Sandusky

Largely released digitally, this latest full-length from Sandusky includes different artwork for each song when played on the computer. "A Prayer for the Unification of Bootgazers" opens the album as a statement of purpose: Much of the album's material is post-rock, yet it manages to be genuinely haunting rather than merely coming off as a self-indulgent display of minimalist musicianship. On "Steam Engine Ways" and "No Good Horse," the sonic imagery captures the sense of the high plains without waxing into the territory of Americana. Samples weave between melodies like ghosts of recontextualized sound, adding to a sense of the otherworldly. Mostly, though, these songs capture the melancholic introspection that serves as an undercurrent to most of the best music ever to come out of Denver. - Westword

Sandusky at the Larimer Lounge

A cursory listen to Sandusky's recorded output might give you the impression that the act has been doing soundtrack work for the next Gregg Araki film. In much of the band's music, you can almost hear sighing ambience, gentle dynamics and the sort of introspective aesthetic that comes from contemplating the hidden meaning of the ripples on a sea of prairie grass in early summer. Not unlike an especially blissed-out Slowdive, or perhaps Neil Halstead's more deserty Mojave 3 on a more tripped-out, slower-arc vibe, Sandusky (due at the Larimer Lounge on Thursday, December 3) plays surprisingly effective pop songs that seem to reflect a world modeled after The Persistence of Memory. Fans of Kranky label bands like Labradford and Windy & Carl will find much to like in the dreamy languor of this band's exploration of inner and outer space.

Sandusky at the Larimer Lounge
By Tom Murphy Thursday, Dec 3 2009
- Westword