The Story Of: Until The Autumn [Album Review]
“Berkeley”, the opening track off Until The Autumn by The Story Of (MySpace) compiles male vocals, includes plays on volume, and has an emphasis on melody. Hearing the tune for the first time, I was immediately reminded of Denmark’s epic group Mew. But here, the song is not quite as heavy, not quite as forceful; the listener is allowed to relax.
Of course, the entire album is not like this. “Hawk Gospel” would be better classified as true indie-pop, while “The Flock” is more suited for a soft side of Band Of Horses reference. Sure, some of those earlier elements remain, but, overall, the songs are unique in comparison to one another. The good news: it doesn’t make for a disjointed album.
Until The Autumn is, surprisingly, The Story Of’s fourth studio album, recorded while the group lived in a remote Colorado cabin. The remoteness can be heard throughout the album, emphasizing all the right moments and increasing the sheer greatness of it all.
The Story Of is at their best when they err on the experimental, best heard in tunes like “Veteran’s Day” and “Sparrow”. The former finds the group again beginning softly and sharply increasing and decreasing in volume for true rock moments, while the latter is simply mystifying. But then there’s the anthemic “How It Is” with trumpets blaring and a jingle-ish chorus.
It’s hard to find a truly weak point on this album, despite its seemingly random flicker between genres and subgenres. To narrow Until The Autumn down to a particular one, like rock or pop or whatever, would be to disgrace it; this album is quite a bit more than your standard genre can hold.
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[CD, 2009]
1. Berkeley
2. Hawk Gospel
3. The Flock
4. Lights On Landing
5. Veteran’s Day
6. Sparrow
7. Anniversary
8. How It Is
9. Dodge City
10. Centralia
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