This Will Destroy You
This Will Destroy You is an instrumental, experimental post-rock band from San Marcos, Texas who have been active since 2005. Since then, they’ve released three EPs and two proper albums. Don’t tell them that I said “post-rock” about them, though. Just as the band Low eschews the “slowcore” tag, This Will Destroy You loathes the “post-rock” classification. They’d rather you call them something like “cinematic…” or I read somewhere that they prefer “doom-gaze” because they describe themselves as a hybrid of doom metal and shoegaze. I’m not sure if I’m buying that. I still call them “post-rock”. I think Mogwai hates that label, too. That’s not why we’re here today, though.
This Will Destroy You hasn’t always been an instrumental band. When they first started, their songs had vocals, but they all agreed that they weren’t creating the sound that they really wanted. Some people told them that they sounded too much like Radiohead. They went back to the drawing board, and the next song that they wrote was today’s song. It just so happened that it was an instrumental song. Everyone loved it, and they found a new path for themselves. They were an instrumental band.
Now… whether they like it or not, people are going to say things. They’re four dudes from Texas who play loud effects-laden, guitar-oriented anthemic instrumental songs marked by tempo shifts and dynamic changes. Pianofortes and fortepianos. Add all of that up, and the comparisons to Explosions in The Sky are inevitable. They don’t want to talk about it, though.
Since we’re somewhat clear on what they don’t want you to say about them, I’m sure the guys in This Will Destroy You won’t mind when people say that they’ve made some damn good records.
Although it was a couple of years after its release, Young Mountain was the first thing I ever heard by This Will Destroy You. That was probably some time in 2009, so I was able to also scoop up the 2008 debut album. To make a clerical point, that debut record is often mistakenly referred to as “the self-titled record”. In reality, the album is actually titled S/T. After that, there was a long wait. I kept hearing that there was a new album on the horizon, and I even started hearing it from official sources, but the projected release date kept coming and passing. Because I loved Young Mountain and S/T so much, I had ridiculously high expectations for Tunnel Blanket, which was finally released in the spring of 2011. It’s a good record, and it’s a little different. More dreamy and atomospheric and Eno-esque. I’ll hesitate to say that I was disappointed, but it wasn’t quite what I was expecting. I’m not here to review Tunnel Blanket, though. I’m here for a different reason. This is that song.
“The World Is Our ___” by This Will Destroy You
As I’ve said many times about other songs du jour, I’m a sucker for sudden dynamic changes. I’m a sucker for false endings. This song has those things, and much more. In the first three minutes, there are two crescendos, then there’s a sort of a false ending right smack in the middle. A couple more dynamic changes, then another false ending, then a doozy of a shift from soft to heavy at 5:33.
The song clock in at just over seven minutes, but it’s easy not to notice that. I don’t mind listening to it over and over. I hope you like it as much as I do.
To order a physical copy of Young Mountain visit the Magic Bullet Records webstore.
this is that song 
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