Album Review: This Piano Plays Itself

This Piano Plays Itself: This Piano Plays Itself



Local Atlanta's This Piano Plays Itself just released a self-titled EP that takes the listener through an impressive variety of tones. Their "Explosions-in-the-Death-Cab" sound is highlighted by some electronic muscle that stretches their sound out of the worn idea of guitar rock, and although their influences may be somewhat transparent, this self-produced first effort shows huge potential. The opening minute or so of the record, a series of reverb-heavy synth loops, do a great job of setting up the first real song of the record, Day of Symmetry. From there, the record continues to display more guitar than synthy rock, but there are a couple electronic music-esque production tricks thrown in, like on Post Haste the Proletariat Waits and Awake/Asleep. Throwing on the reverb thick on both the guitars and vocals give the shoe-gaze elements of this band's sound an other worldly quality. Having seen the band live a couple times, the record surprised me by accomplishing a more calculated and in the pocket feel alongside their normally raucous and Godspeed!-type spastic parts, exemplified in the closing track of the record, These are Segments of Revolving and Revolting.

The record throws some serious wall of noise guitar bashing in with the peripheral electronic experimentation while not feeling gimmicky, or as if searching for filler. The biggest problems with this record are minor and the same as any other young band: transparent influences and production values. Impressive in its own right, this is a self-produced first recording, which rarely, if ever, turn out this well. This band's thick sound shows huge potential and I am psyched to hear them move forward with more tunes.

This Piano Plays Itself : Day Of Symmetry


This Piano Plays Itself : Post Haste, The Prolitariat Waits


This Piano Plays Itself Myspace