The Boxer Rebellion is a moody bunch to say the least. Their latest album, Cold Still, is a fantastically huge over arcing record that's as sweeping as it is dramatic. Perhaps a bit like what would happen if Coldplay were to get stuck in Radiohead, this band take obtuse angles and attempt to make them dark brooding songs that occasionally reach the heavens.
Cold Still seems to be a perfect name for this record as this is a bleak sparse kind of affair that only seems to offer a glimpse into a brighter world. Now, that's not to say that this is a bad record, because it is anything but. In fact, its sparseness and distant melodies are hauntingly beautiful and so widescreen, HD seems to pale in comparison. That's why I think I enjoyed listening to this record so much...it's so depressingly good and so vast that it just about swept me off my feet. Put it this way, if you think your life is bad...try being in this band.
With massive ambient textures and soaring vocals, so much of Cold Still is the sound of a band spending too much time in the stratosphere. The Boxer Rebellion are great at what they do and with them already hovering around the edge of the world, I'm not sure where they can go from here. Emotional guitar based pop music doesn't get much better than this.
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