Sometimes it’s in the most non-assuming places that some of the greatest surprises can emerge. Presidio is a three piece based in Buffalo, New York who succeeds in many ways through addition by subtraction. Stripped of both vocals and bass, the band is comprised of two dueling guitars and clever drumming (along the use of far too many pedals to mention here). This group of humble musicians has spent the past year writing some of the best “post rock” that I have heard in quite sometime. Keep an eye on this band as they continue to record (eventually finishing a full length) and play shows throughout the Northeast.
Check out the epic thirteen and a half minute track “The Drake Passage” named after one of the world’s most treacherous stretches of ocean to navigate, a narrow passage located in the icy waters off the coast of Antarctica. This track truly is a journey in and of itself as is carries the listener through various phrases and textures, shifting from gentile to almost violently chaotic, like a clipper ship casting off only to find itself broadsided by a death-defying ocean storm. The track opens melodically, emitting a tonality that initially conjures visions of Explosions in the Sky but diverges from that trajectory as it builds in layers and complexity just before the tracks middle erupts into an ambitious and grand low-fi crunch. At the mid point of the track emerges a phrase that is both eerie and calming and features the addition of spacey and airy trumpet, as if the voyagers have entered into the eye of the storm. The track jumps out of this segment erupting again as the guitars add sonic tension and the constant and varying cymbals give off a texture that seems like waves crashing onto the hulls of the ship. Much like navigating a storm in the icy waters of Antarctica, “The Drake Passage” is unpredictable, as every phrase is different, never repeating, at once toying with time signatures and throwing away the A-B song structure, a structure that even pervades much similar music in the post rock genre. This undoubtedly impressive track closes on an understated note, through the soft guitar harmonies as if the vessel has finally emerged from the storm, both peaceful and battle tested on the other side.
Presidio – “The Drake Passage”
Presidio just recently finished a brief East Coast Tour which included dates with Summer People (former Fire When Ready) and was capped off with a stop at New York City’s Lit Lounge with This Moment In Black History and Sun God. Presidio also plays a hometown show in Buffalo, NY Tuesday night (8/17), again with Summer People at Soundlab.
