayon hearts scrawled anxiously over our bedroom wall.

Explosions’ fans love them. Not because of A-list radio rotation or heavy-handed marketing tactics, but because the band have worked hard to earn their attention since bursting out of Texas in 1999. Tonight Camden’s Roundhouse heaves with an army of cult fans – testament to their long-haul credibility. Army is not quite right though, this crowd are an ocean. As guitars reverberate around an amphitheatre perfect for this type of cinematic performance the audience sway as if hypnotised in time to music that often doesn’t have a time signature. The vulnerability derived from building songs without vocals or melodic hooks is their greatest strength. And aside from dazed cheers to identifiable numbers like ‘The Only Moment We Were Alone’ and ‘First Breath After Coma’, the crowd is often in awestruck silence.

Still don’t know what Explosions sound like? How about an obscure metaphor: Explosions are the valium you take before lying in the dinghy and cutting the tether that stops it from drifting out to sea. Rubbish. A wall of sound? Not really. Post-rock? Not according to them. See, nothing seems to do the trick.  Even when you do watch and listen to this band, you still won’t really know; you’ll just feel things you’ll try clumsily to describe. With impending Brixton Academy headline slots next year, you can try it for yourself. Then you too will understand what it’s like to be rendered lost for words by the Explosions In The Sky live experience.

Joshua Finesilver