Labels: self released
Review by: Andy Malcolm
Self described as “post-rock pop” I think they are selling themselves a bit short there, as post rock by default is kind of boring and mostly for troubled folk going through a mid 20s crisis of music taste. Anyway. Blue Sky Archives lean approximately 66% more heavily on a twinkly indie sound than epic post rock, to the extent that this comes across as a very tasteful batch of pretty indie rock that actually isn’t too far removed from late 90s indie / emo, as unintentional as that likely is to be the case. Sure, you get songs that build up to lively finales, as befits a band influenced by the post rock genre, and “A Mighty Handful” has far too much of that irritating guitar effect that post rock bands always do, but you also get dead nice boy+girl harmonies and the guitars are super pretty for much of the time.
So there are parts here that are somewhat more like Jejune or Pohgoh than Explosions in the Sky, which is pretty fucking cool if you ask me. It’s a little cheesey in places, but in a way that I appreciate, and the first two tracks are right up my street. This is low-key, sweet music that is lurking on the peripheries of a sound you really don’t hear in 2011. There is enough going on here to say this is worth investigating if you miss that late 90s thing – however, don’t expect a reproduction – you would at least take pleasure from 2 of these 3 songs.