BigYawn.net
Review of Twelve Rooms
View this review online here.
Right from the start, Palaxy Tracks gets some bonus points in my book for doing something that a lot of bands tend to overlook (at least those of the indie variety): including the song lyrics in the liner notes in large, easily readable print. Not that I’m necessarily a fan of the slobbering, Dashboard Confessional style sing along or anything, but it’s nice to know what the guy on stage is saying, so that you don’t accidentally pump your fist to a passage about killing babies or something (my apologies to the baby killing aficionados out there).
“Taking a page from Death Cab for Cutie” would be one way to start paragraph two of this review, though a more apt description might be “Having created an album that Ben Gibbard dreams about being able to create every night.” I mean that in a good way, though a Death Cab comparison is almost insulting to Palaxy Tracks. This album is storytelling at its absolute finest. From “Speech With Animals” we are given a small slice of life vignette, from the perspective of a man in the midst of a deteriorating marriage. The melancholy organ, piano and guitar accompaniment complements Brandon Durham’s melodic, droning tenor beautifully, up until “learn to rise above” escapes his lips, and the music moves to pure indie rock fanfare. “The Clarion Way” starts off with a hint of “Sultans of Swing” but quickly becomes another lover’s quarrel, eventually becoming contemplative and ending on a more upbeat note. “Camera” holds the slow tone, sounding like it could have come from the American Analog Set, until some chord changes and progression towards the end of the track move it deeper into the sort of bittersweet melody that seems par for the course on this release.
Though I keep bringing up the slower, melodic, droning aspects of the album, I should stress that Twelve Rooms is not without its share of standard rock tracks. “Lamplighter,” “Legs On The Ladder” and “Dead Language” should fulfill the rocking out craving you may be prone to while listening to this album. “Dead Language” in particular makes excellent use of some vocal and instrumental harmonies towards the end before churning out a spacey, uplifting guitar solo to finish out the song.
Overall verdict? The term “haunting” has been used frequently to describe this quartet, and with good reason. However, I think that may do them a giant disservice. Twelve Rooms doesn’t, as many albums of this style do, become a chore to listen to, despite the slower movement of a number of the songs. Two of the more uptempo tracks come at the very end of the album, which helps the pacing a bit, and gives it a more tangible feeling than we heard with Cedarland. I think it’s safe to say that Palaxy Tracks have found their niche on this release.
· Jeff
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BigYawn.net
“This album is storytelling at its absolute finest.”
Prefix Mag
“Palaxy Tracks’ third full-length sees the band discovering the gas pedal while keeping everything bathed in the sepia tones of faded photographs.”
Resonance
“Expansive songwriting yields a richness of sound and feeling that culminates in the gorgeous eight-minute title track.”
Faces
“One wants to be eternally surrender to the attacks of pieces such as the meticously balanced “Grey Snake”…”
The Crutch
“Everything about this album is gorgeous and yet wrenching. The tracks are evocative of the feeling that occurs upon seeing an ex for the first time, post-breakup…”
Harp Magazine
“Although constructed in relatively basic fashion—only occasionally do instruments like a pump organ or a violin show up to augment the guitar-bass-drums setup—the sound this Chicago quartet generates is anything but simplistic.”
The Austin Chronicle
“Twelve Rooms is Palaxy Tracks’ most fully realized work yet, and hopefully the one that gets the word out about these Austin expats.”
Magnet
“Palaxy Tracks may want to discard Carver next time around and focus on material that better matches their sound. Like, say, the gushing prose of a romance novel.”
PopMatters
“I want to let you in on a secret. I want to tell you about this amazing band from Austin via Chicago called Palaxy Tracks.”
Luister
“Every once in a while you come across an album that apparentely does everything in its power to remain unnoticed. Palaxy Tracks’ Twelve Rooms is one of those records.”
Tiny Mix Tapes
“A sound that puts me in a very mopey mood, I’m no stranger to the feel Twelve Rooms. It’s that gentle sort of melancholy that isn’t cathartic, but stately. Not wretched, but eloquent.”
