The Six Parts Seven
Things Shaped in Passing
[Suicide Squeeze; 2002]
Rating: 7.8
A friend of mine manages a coffeeshop in Arlington, Virginia. About a
month before I ever heard The Six Parts Seven's latest LP, the band
played a rock and roll show there, opening for Denison Witmer.
"They were good kids, I liked their music" she would later comment,
"but they need a singer."
Although not exactly among the indie-cognoscenti, I took my friend's
comment as a critique of post-rock more generally. The genre has
seemingly become the catch-all term to describe rock without words
(excepting, of course, bands like Gastr del Sol). But when one
pigeonholing buzz word manages to rope both Don Caballero and Sam
Prekop, its descriptive utility is obviously suspect. Avoiding a
general critique of post-rock, though, allow me simply to pare it
down a bit: The Six Parts Seven play delicate, subdued post-rock
a la Rachel's or the Album Leaf. There-- is that better?
Unlike many who have traveled the same course, The Six Parts Seven
avoid the dreaded curse of droning boredom, executing their craft
with a surprising and beautiful depth. Compositions are generally
guitar-based, formed from simple hooks and patterns repeated
hypnotically. On most tracks, the guitar hooks manage to sidestep
at some point, allowing for variation in a bridge or interlude,
or perhaps reprieve with a piano melody (as on "Sleeping Diagonally"
and"Where Are the Timpani Heartbeats?"). The guitar driving the melody
is accompanied by a second axe playing background counterpoint. The
band also makes tasteful use of samples, as on "Spaces Between Days
(Part 4)," where something that sounds like a bagpipe in reverse
occupies the guitar's usual drone, repeating the same six-note patterns
throughout.
The compositions on Things Shaped in Passing are uniformly
tender, reflective, and soothing-- the sort of record to soundtrack a
Sunday slumber, or induce the same. There's something very personal
about the music, something evocative in the simplicity that invites
closeness. It's really quite stunning.
Yet, although the parts are strong, the album as a whole still comes
up somewhat short since each track approximates the tempo and mood of
its immediate predecessor. It's as if The Six Parts Seven decided to
write an absolutely perfect song for one occasion, then recorded
slight variations on its theme eight times. As a result, I'd recommend
you either take Things Shaped in Passing in small bites, or
listen for a few tracks and let it dissolve into the background. Still,
I'll contend that they do just fine without a singer, and that they've
managed to create a pretty solid outing considering the current
post-post-rock climate of independent music.
-Brad Haywood, June 21st, 2002