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Their Planes Will Block Out the Sun have more than just a cool band name
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Confession: if you have a cool name, I will listen to your band. I listened to White Dancer by Their...Confession: if you have a cool name, I will listen to your band. I listened to White Dancer by Their Planes Will Block Out the Sun because, well, that’s a heck of a lot planes. Say it out loud. It just flows. See? Undeniably awesome.
Their music fits their name incredibly well, but not in the way I would expect. I expected some brooding, epic post-rock (perhaps only because the names Explosions in the Sky and Their Planes Will Block Out the Sun go together thematically). Instead, I found meticulously-crafted, calculated indie-rock.
The members of Planes have their sound down on this album. They start off with a mood cornerstone, like an arpeggiated guitar riff, a synthesizer, a piano line, or some combination of those. Then they build on it. A snappy, precise drummer adds the backbone of the sound. Buoyant bass lines bring a lot of energy to the otherwise very organized sound. The guitars add a layer of mood, not often strumming consistently. The vocals dispatch the lyrics with a disaffected, almost sinister intonation. When the band takes darker turns, the vocals truly get pointed, but throughout there’s an underlying disdain and sarcasm that comes through in the lyrics and/or the melodies.
The whole sound is incredibly tight. It’s hard to compare to, because none of the comparisons are exactly correct. “The Flood, The Dead, The Escape” brings to mind the Arcade Fire. “How I Learned to Love the Bomb” makes me think Muse. If Coldplay’s X&Y scrubbed the majority of its emotions, the synthesizer-laden interlocking parts would resemble White Dancer. If the epic aspirations and huge guitar washes of OK Computer were removed, the stark, cold sound left might be somewhat akin to Planes. Planes’ songwriting doesn’t match that of either Coldplay or Radiohead (because of the aforementioned parts that would have to be removed for the comparisons to work), but that’s the track that Planes is on. They aren’t making warm, fuzzy pop music; they’re making serious music. They mean it, and it shows.
So, if you’re a fan of any of the aforementioned bands, you will find things to like in Their Planes Will Block Out The Sun. It’s not the most joyous music in the world, but it’s a meticulously crafted, very well-done release. They know their idiom, they have their niche, and they’re churning out the tunes the way they want to. Unique and enjoyable indie-rock.
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Music Review: Their Planes Will Block Out The Sun - White Dancer
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Formed in 2005, this New Jersey band comprises five musicians who each bring their own very differen...Formed in 2005, this New Jersey band comprises five musicians who each bring their own very different influences and style to the bands overall sound. The result is simply intriguing.
Like their name suggests, Their Planes Will Block Out The Sun also delve into somewhat darker territory and deliver songs about struggle, fear, and confusion. However, there are also some altogether more uplifting tracks that explore the other end of the emotional spectrum such as hope, endearment, devotion.
Pressing play on their album White Dancer sets off a journey that is partly Elbow, a little Editors, a hint of Arcade Fire, a touch of Muse, and a slight nod to the inevitable Radiohead. All of this is tightly knitted together with a host of other things just below the surface that helps create a sound that is very much their own.
The Jersey City five-some comprises of singer, guitarist, and keyboard player Victor Fernandes, the bass of Wayne Green, guitarist Craig Monaco, and the guitars and keys of Mike Nastri. It is all underpinned by the highly impressive and inventive drumming of John Falcone.
Their sound is, as ever, best explained on the band's promotional information which says, “when listening to each song, interwoven in the music, you may hear guitars and keyboards influenced by rhythms of Frank Zappa, the dark harmonies of Wayne Shorter, the beauty of Sigur Ros, the pensive feel of Broken Social Scene or the escaping mood of Elbow.”
It adds, “there are drum beats that are influenced by the poly-rhythmic beats of Bill Bruford or the crisp tightness of Steward Copelend, vocal styles with melancholic emotion of Portuguese Fado and bass lines influenced by the eerie atmospheric sounds of David Lynch and surreal visuals of Terry Gilliam.”
Intrigued? I was. The eight songs that make up White Dancer kick off with the title track, a clever amalgam of everything promised above. With so much going on within this album, it may take a couple of plays before it starts to get under your skin. Sure enough, it does and “Boardwalk Splinters” confirms your hopes and expectations.
“The Flood, The Dead, The Escape”, a song of hope, builds slowly, becoming compulsively uplifting. “I’m finally outta here, thank God” sings Fernandes over chiming guitar, and pounding drum. From that moment I was 'in the album' only to become momentarily thrown by the sidestepping upbeat start of “Teflon Kids.”
“Americana” arrives with simple keys over a drum-speak rhythm and unfolds into another uplifting but constantly shifting, and cunningly crafted soundscape. This is a band brimming with imagination and ideas some of which are, at face value, almost in conflict with each other. Yet it works, and it works very well indeed.
They go dark again on the atmospheric “Night Tremors” a track with layers of ever shifting shades. A twisting “Tumours” and the curiously entitled “How I Learned To Love The Bomb” ensure that there is no way you can double guess what is coming next. The latter, a gentle easing and shifting down, fittingly ends the album. However, as it dramatically slams into life you are jolted back into the now with a sense of the unexpected.
Their Planes Will Block Out The Sun is as intriguing as their name. There may not be any sitting on the fence with this but allow it get grow and it will creep under your skin in a way that will have you delving further into it with every play.
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Their (chances of making it are very good..)
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Their Planes Will Block Out The Sun — you’re thinking, “with a name like that, they must be emo……………...Their Planes Will Block Out The Sun — you’re thinking, “with a name like that, they must be emo……………..no? well then they have to be screamo…..”
This is the part of the article that I do my best to sum up the sound of TPWBOTS, and fall excruciatingly short…….
They claim to be from Jersey City, New Jersey… But my theory is that they derive from a secret island about 550 miles east of there, an island that was inhabited by brilliant pop artists from England, Ireland, and Scotland nearly 100 years ago, and a group of American women stumbled upon the island……and they all started making babies….
THIS, dear readers, tells you absolutely nothing! The fact of the matter is that Their Planes Will Block Out The Sun is beyond impressive on their debut album ‘White Dancer’! After listening to the first 5 tracks I expected to check out their myspace page and see that it had 800,000+ profile views and 150,000 friends. Not the case with these guys, but something’s bound to happen soon.
With an upbeat, yet mildly dry rock sound reminiscent of Doves or Starsailor, they are certainly apt to meet the needs of road trips, parties, and soundtracks! Dare I say ‘White Dancer’ is incredible…? Buy it at cdbaby, on iTunes, or Insound. And wouldn’t you know it, our very first nominee for LoveSound’s ‘Album Of The Year’ so far in 2010!
*NOMINEE FOR LOVESOUND ALBUM OF THE YEAR*
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Sound Inbox #2
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First this week are New Jersey band Their Planes Will Block Out The Sun. The band's free EP (availab...First this week are New Jersey band Their Planes Will Block Out The Sun. The band's free EP (available from their bandcamp) is decidedly indie, with slightly darker elements also touched upon. The influences are quite apparent over the four tracks. 'Brasil' is heavily indebted to Radiohead, while highlight 'youth and angels' could easily be mistaken for a more solemn Interpol cut. It's an impressive EP, combining gloomy lyrical tendencies with precise production and brooding sometimes Jazz-like instrumentation. Entirely listenable and largely enjoyable.
