Purchase New York

Slow building instrumental music started to sneak its way into the mainstream the moment one drunken fan yelled "Moya!” at a Godspeed You! Black Emperor show. Yes, even the most obtuse and challenging layered music could be reduced down to a "Free Bird” style yelp. Purchase New York, though, seem to have pulled off the seemingly impossible and incorporated both the post-rock guitar dirges and wispy in-betweens with the emotional melodramatics of bands like Doves and Muse. It seems like an odd combination, but in this Austin, Texas-based band’s capable hands, some spellbinding moments occur. The first indication is "Nine Mile Drag,” with the clear, earnest vocals over a reverb drenched haze, but also incorporating that Mogwai lucidity to the wavering guitar lines. The best — and longest — track is "…Amelia Earhart” where the bands goes for broke and throws everything into the pot. Sure, the song might work better broken into different parts, but it would lose its manic energy with those glorious cacophonies, falsetto yelps and intricate stop-starts that easily convince that this band just slays live. Not the most focused of albums, but fuck that — the originality and vitality given to their music makes Purchase New York a band to truly look out for.