Pg.lost
In never out
Black Star Foundation
Pg.lost have always impressed me -- their first effort, "Yes I am" is as solid and engaging a debut record as I know, followed quickly by the lengthier, though less intricate "It's not me, it's you!", which, despite my criticisms, remains a fantastic foray into the world of postrock. That said, this most recent effort is perhaps their crowning achievement. "Yes I am", while a stunning record, feels more like an EP than an album; "It's not me, it's you!" occasionally used sledgehammers of sound where previously they had weaved elaborate melodic threads; but on "In never out", Pg.lost get it just right -- the building, anthemic qualities of "Yes I am" are paired faultlessly with the heavy, driving relentlessness seen on "It's not me, it's you!". Whatever worries the opening track's minimalist darkness gave me at first were easily dispelled by the detailed and layered, but just as heavy, "Jura", one of the album's finest moments. Now, after almost a week with "In never out", it's hard to imagine the album starting any other way, even if the majority of the record has more in common with the haunting, stratified second track. Even though those initial thrills that course through my brain upon hearing damn fine postrock have subsided somewhat, I'd still recommend "In never out" to friends interested in heavier, more distortion laden postrock just as readily as I would Mono's "One step more and you die" or Explosions in the Sky's "All of a sudden I miss everyone". Pg.lost deserve to have their name and their achievements, especially "In never out", mentioned in the same discussion as artists and albums of the caliber cited above.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
