Posted on: August 17, 2011 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Early & Often (Sacramento, CA) are heading out for a short West Coast tour in support of the band’s new EP, Present No Fiction, Fear No Tense, on Sell The Heart (Santa Rosa, CA). The first show is tonight at Bottom of The Hill in San Francisco. The show is a Sell The Heart Showcase with label mates Build Us Airplanes and Goodriddler also playing.

Keeping the inspirational arrangements of such staple bands as Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Explosions in the Sky close in mind, California’s Early & Often have crafted a unique take on shoegaze within Present No Fiction, Fear No Tense.

You can hear/download the track “No Fiction” on RCRD LBL right now.

The ticking of analog tape accompanies the sound clip opening the first track of Present No Fiction, Fear No Tense, “Under the Phase”, before dissolving into a whoosh of near silence that clears the way for a hesitantly strumming guitar and a ghostly vocal emission from singer Jeffrey Wright. This opener sets the mood for what is an astral and almost otherworldly sound throughout the record, its haunting tranquility only interrupted by the occasional bursting crescendo of trilling guitar. Pulsing swells of minimalist sound gracefully rise and fall throughout Present No Fiction, Fear No Tense as the band’s broad, echoing sound entirely envelops its listener within just six tracks. Gentle piano pairs against the faltering croon of Wright as he pushes out notes with just enough control to prove the shift in his voice comes only from pure emotion. Drummer/programmer Cliff Mattis blends tweaked out stops with a clutter of day-to-day noises, sound clips and Wright’s vocals to create disjointed intervals between tracks that, in their own way, provide a cohesion entirely unique to Early & Often’s sound. The band presents a heavy dose of post rock in Present No Fiction, Fear No Tense that fans of Mogwai, Radiohead and bands of the like will find all at once familiar and refreshing.

Early & Often is heading out for select West Coast dates in support of Present No Fiction, Fear No Tense.

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