Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters

Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters
Label: Fat Cat
Length: LP
Rated: NONE
Media: CD
Format: Album
WorkNameSort: Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters
Like an indie-rock fanboy’s wet dream, Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters amalgamates My Bloody Valentine’s gauzy sprawl, Mogwai’s crushing dynamics and the Walkmen’s deft cinematic touch. Pianos chip away at the warm coral-guitar crust of ‘Cold Days From the Birdhouseâ?� until James Graham’s porridge-thick declarations arrive to shepherd us to the core of the Twilight Sad’s restless Scottish Technicolor volcano. ‘Walking for Two Hoursâ?� ruptures with squealing riffs and tottering keyboards that almost maintain a delicate détente ‘ but the ride gets gnarly when the parts clash, raising a messy, divine ruckus. ‘Talking With Fireworks/Here It Never Snowedâ?� sheds comet-streaking noise to reveal a woozy ballad riddled with machine-gunning drums; charming, until you realize that the lyrics’ protagonist is in the process of committing murder and that the maelstrom is about to return with a vengeance.

This article appears in Apr 25 – May 1, 2007.