Russian Circles

Chicago band in the ilk of Mogwai and Pelican, Russian Circles have not achieved a massive amount of attention yet. Their first release was Enter in 2006, which I cannot get my hands on easily. Last year's Station has thankfully fallen my way in the last few weeks, and it is an addictive little one. Full of the epic crescendos and big big soundscapes that have made Mogwai famous, the Chicago boys certainly seem to have a lot to offer based on this short 6-track album. Campaign is a gloriously slow burning starter, flowing along with tepid guitar plucking which gently rises in intensity to leave us tapping our feet to a gorgeous riff, without ever delivering the massive noise we would expect from many bands of this ilk. Harper Lewis, Youngblood and Station are more aggressive affairs which show off the metal-inspired edge that RC clearly have in their repertoire. These songs get the blood boiling a little bit and definitely come with an emotional charge. You can almost picture a baddie running down an alley from a cop in a movie that will surely use these tracks in the near future. Verses and Xavii sound almost like tracks off the early soothing Sigur Ros album, (), really beautiful stuff.
Thanks to Euan for the tip-off. These guys rock, and with that range in their capability, I hope we'll see a bit more of them as time passes.

Russian Circles - Campaign