Junkmedia
“Palaxy Tracks’s Twelve Rooms is a stylish collection of a dozen indie rock songs, eminently tuneful and artfully arranged.”
Illinois Entertainer
“(Palaxy Tracks) seem quite content to make albums that explore certain themes and invoke certain moods, rather than collections of songs that sell records.”
The Onion
“The mumble and hush of tracks like “Me & You & Him” makes the rare uptempo songs—like the electrifying “Legs On The Ladder” and the roaring “Dead Language”—stand out like hills in a Midwestern landscape.”
TransformOnline
“There’s a definite sense of space here. It’s enclosed but fighting to move beyond the walls. It expands the area around it until where you are is no longer the little room where you began.”
Splendid
“You should look askance at self-professed music lovers who use “comfortable” as an insult, and Twelve Rooms shows exactly why. We value comfort, and with good reason. Besides, there’s nothing to say that a place in which you feel exactly right cannot also be intense.”
Indieworkshop.com
“Seeing that conferences, meetings, and summits are all the rage these days, indieworkshop descended upon a secret location last week to hear a few musician’s takes on the latest album from Palaxy Tracks.”
All Music Guide
“Ending with the eight-minute title track, Palaxy Tracks branch into an ethereal instrumental that allows them to slowly drift away into other territories.”
Babysue.com
“This album is an exercise in subtlety. Dreamy, insightful, and solid… 12 Rooms is a cool and wonderfully inviting album. Excellent stuff. Different.”
30Music.com
“Palaxy Tracks’ third release, Twelve Rooms, is a gentle and warm album. Brandon Durham’s murmuring voice speaks his lyrics with tenderness, and the music engulfs the listener in a warm embrace.”
Chicago Reader - Critic’s Choice
“On Twelve Rooms (Peek-a-Boo), local trio Palaxy Tracks accesses an even darker muse than the one that inspired its first two full-lengths, The Long Wind Down (2000) and Cedarland (2003)…”
Derives
“‘Cedarland’ is not the kind of disc that imposes itself on you directly; it’s too discreet, too complex, too rich in nuanced ambiances to fully reveal itself on the first listen…”
Visionaire
“The fact that Palaxy Tracks hasn’t yet found a major audience or a major label is both unbelievable and incredibly sad. The band makes some of the most lushly beautiful indie-rock of any group out there, period…”
CMJ New Music Monthy
“Out of the silence, an organ gently swells. Moments later a ride cymbal washes over the mix, as the rhythm section falls into a pillowy groove. Guitars chime together in bittersweet harmony, and you’ve arrived. This is Cedarland…”
EvilSponge
“Furthermore, because of its more mellow moments, it’s easy to overlook how perfectly crafted the music and melodies are. However, with repeated listening and further reflection, I’ve come to the conclusion that Cedarland is a near-perfect Indie Pop album.”
The Austin Chronicle
“Home. A four-letter word as elusive as it is powerful. In many ways, the career of Palaxy Tracks, which formed in Austin in the late Nineties before relocating to Chicago in 2001, is an ongoing attempt to redefine the word.”
PopMatters
“Throw Radiohead on my card table and I’ll raise you Palaxy Tracks.”
Skyscraper
“… the form of supernaturality they create is not of the ghoulish sort, but founded more upon the erie unraveling of their reverberating soundscapes.”
Stuff
“Overall, the lyrics are strong, but the album’s stand-out song, ‘Cedarland,’ has no lyrics. So we made some up…”
30Music.com
“Impossibly endearing, Cedarland couldn’t begin on a better note; ‘The Sediment’ inaugurates this ceremony of haunting, touching songs…”
Rockpile
“… the music has this damp, churchy ambiance like Bark Psychosis or Radiohead if they were less of a dry hump.”
Harp Magazine
“All in all, Palaxy Tracks is making intelligent, gentle indie rock not heard since Galaxie 500’s brightest moments…”
Punk Planet
“Without a doubt, this record is going to be one of my top picks for 2003. Don’t you dare miss out.”
