... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - Source Tags & Codes (50 Albums Part 3)

I have to admit: I have a soft spot for "indie" anthems, and this album from 2002 makes my list primarily on the merits of the very anthemic opener, "It Was There That I Saw You." The four-minute track doesn't waste any time; at 16 seconds sheer walls of guitar (somehow louder than possible) will halt any conversation, silence any room, and demand the attention of all present. This is the kind of song that I wished I'd written - ever had one of those?

While the album never reaches these (I'll use it again) anthemic heights, there's still much to hear. The second track, "Another Morning Stoner," is sort of an up-tempo dirge that, while strong on its own, is a bit of a disappointment after the assault of the first. It does set the context for what's to come: "Baudelaire" drives with the same youthful intensity; "Homage" is screaming emo-style done right; "How Near How Far" nicely breaks the album with a bit of a slower opening leading into a more melodic, introspective drive.

From there, the album takes a more experimental route. Notably, "Monsoon" establishes the band as modern psychedelia, and the "desert" flavor reminiscent of Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age, Corrosion of Conformity, etc begins. This track is truly great; sprawling to vertiginous heights over the course of nearly six minutes only to slam headlong into "Days of Being Wild."

An interesting twist occurs near the end of the album: "After the Laughter" and "Source Tags and Codes" both feature a style different from the rest of the disc. It's difficult to articulate, but for some reason they both remind me very much of Super Furry Animals (an influential band, but alas, none of their albums made my list)

So why is this album in my 50 most influential albums? I don't really know myself. It may be in the engineering - Source Tags & Codes takes Spector's "Wall of Sound" to an entirely new dimension, and the songs simultaneously always feel too loud and not loud enough. The blend of styles is contradictory - sometimes seeming schizophrenic, other times boring and homogenous; but if this CD makes its way into your player at the right time in your life, it won't leave for some time.

As an interesting side note, Trail of Dead recently wrapped up a tour with Dethklok, the fake (but surprisingly, very good) metal band from the Adult Swim cartoon Metalocalypse.