Joy Wants Eternity
You Who Pretend to Sleep
© 2007 Joy Wants Eternity (837101315425)
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Joy Wants Eternity are a Seattle-based instrumental rock group and You Who Pretend To Sleep is the band’s mightily impressive debut record. The band plays gorgeously shimmering instrumental pieces much in the vein of bands like Mogwai and Explosions In The Sky. While the band may not be mining the most original territory, You Who Pretend To Sleep rises far above the gob of bands playing this style... The ebb and flow of the band’s music washes over you in wave after addictive wave. Whether it comes from glorious shards of guitar feedback or from the layers of effects and keyboards, the band sucks you in at every nimble twist and turn. Joy Wants Eternity manages to keep your attention with a diverse array of instrumentation and textures while still maintaining an incredibly cohesive sound throughout. This speaks to the composition skills of the members and makes it even more impressive that this is only the band’s debut full-length.
-Sound As Language
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A solid effort.
author: Roy WhitfordIt isn't that Joy Wants Eternity necessarily breaks new ground; to someone who has listened to a few bands under the "post-rock" moniker, a few familiar motifs can be found throughout the Seattle outfit's debut LP. What they have done, however, is refine those sounds into epics-in-miniature, as some of the most powerful songs to be found on You Who Pretend to Sleep manage to clock-in under five minutes--no small feat in a field where "epic" seems to be synonymous with "four-digit track times." However, that isn't to deny the emotional depth of their songwriting, as throughout the album, the band avoids the same distance afflicting other instrumental acts. Just listening to the tenderness of "From Embrace to Embrace," the triumph of "Existences Rust," or the apprehension and uncertainty flowing into the acceptance at the end of "Death Is a Door That Opens," Joy Wants Eternity demonstrates the dramatic versatility so hailed in the genre by acts such as Austin's Explosions in the Sky or Tokyo's Mono. Yet, despite never drifting too far into the vague ambiance that afflicts other, more technically-driven acts, there is a moment or two on You Who Pretend to Sleep that seem too drawn-out, an impressive feat for such a brief album; "Yet Onward We Marched," the middle song of a three-part story, almost feels lost in itself, while moments of confusion slide into the album's second half. Despite this, Joy Wants Eternity delivers a solid studio effort, an album that may not change the way the game is played, but certainly plays it rather well.
So mesmerizing that it's breathlessly hypnotic...
author: Matt Howarth - Sonic CuriosityGrinding guitars crunch in a celestial manner, establishing a savage intensity that frequently betrays a peek of heaven. Confused? Don't be. This music achieves a euphoric state through the application of melodic brutality. Guitars blaze with molten fury, expressing chords of searing disposition. The result is so mesmerizing that it's breathlessly hypnotic. And exhausting too. Deafeningly passionate percussion rumbles beneath the layered guitars, providing a suitable locomotion for the grinding tuneage. At other times, the drumming adopts a lazy attitude as it belts out soothing rhythms that gradually amass vitality. A bevy of electronics and effects seethe amid the mix, further cementing the music into a wall of sound that even a neutrino would be hard pressed to penetrate. Ah, but this music is not all brutal and ferocious. There are frequent softer touches that exhibit alluring skill as dreamy passages are crafted, serving as bridges from one pinnacle of intensity to the next. The guitars, however, retain a sense of power that refuses to be suppressed. While displaying restraint, the layered guitar riffs bristle with vigor and soar with majesty. The music possesses a remarkable density that can be exhilarating. The compositions capitalize on this harnessed might, channeling ecstasy into a harsh milieu that shines with the final glory. (www.soniccuriosity.com/sc313.htm)
Crushing, dense, and yet never too much for the ears...
author: Now Like Photographs - Radio K in MinneapolisRecord of the Week for June 3rd is Joy Wants Eternity with their album You Who Pretend to Sleep, put out by Beep Repaired . We were big fans of this Seattle quintet when they sent us their DIY debut in a 100% wooden case when we started NLP in early 2005, so of course we're ecstatic that their first official full-length has finally arrived. Crushing, dense, and yet never too much for the ears, this is epic instrumental rock that will never leave you "waiting for the good part." And yet it's still light enough to float on the clouds and sun rays that grace the album cover. - Now Like Photographs on Radio K University of Minnesota, 770 AM | 106.5 FM | 100.7 FM Minneapolis
Truly, a standout album.
author: The Silent BalletJoy Wants Eternity's second release continues to stun the listener's senses with an onslaught of shoegazing post-rock. While the first release asked the audience to reinterpret the listening experience, You Who Pretends to Sleep is even more of a subconscious experience. Emotions are richer and more fully developed, and as a result, JWE is able to handle moods and tones with the greatest of ease. With mind-shattering tracks like "Uriel" and "You are Vertical. You are the Horizon" concluding the set, the listener is assured that this is just the beginning of a great adventure for this Seattle-based quintet. Truly, a standout album.
Truly, a standout album.
author: The Silent BalletJoy Wants Eternity's second release continues to stun the listener's senses with an onslaught of shoegazing post-rock. While the first release asked the audience to reinterpret the listening experience, You Who Pretends to Sleep is even more of a subconscious experience. Emotions are richer and more fully developed, and as a result, JWE is able to handle moods and tones with the greatest of ease. With mind-shattering tracks like "Uriel" and "You are Vertical. You are the Horizon" concluding the set, the listener is assured that this is just the beginning of a great adventure for this Seattle-based quintet. Truly, a standout album.