Splendid E-Zine
“More simply and importantly, it’s beautiful music. Perhaps Palaxy Tracks’s greatest accomplishment is recording an album that defies standard musical conversation and instead emulates a mood — because, at the core, isn’t that what many contemporary musicians are attempting to do?”
All Music Guide
“While tracks like ‘Walking Backwards’ and ‘Posthumous’ include depressed and mournful themes, the band’s penchant for beauty and delicate textures rises above the urge to lash out in an angst-ridden frenzy.”
Outburn
“Noticing that the album comes without lyrics, it may be difficult to sniff out that Cedarland is a loosely-structured concept album revolving around the ghosts in frontman Brandon Durham’s hometown.”
The Austin Chronicle
“An overwhelming sense of place, physical and emotional, pervades Cedarland, which still packs an effects-happy punch in the right places.”
Exclaim!
“… you mix country, jazz and shoegazer fuzz to make breezy, gentle lullabies, but deep down, you’re a bunch of diehard R.E.M. fans who made your sophomore disc Cedarland in your parents’ basement!”
Las Vegas City Life
“For those engrossed in the indie world, Cedarland is musically inventive, utilizing the odd musical saw and banjo here and there.”
KindaMuzik.net
“Imagine someone getting the idea to conceptually attach your record to the souls that used to wander around the village of your birth.”
Orlando Weekly
“Durham still can’t resist adopting a fake English accent while blurring the line between bitter and sweet; he’s still ripping off Guided by Voices a bit too readily, and arty organ and/or guitar noise still fills the space behind his every wistful offering. These aren’t complaints.”
Yahoo!’s Launch.com
“Important question: What do you do when you’re from Texas and the music you make sounds as if it were recorded in a London flat? Answer: You move to Chicago.”
Chartattack.com
“Pull yourself out of bed on the next rainstormy morning to play Palaxy Tracks’ sophomore album, Cedarland. Snuggle into your duvet and wrap yourself in the warmth of this record.”
The Austin Chronicle
“In the year since they’ve set foot on their former Austin home turf, Palaxy Tracks holed up in their Chicago studio and emerged with Cedarland, the follow-up to 2001’s brilliant The Long Wind Down.”
New City
“I thought that Palaxy Tracks had fallen off the face of the Earth. But here they are and this Spring, they’ll finally release Cedarland, a follow-up to 2000’s The Long Wind Down. There must be something in the water in Texas.”
Audio Galaxy
“This Austin, TX quartet (soon to relocate to Chicago) delivers the classic indie rock sounds that sang us through college with a freshness and clarity that recalls the work of the best independent bands…”
Pop Culture Press
“Durham, guitarist Brad Murph, and bassist Keith Grap (and new drummer Joe) never sounded better than at this Austin homecoming backyard party in front of Fivehead bassist Jeff Jones’ Porchlight Studios…”
All Music Guide
“With The Long Wind Down, this Austin quartet has clearly honed their skills to produce a tight, deeply layered collection of indie rock gems…”
The Austin Chronicle
“Palaxy Tracks, prodigal Austinites on their first trip back home after leaving for Chicago…”
The Austin Chronicle
“They used to be Austin’s best kept secret, now they’re Chicago’s…”
Shredding Paper
“Math-rocky enough for the smarmy indie-rockers, but with great songs, subtle but creative production tricks…”
The Austin Chronicle
“On a rainy Thursday evening, as the storm blew in after midnight…”
The Onion
“Conversely, fire marshals had slashed the capacity of the coffee-house Ruta Maya to 49 shortly before SXSW…”
The Austin Chronicle
“Palaxy Tracks have marked SXSW as their final show as an Austin band…”
The Austin Chronicle
“Slowly, quietly, Palaxy Tracks has emerged as a force to be reckoned with…”
Salt For Slugs
“People who know me are not going to believe this, but I actually like this record…”
Pop Culture Press
“Introducing my fave new discovery of the millenium: the Palaxy Tracks…”
The Austin Chronicle
“Somewhere between the mellifluous lilt of Galaxie 500…”
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