Search - Raising the Fawn :: Maginot Line

Just buy it

Chris Croft | where the pixalated doctors moan | 03/13/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I always find it difficult to attempt to describe the music of Raising the Fawn to people who have never heard of them before. The closest I can usually get is a grittier, sparser Broken Social Scene, mixed with a bit of Explosions in the Sky because of their tendencies for long dramatic buildups and astonishing climaxes to songs. If you own RTF's last album, The North Sea, this new cd is similar, but there have been changes. Whereas John Crossingham, the lead singer and guitarist of the band, handled all the songwriting on previous albums, this time around each member of the band had a hand in the composition of the songs. Nothing against Crossingham (I consider The North Sea one of the top three albums I own) but the music on The Maginot Line has much more variation than the North Sea. If you had heard RTF's previous songs, you might not be able to imagine some of the sounds they create on this album. Take the title track, for instance: it starts off as an almost-sinister sounding ballad before a militaristic drum pounding and fuzzed out bass and guitar start in. This then evolves into a ragged blues riff approaching the end of the song. The first time I listened, this kinda blew my mind. This review has run on too long as it is, so I'm just going to say this: whether or no you've heard Raising the Fawn, if you enjoy good/great/amazing music, with songs that evolve, varied-as-hell sounds, and lyrics that actually matter, you will like this cd."