2006 saw the release of new LPs from both the Black Heart Procession and the Album Leaf, both are which are fairly solid and have been well received. It thus seems inevitable that Tristeza will be ranked against these successes, as both releases feature James LaValle, former guitar player for Tristeza. This San Diego quintet set the bar for subsequent post-rock bands, and served as a ‘gateway’ band for many kids in the hardcore/indie scene. With releases on the seminal screamo label, Gravity, Tristeza reached many music fans who otherwise may have missed out. Last years A Colores proved that the new line-up could continue to create beautiful music without LaValle, but could they do it again? The band was facing another sophomore slump, with building anticipation to see what the new line-up would produce given more time. In some ways En Nuestro Desafio (In our defiance) lives up to its name, and again shows that Tristeza continues to be a worthy entity in itself, without living in the shadow of their past triumphs. Tristeza continues to be an excellent bunch of musicians creating interesting music and experimenting with tones.
En Nuestro Desafio does have has some important weak-points, however, and must be pointed out. This collection of songs, although a strong release, is almost completely lacking any coherent structure. The intro, Común, begins predictably with a fade of ambient noise, and builds slowly to a melody, which vaguely foreshadows "Wearing the Blues," a cute title which alludes to the band’s name. (Tristeza means sadness.) This album retains the dreamy quality of Dream Signals in Full Circles, as well as the interplay between the interesting that makes instrumental bands worth listening too. James Lehner's drumbeats are superb, as he again demonstrates a competence and compositional mind that few post-rock drummers can match. In "Swoop Me Up," Tristeza add a brief vocal part, which adds to the lack of cohesion, as it seems very out of place. The song is also quite short, clocking in at just over 2 minutes, and swarming with synth noise and background drumming. In the context of the song it works fine.
After listening through the album straight through, with its array of ideas and relatively short compositions, one gets the impression that the record was quickly put together. It feels very transient, and although it is good, feels incomplete. I don’t know anything about the background of this release, and have not seen the DVD, so I can only speculate, but I suspect another Tristeza record will follow next year. The instantly unforgettable melodies and guitar and organ tones make this a record worth coming back too, however, and the good far outweighs the bad.
The title track alone makes the album worth the price of the CD. The last track on the album, and by far the longest at 8:58, "En Nuestro Desafio" is an instant classic, conjuring images and moods with barely more then a drum beat and sparse notes plucked on a guitar, drum effects, and the occasional banging around. And just wait until the funky organ comes in towards the end. Tristeza should score films, if they haven’t already. I recommend putting on this track, smoking a bowl, and staring at the moving colores on the band’s website. You won’t be disappointed.
-Joseph Sannicandro