O Soundtrack My Heart

Wandery spidery guitar over broody synthlines and with an over-excited drummer. Come on Pivot! You could be a bit more boring if you tried harder. Have you considered, for example, making the songs longer? Possibly the repetition could be indulged in more repetitively? Maybe you could give vague directions to motorists over the music? Or maybe you could ask a small child to recount a meandering, half-understood story while you noodle away in the background? I have finally come to terms with the fact that most post-rock is just easy listening jazz and self-important prog rock for people with certain types of beards and t-shirt. Okay, as a musician I can sit back and appreciate a synth-sound here or there, or give a polite round of applause to an unexpected drum fill – but albums like this are really just catalogues of half-baked, under-arranged ideas, which pop producers will eventually pilfer and use to better effect. This is music made by people who listen to music as musicians, not people who listen to music as fans of music. There is a difference. And I challenge you to find five people in Ireland who like this record who aren’t musicians themselves.

Key Track: ‘Sing You Sinners’