Predictably I have a soft spot for the louder material but this is still a very solid record, working almost like a suite that slowly creeps along before boiling over in the back half. Christmas Steps is one of their all time best tracks and feels like a precursor to post-celestial Isis, which rules
Sam
The audacity of starting your debut record with "if the stars had a sound, it would sound like this" and immediately justifying it with a song I can only describe as the musical equivalent of the third impact. It's probably my third favorite song on the album behind Summer and Mogwai Fear Satan.
Sam
Insane how they immediately knew what kind of band they wanted to be. Sharp contrasts between layered quiet passages and pummeling noise played with a brevity rarely found in post rock. A bit "Mogwai by the numbers" at times but Ithica 27/9 and Helicon 1 are excellent tracks.
