Pattern is Movement

Pattern is Movement is an emo-tinged, math-rock band that has seriously set out to reconnect art with life. Luckily, those two presences are already indissolubly united, assumedly forever, so this very serious band can set about to record a concept album that "explores the mundanity [sic] of communal life by unfolding the extraordinary events of one revolutionary character.” This contrasting concept blatantly recalls James Joyce’s Ulysses and Husker Du’s Zen Arcade, but without the originality, intuition or precision of focus. There are many times when Pattern is Movement’s debut feels like a house threatening to implode under the weight of its own roof. Its grandiose concepts and grasping intentions far outweigh the respectable talents of the band, especially when all that is translated is a tired tradition that wore thin years ago. There are a few impressive moments on this debut that shine through its pretensions and the production breadth is incredible (as in the ominous opening of "Pika Doun” or the intense "Albatross”). But no Pedro The Lion sound-alike gains "power to change relationships and political climates, for good and for ill,” with 26 minutes of music, let alone a substantial body of work and a few hundred million in the bank. Pattern is Movement has a lot going, but these boys have to break through their egos before they can develop into a unit that will display its full potential.