I don't know when it happened, although I think it might have been around the time the movie Friday Night Lights came out and word got out that Explosions in the Sky was doing the soundtrack. That may have been the point but I'm not really sure. Anyways, at one time or another post-rock got popular. Now, after kids everywhere have heard Explosions in the Sky and the whole Constellation catalog, post-rock seems to be the big sub-genre in rock that is sprouting up bands everywhere. However, with all these new post-rock bands coming up, 80% of them are missing the key ingredient: originality.
My Dad Vs. Yours offers up this originality. Their new album, After Winter Must Come Spring, takes an approach of taking a simple hook, and going with it for five minutes and seeing where it takes them. The method is shown flawlessly in my personal favorite track "Bellicose," where the song begins with one chord, and is instantly draped with more guitar layering until the song is like a weaving snake of melody. I also have to mention that the chorus in this song is one of my favorite moments in music right now as well. All of the tracks use this formula, and although most of the songs are excellently composed and engrossing, there are a couple on here that lack ideas and could lose the listeners interest. However when My Dad Vs. Yours is on, then it is a great thing to hear.
If I had a dime for how many CDs I have of post-rock bands that sounded identical to Explosions in the Sky, I would easily have $5 right now. Ok, that's not a ton of money, but the point is that there is a serious lack of variety in a genre that is defined by build-ups and crescendos. It's about time bands like My Dad vs. Yours get more popularity and credit for pushing post-rock in a whole new direction and give it some much needed originality in the process. Pick up After Winter Must Come Spring and be enlightened.
