Review Summary: Lots of fizz, disappointingly little pop.
Pg.lost are, contradictorily, a memorable band. They stand firmly by the norm of the ‘epic’ post rock template, so one would expect them to fade into obscurity among the legions of post rock bands churning out music that should be astonishing but has begun to sound repetitive. And yet, it can’t be argued that they stand out from the vast monotonous crowd. They transcend their peers by way of taking everything we love about post rock – hyperbolic crescendos, instrumentation of an unparalleled scale, the way that, when done right, it cannot fail to take your breath away – and amplifying it. It’s the post rock we know and love, with renewed ‘epic’. So it wasn’t through innovation or quirkiness that pg.lost surpassed practically everyone within their genre, but by just being
better than them. I fear, however, that with ‘In Never Out’ they may have taken a step backwards, sliding a little toward the obscure mass as another ‘Generic Post Rock Band #132’.
Sadly, this is so, because ‘In Never Out’ does not reach the convincing standard of quality that sets them apart. It sounds like it may aspire to the dizzy heights of, say, ‘It’s Not Me, It’s You!’, but in reality it barely begins to scale them – you would be hard pushed to find a truly memorable moment anywhere. There is a relative flatness here that they are unable to shake. The music does cartwheels, yes; the way “Heart of Hearts” lulls you into a false sense of security with a shining, lonesome acoustic, before it frights you awake with a snap to a primal growl of guitars; the tempo in “Gomez” that slows like a behemoth falling to earth melodramatically in a style that aimed for ‘epic’ and got as far as ‘quite big’; the transition from quiet ambience ala Echoes into the humdrum huge fuzziness on “Prahanien” that only barely metes its enjoyment with its predictability. But cartwheels are small fry compared to the high-flying acrobatics we have watched the band pull off before.
And yet, I find myself struggling for other bones to pick. However, this could be put down to the fact that, while nothing in particular goes wrong, it barely pushes past going smoothly either. Intermittent to the cartwheels, we have the graceful gliding, tiptoeing and occasionally pirouetting to assume the position for the subsequent largely uninspiring piece of gymnastics. This we could call the fuzz – and it’s actually quite well done. But no more. Granted, it’s pretty, and gives no cause for complaint as it washes completely unheeded over the listener. But once the fuzz fades to silence, we are left wondering what just happened, so little impression did it make. The purpose of ambience, surely, is to leave some trace of itself on the listener, whether it awe with beauty, unsettle with creepiness, unnerve with abrasiveness. At its worst, it is but a replacement for silence. Here, for all the impact it has, it would seem that pg.lost have had to stoop to this low level.
Perhaps I was expecting too much – after all, ‘It’s Not Me, It’s You!’ is a doozy of a piece to live up to, so instantly did it endear itself to everyone that didn’t absolutely despise post rock. Trouble is, ‘In Never Out’ doesn’t manage to be endearing. Other than that it at least can be distinguished as the work of pg.lost (yes, the band have gained a recognisable sound, even though they basically do normal post rock music but better - go figure), there is precious little to celebrate. I mean, it’s alright. It’s a mildly enjoyable jot through the ins, outs and other going through the motions of post rock at large. Aside from that, very little saves this effort from being forgettable. Hopefully, pg.lost won’t be forgotten too.
