Caspian

In July of 2008, I had the opportunity to see Yndi Halda play an in-store at Metropolis Records in Torrington. I remember that the store, a tiny one-room affair, was packed to bursting with about twenty people. It was an exceptionally hot summer day. Inside the un-airconditioned store we squirmed and sweat, struggling to breathe the thick air, shirts adhering to our backs with persperation.

I also remember there was one young couple there who, in their effort to look exceptionally twee, were decked out in sweaters, knit caps, and scarves.

Yndi Halda's performance was face-melting. They played three songs from their 4-track LP, Enjoy Eternal Bliss. Each song clocked in between fifteen and twenty minutes in length. When I left the store after their performance, my ears were ringing with temporary tinnitus.

There was another band on that evening's bill, some group from Boston that I'd never heard of. There name was Caspian, which pulled up all sorts of Narnia-esque images in my mind's eye (and drew an unbased comparison to hardcore/screamo band Dawn Treader). I was sweaty and half-deaf, so I decided to check out merch and head home, opting to skip Caspian's closing set.

Later when I looked into the band, I was fully regretful of my decision. Caspian play their own brand of cinematic post-rock; their music is highly emotional and atmospheric. The songs are largely formulaic, following the same "soft-loud-soft-loud" dynamic as acts like Mogwai or Explosions in the sky. Their music is smoothly textures, producing sweeping soundscapes akin to more ambient-leaning groups like Sigur Ros.

Caspian best describes their music in their own words. Simply put, "Nobody sings. Most of the time, we play very loud. Sometimes quite soft. We always try to play with heart."

This footage taken from a two-month European tour in Fall of 2009 (set to the song "Of Foam and Wave" from Tertia) displays their enthusiastic live performance:



The first time I played through Caspian's second full-length, The Four Trees, I was driving home through a late summer rainstorm. The sky had a strange dark/light dichotomy to it. I was driving on a winding rural road when the song "Asa" came on. The rest of the album had been good, but this song affected me in unspeakable ways. It made me hopeful. It choked me up. It was powerful.

"Asa" is certainly one of the band's finest offerings. This is one of the most beautiful songs that has ever graced my ears. Check out the video, especially the rising guitar at 5:11 - it gets me every time.

Caspian's latest album, Tertia, was released on September 15th, 2009, by The Mylene Sheath.

Caspian's Myspace