you, infinite : you, infinite
The self-titled album from you, infinite has provided me with such a vexing set of thoughts. First, the most obvious: this record is enjoyable, a solid slice of post-rock from old players of the genre, Jeremy Galindo and Raymond Brown having long been members of This Will Destroy You. And if you approach it wanting that glacial grandeur and modern rock-arranged orchestral work, you will be satisfied. It’s when you dig a little below the hood that the record begins to open up in ways both good and bad.
Take, for instance, the drum arrangements. Most post-rock of the classic style viewed drums as more orchestral percussion, performing long rolls and great swells. This is all well and good, but other rock instruments would get to bare some punk rock grit every now and again, and it was in part that one-dimensional approach to percussion that eventually burned out so many on the style. Here, the drummer actually gets to settle into a groove, one that often bears closer resemblance to what the drums on Genghis Tron’s spectacular Dream Weapon were doing than, say, your typical Explosions in the Sky release. But the approach to drums here can likewise feel a bit Imagine Dragons at time, with the arena compression against soaring melodies feeling a bit too close to that world to be comfortable.
Likewise, the sense of timbre and harmonic language here skews toward that particular celestial gospel of U2, an unspoken touch point for many post-rock bands that previously was too unhip to acknowledge outright. At its best here, those Lanois and Eno inspired soundscapes, along with healthy splicing of dream pop sonics, create an enticing atmosphere that bridges the gap between these obviously related musical spaces. There are moments however when, if you have a certain background, you might begin to hear the strains of CCM wanting to break through, a half-groaned male vocal yearning toward Christ or whatever those guys do.
As stated up top, none of these sink the record. These are phantasms that appear when you stare at something too closely, let what might be brilliant wallpaper swim up to the very heights of consciousness where every relation lays revealed in the sun. The common element here is that you, infinite often lacks the boldness to really seize the listener with an instrument or a melody or a rhythm. There is a soporific quality to this music which is admittedly part genre form but also part underdeveloped. Lacking a strong element to move through these great cathedrals and hallways of sound, these cavernous rooms with diaphanous drapes of strained light, the music becomes either background noise or summons to mind these irksome relations.
Oddly, Sigur Rós solved this same issue years prior. When their sound seemed to stagnate and pause despite obvious immense talent, they looked at the two options available to post-rock groups looking to renovate themselves, to go ambient sound sculpture or to become active intense and heavy, and did both. To their credit, you, infinite have a cut dead center in the record called “The Elder” which does this capably, really letting each instrumentalist shine and without asking any player to foreshorten their identity in doing so. It is these moments of playing that is less interested in fitting the prescribed mold of post-rock that achieve a more vital current form of the style. “Shine Eternal” is immensely capable Mono worship, which is always welcome, but it is in work like “The Elder” that a clear and bright future for the group awaits.
Label: Pelagic
Year: 2025
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