God is an Astronaut

It's hard to know what to expect from instrumental post rock. Given the nature of the music you can be sure there won't be any flamboyant sequin-clad vocalists, technically baffling solos or insane hair because these kind of bands are usually qualified by the absence of such traditional means of performing.

The focus, then, is more on the music itself, rather than how many guitars they smash playing it. Because of this shift of emphasis, the music has to be of such quality that it draws the attention away from the fact that you are essentially staring at an awkward bunch skinny, floppy haired musicians who are in turn staring at their feet. Or all those shiny effects pedals next to their feet anyway.

I'm generalising of course but still I walked into the Brundell Social Club in Leeds without quite knowing how well Irish shoe-gazers God is an Astronaut would do in keeping my interest. I was pleasantly surprised to find, though, that I was completely engrossed from start to finish. What helped is the fact that their back drop was a projection of all the shamelessly emotive footage that makes up their music videos. 'Fragile' was particularly potent with images of monkeys interacting with children in such a way that in spite of their appearance they would not be distinguishable. Coinciding with the songs crescendo was clips of all the various horrid things we (as a race) have done to animals in the name of science.

Now this may come across as preachy, and in fact I overheard a conversation in response to some footage of tank warfare in which one man turns to his friend and says "so.. what? Are they against war or for war? What are they trying to say?" But I think this would be missing the point.

When this seemingly politically charged footage is held against the rest of the not so politically charged we see that they all have a common theme. They are all examples of the extremities of life on earth, whether caused by us or not. Inclusively showing devastating scenes of hurricanes are sandwiched with scenes of nuclear explosions, as if these explosions are just as much an unavoidable natural phenomena as the winds themselves.

Taken in this light God is an Astronaut's show became more an invitation to reflect on the scale and power of life and our own insignificance within it. With this in mind their already epic music became even more so. As the Philosopher Kendall Walton says, "It is as though the music provides the smile without the cat-a smile for the listener to wear" Except this smile is all of the awe, all of the suffering and all of the joy the planet has to offer.

As for what they played, it would have no doubt kept the fussiest of fans quiet. Perfectly reproducing old favourites from their more 'produced' first album 'The End of the Beginning', peppering the set with tracks from their new self titled LP and all the while not neglecting those in between like 'Far From Refuge, and 'All is Violent, All is Bright'. 'Tempus Horizon', falling early on in the set was a perfect example of the band's ability to break your heart with a single chord progression, while the chiming darkness at the dramatic end of 'Shadows' pounded raw and powerful.

It became quite clear that God is an Astronaut are a band that are supposed to be seen live, the albums serving as a reminiscent indulgence from time to time, but never as good as the real thing. I will be eagerly awaiting their next tour. In fact, I may even see them again on this one.

FUTURE GIGS

sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.