One of the most spellbinding bands in a city full of them, Montreal's Yoo Doo Right have become an impeccably well-oiled machine both live and on wax.
They're also fairly prolific, as From the Heights of Our Pastureland is their third album in four years, and one that builds on its predecessors' ability to put an ethereal and sometimes noisy twist on krautrock, post-rock, shoegaze and post-punk sounds.
This time, the trio of Justin Cober (guitar/vocals/synth), Charles Masson (bass) and John Talbot (drums/percussion) take that foundation and bring it to newer, sometimes grimier and often more euphoric places.
Opening with a two-parter — a combined length of just over 13 minutes — is certainly one way to set the tone. "Spirit's Heavy, but Not Overthrown" greets the listener with a long, dragged-out sample of loud, almost grating guitar distortion — almost like the band's very own THX intro to their album.
Part two of the opening track is when things really get underway in earnest, showcasing the band's ability to create gradual tension and eeriness in ways not unlike other Montreal post-rock greats before them. While they're mostly an instrumental group, we hear Cober deliver perhaps his most expressive vocal performance to date on that track, and it comes right after a dramatic beat switch. One of Yoo Doo Right's calling cards is their unpredictability: the song rocks hard before suddenly falling quiet for the last two minutes and change, with droning guitar tones playing the song out.
The nine-minute third track "Eager Glacier" immediately starts with only the sound of Talbot's pounding floor tom. Intensity levels rise ever so gradually as the music builds and the drumming gets louder, before momentarily becoming a much quieter and much different song. That is, before it goes right back into full wall-of-sound rock mode with urgent, swirling guitars and dizzying post-rock soundscapes. Needless to say, it makes great use of its runtime.
"Ponders End" is where we see the band shake things up a bit. The Britpop-style rhythm makes it sound like a grittier, more industrial take on something you'd have expected Oasis to make in the mid-'90s. It's bouncy, groove-driven and toe-tapping while maintaining the band's dark and ominous atmospheres.
"Lost in the Overcast" is a four-minute ambient interlude of sorts, one that feels very much like the peace and quiet before a distortion-heavy storm of sound to come. This is pretty much what we get with the album's closing title track — at least for the first four and a half minutes, before switching into a sleepy, piano-heavy section to close the LP out with.
Whether From the Heights of Our Pastureland will win over new converts still depends on their interest in post-rock in general, but this album is another feather in You Doo Right's cap, one that stays true to its well-established sonic patterns without fear of charting new territory.