What Seas, What Shores is from Canada, and, surprisingly enough, doesn't seem to be fit for release on Constellation Records, nor is it a cookie-cutter indie-rock band. This alone is reason for celebration – if there's any country whose music scene needs a boost, it's Canada (Destroyalldreamers can only do so much!). The question is, however, is What Seas, What Shores the band to shoot some life back into the Canadian scene? The answer is, well, yes and no. Threnodies does an admirable job of working differently from its peers, but far too often leaves a lot to be desired, tainting an otherwise powerful piece.
Threnodies sounds a lot like it wants to take a path similar to the one taken by My Education on its latest release, Bad Vibrations. The focus generally tends to rest on the strength of repetition and composition rather than on explosive finales, with mixed results. Often the tracks work wonderfully, highlighting the young band's skill and underlining its commitment to attempting something different with its sound, but occasionally, What Seas, What Shores slips up. This kind of mistake is most glaringly obvious in the end of “Old Reliable,” where a sudden, jarring shift in momentum leaves the listener behind. What was probably meant to defy expectations deftly manages to do so, but at the cost of effectiveness.
The production is as gritty as you'd expect the debut release from a post-rock band to sound, and surprisingly enough, it works. It gives tracks like the lethargic “Siren Radio” that sand in your teeth, sand in your eyes feel that only really poor production can give, and this is just what the track needs – anything better, and the listener would be asking questions like “What is the point of all of this slow repetition, anyway?” With the grit, the track feels natural, assured of itself, and full of purpose (even if it's slow in getting there), all of which are essential to a well-constructed track. The use of the violin is also noteworthy, as unlike most other bands that make use of the instrument, the violin is not pushed to the forefront of the mix for super-emotive crescendos. Rather, it is kept in the back, supplementing rather than dominating the track. This could, of course, be a result of the production, but we’ll give What Seas, What Shores the benefit of the doubt and assume it was intentional.
The most glaring flaw on the release, however, is the lack of continuity between tracks. There is no logical force behind the track selection – Threnodies does not work cyclically, nor does it work linearly; it is merely a collection of songs. To give a blunt example: my mP3 player mixes up the track order on certain albums for whatever reason, and this happened with the What Seas, What Shores release. The final track, “Rabunda,” was placed second in the order, rather than at the final spot. Not only did I not notice on initial listens that the track was out of place, but I found that it actually works better in this spot. You could honestly rearrange the tracks in any order you like and come to a similar effect to the one arrived at on the current organization of Threnodies. It goes without saying that this is a major problem, and easily prevents the release from making a big name for the band.
If this review seems to be rather, well, non-committal, it’s because the album itself won’t let me commit. What Seas, What Shores has created an album that I want to love, but has too many problems for me to lavish that kind of praise upon it. But it is not a bad album, by any stretch of the imagination, just a competent one. If What Seas, What Shores take time to mature and fully develop their next work, they could bring Canada back from the musical grave. Threnodies is just not the album to do it.
-Zach Mills