Few would deny that 2007 has already been an outstanding year for instrumental music, with a plethora of stellar releases from such bands as Joy Wants Eternity, Caspian, Cue, and The Pirate Ship Quintet. As great as their music might be, some might say the songs of any of the aforementioned are a little on the short side - TPSQ being the only one to exceed the 10-minute mark (and with two 11 minute songs, it's almost like they're not even trying). But that’s all set to change with the arrival of Ohio-based quintet Johnnytwentythree.

'Epic' is a term I use sparingly. I mean, Homer’s Iliad is an epic poem; The Lord of the Rings trilogy is an epic film series; and Mogwai and Godspeed You! Black Emperor have been known to make some pretty epic songs ("My Father, My King" from the former, "Providence" from the latter, for instance). There’s certainly been a paucity of epic post-rock in recent years. However, J23’s creatively-titled album JXXIII contains six tracks lasting just over an hour, including one lasting 13 minutes, another lasting 15 minutes and another absolute behemoth of a song, "Ghost Soldiers," reaching the twenty-minute mark. Epic, indeed. I’d started salivating before I’d even had the chance to press the ‘play’ button.

J23’s music certainly ticks all the right boxes as far as good old ‘post-rock’ music is concerned. Quiet-loud dynamics play an integral part of the music? Check. Songs so long they would crush the soul of your average pop music fan? Well, we’ve already ascertained that fact, so—check. Effects-heavy guitars along with a smattering of other instruments (keyboards, violin, etc.)? Check. Occasional passages of semi-coherent speech? Check. JXXIII represents a journey through all that is good about the instrumental music world at the moment. Droning guitars are carried into crushing crescendos. Eerily atmospheric sprawling soundscapes abound. Repetitive riffs build into tremendous climaxes. You name it, J23 have thought of it.

For J23, it’s not purely about the music, however—the CD of JXXIII also contains accompanying films, some of which have featured in film festivals in the US and which play an integral part of the J23 live show. I’ve seen this work to good effect previously at two different gigs, one with The Beta Band—known for their zany antics, the band emerged on stage dressed as spacemen and proceeded to strut their stuff accompanied by the craziest videos I’ve ever seen (a supermarket selling cans of emotions—I mean, what’s that all about?)—and the other with Death in Vegas, in 1999. While not exactly a post-rock band, Death in Vegas might well have been that night—three guitars, drums and bass fused with decks to create a truly thunderous sound, with extraordinarily well-synched grainy military-style videos, with German soldiers frogmarching in time to "Dirge." Possibly the most visually stunning band I’ve ever seen live, and certainly the loudest I’d ever heard at that juncture (though this record was short-lived; they were followed on stage by none other than Mogwai). If the video on their myspace site for "A Minute’s Silence" is anything to go by, J23 have taken a leaf out of Death in Vegas’ book with a graphic black-and-white war film depicting marching armies and men getting shot, while quotations such as "we are surrounded but will not surrender" and "trapped by the grave we will not surrender" flash up on the screen. It’s far from the best song on the album, but has been transformed into a moving cinematographic work of art.

Listen to JXXIII and you won’t be hard-pressed to elucidate exactly where the band’s influences lie. Nonetheless, Johnnytwentythree have demonstrated why the more established acts shouldn’t rest on their laurels just yet. Epic post-rock makes a welcome return.

-Richard White