I AM SONIC RAIN are a five piece post-rock band from Treviso in North Eastern Italy (although , curiously, their press photos only show four members!).
This is the band's second album and Deep Elm Records is simultaneously releasing it together with their debut - It's Falling On Us - which originally came out in July 2005.
The band members are Giulio Signorotto (guitar), Federico Cipolla (bass), Francesco Vettor (guitar), Alessandro Stival (drums) and Andrea Sara (piano / synth). No one sings, although there is a bit of primal screaming at the end of Precipitate Isn't A Great Idea and some ominous chanting on The Nine Unknowns.
Located about 15 miles north of Venice, titles like Fog Is Drowning Us, and As Rain We Fall reference the fluctuating , and at times oppressive, climatic conditions in this region.
The album's cover painting shows whales and wind turbines to flag up the band's environmental concerns. The inspiration for their sound is explained in elaborately poetic terms by pianist Andrea Sara : "Our music originates from the cobalt blue of metropolitan storms, the grey skies above the plain, the claps of thunder in the night and the hush of dense fog.
If Mogwai, Explosions In The Sky et al did not exist you would marvel at this band's originality. As it is, you can only judge this as more of the same in a, by now, familar tradition of building instrumental pieces around musical/philosophical contrasts: stop-go, quiet-loud, violence-calm, hope-despair or, in the exaggerated language of the press pack: "Teetering on a precipice of apocalyptic nightmare and candy-coated delight".
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It is hard to shake the idea that the formulaic nature of these polar opposites plays too big a part in dictating the structure and tone of their music. Precious little space is left for the kind of spontaneous expression which would give the band a more unique sonic identity.
This type of music relies on creating a real sense of drama and , while these ten pieces are well played, this vital quality is sorely lacking. With tracks between five and eight minutes in length, they never reach for truly epic proportions and ironically, the boldest stroke here is in delicate ambience of the title track which closes the album on a quiet, reflective note.
This tune features a simple piano refrain alongside field recordings of whale song, and the band resist the temptation to add a resounding guitar/drum climax. More of this kind of restraint and sensibility would have given the album a more lasting resonance.
Links:
Artist website
Stream entire album
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