God is an Astronaut [Live] @ Hoxton Bar & Kitchen

East London - 28/01/09

February 17, 2009, 11:03 PM

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I first discovered God Is An Astronaut through my interest of post rock and shoe gaze, continuing my love of staring longingly in to the middle of nowhere whilst being aurally fucked to near orgasm, kept on the cusp just long enough to prolong one of the greatest sensations a self confessed muso could ever wish for without crumpling to a gooey mess on the venue floor.

The venue tonight is sold out and quite rightly so. God Is An Astronaut are a post rock outfit from Ireland, treading close to the likes of Explosions in the Sky, Mogwai and This Will Destroy You, but still holding some originality. After hearing their latest release I was expecting at least 4 or 5 members on stage, yet I was greatly surprised by only 3. Their sound is not generated solely by the three members, but helped by a backing track that adds various dimensions,although this never took away from what God Is An Astronaut offer. There are often ambiances drifting around and added guitar tracks. The singer is a multi instrumentalist, drifting between guitar and keyboard, with the negated instrument being catered for on the backing track. One track even sees the bass player put a capo high up the neck of his bass, allowing him to play a chordal lead part, whilst the deep bass notes are covered by the backing track!

Despite God Is An Astronaut’s reliance on their backing tracks to fill their sound, there is never a sense of cheating. What you have is 3 musicians who work incredibly well together and we cannot blame them for deciding to use a backing track instead of letting another person in to the frame. The outfit are incredibly tight throughout and not a single fault was ever clear. Of all the tracks performed I was aware of maybe a third and the rest were new to me. Of these new tracks I was drawn in to over half of them and was very willing to hear more.

It’s not surprising how many people crammed out this small East London venue. God Is An Astronaut deserve such greater credit for their work and I truly hope they get it. The genre is very open and far from crowded and I truly feel that God Is An Astronaut can follow in the steps of Mogwai (and the like) and prove that you don’t need a singer to create deep and moving music. These guys aren’t musicians, they are architects of sound, creating vast caverns and valleys, abundant in beauty and depth, drawing you in to get lost and showing you what it feels to be truly alive. If only I could live my whole life feeling this way!

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