...a well-crafted and well-played instrumental rock album...
author: JimiC - threeimaginarygirls.comRight out of the gate, “Existences Rust” is filled with aggressive energy. There's no slow build here: no verses, no choruses, just a surge of noise. “Above the Clouds Lies Eternal Sun” takes a more typical soft to loud path, but keeps it under four minutes, passing by before it’s worn out it’s welcome, delicate guitar/Rhodes passages punctuated by percussive bursts that give the song added power without disturbing the entrancing spell created by the quieter parts. “From Embrace to Embrace” stretches out a bit, mixing early passages of layered melody that build to a chaotically restrained noisy guitar lead, which recedes back as the song reaches its dénouement. Tremulous feedback and reverbed clicks on the pick-ups create an otherworldly bed for a mournful Fender Rhodes (does anything do “mournful” as well as a Rhodes?) progression as “Death is a Door that Opens,” um, opens. A siren-like guitar wails softly in the background as the song expands without ever building to a climax. It goes against everything I look for in a rock song (as discussed in some detail above), but is probably the most effective piece on the album, as it manages to set a unique but familiar mood that is genuinely affecting. The following track, “What Lies Beyond,” as the name implies, seems to be an effort to extend or supplement it’s antecedent, but lacks the depth. It’s a short one, though, so before I can get bored the album moves on. This is probably a good place to point out the pacing of the album, which is really excellent. The best parts ebb and flow in and out, while the less interesting and dynamic bits move out the way quickly, often serving as an effective “palate cleanser” between the main courses. (Can you tell it’s lunchtime as I type this?) “Yet Onward We March” seems by title to be the third in a trilogy with the previous two songs, but shares little musically. It’s generally a by-the-numbers soft to loud build set apart by the tremendously good guitar sound in the noisy build that the band have captured in the recording. The staccato fits and start of the percussion also help make it a little more atypical and less predictable. “Uriel” utilizes a simple but engaging guitar figure to capture my attention before quietly wandering off into a fragile decrescendo, even the drums blending quietly into the mix giving the passage more life than the “soft bits” usually have on offer. Closer “You are the Vertical, You are the Horizontal,” after a familiar-feeling opening passage, feels like a lullaby… right until the explosive end, which is more than just a “loud bit,” with two prominent guitar melodies overlapping and giving the climax an unexpected depth, all of this in just a shade over four minutes, therby avoiding that very common pitfall (as far as I’m concerned) of instrumental rock music, unnecessary length. And while I’m on that topic, four of the eight songs on the LP clock in under four minutes with the longest being a bit over six minutes, certainly lending to the aforementioned excellent pacing, a trait I find very rare in this type of album and one that I must say adds so much to the listening experience. The last two songs, “Uriel” and “You are the Vertical, You are the Horizontal,” have similar vaguely uplifting chord changes that have a way of making the record feel triumphant as it comes to it’s end. It seems an apt ending to a well-crafted and well-played instrumental rock album. In their bio, the band mentions Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Explosions in the Sky, and Mogwai as “recommended if you like” touchstones, and I would certainly second that claim, but I would also advise record buyers not to be scared off by those comparisons if they don’t typically “like” those bands. Joy Wants Eternity has done something similar in quality to them (even occasionaly exceeding their high self-set standard), but unique in its focus and clarity, and more immediate and accessible (at least to vocal-needing cretins like myself) for it.
...the perfect record to blast through headphones when you just want to lie back
author: Megan Seling - The StrangerClocking in at just under 40 minutes, You Who Pretend to Sleep is a sweeping collection of dynamic and vivid shoegazery rock that drips with the same heavy emotions as My Bloody Valentine. At times, the softer moments are reminiscent of Mogwai's Rock Action, but with layers of guitars and Rhodes piano building to a climax and swirling around the ether; songs also grow to an intensity that stands up to Explosions in the Sky's louder moments. It's the perfect record to blast through headphones when you just want to lie back and let yourself feel weightless. (I know that sounds like weird hippie bullshit, but it's true. Trust me.)
"...staggeringly beautiful epic imagery..."
author: Mac Nguyen - The Silent BalletScore: 7.5/10 Powerful music renders imagery. Hidden beneath the dexterity of instrumental music sits emotion, somewhere within emotion sit symbols, and amongst this diverse ocean of thought, there are symbols which clash. There are some things in post-rock we can’t deny having mentally visualized at least once: lights illuminating darkness, night skies glittered with stars, and horizons, a conceptually infinite phenomenon—infinite because we know the end of our peripheral is only due to the curvature of the Earth, and what lies beyond is literally endless. Eternity is akin to infinity. The name Joy Wants Eternity stands boldly as an in-your-face post-rock moniker. Eternity is one thing the genre seems to strive for in its continuously lengthening compositions and vast expansions in spaces of relative finitude. Must You Smash Your Ears… proved that they could take the emotional dynamics of post-rock we knew existed and amplify them broodingly and thoughtfully. Their debut album, You Who Pretend to Sleep, displays an ability to create staggeringly beautiful epic imagery, but their epic strive isn’t for vast landscapes like fjords and valleys and so forth, but rather the nocturnalism of city lights and moonlit skies. “Existences Rust” ushers in an opening so loud and visceral it promises something special—something live, breathing, and utterly remarkable in form. Drawing focus away from sadness and melancholia, and emphasizing hope and, well, joy, You Who Pretend drowns itself in reverb and disperses its melody and raw cathartic releases, epitomized by pieces like “Above the Clouds,” “From Embrace to Embrace,” and “You are the Vertical.” After a litter of short, droning gems, there’s “Uriel,” arguably the highlight of the album. From its frail, reverb-filled opening and its emotive layering of a spectrum of textures (violins, orchestral bells, and especially closing on acoustic guitar), the track is held together by an intense, haunting melodic guitar element. The lushness of the track characterizes Joy Wants Eternity at its best. The fairly modest transition between Must You Smash and this album was initially something that appeared before me as a shortcoming. The transformation we witnessed with Caspian when it delivered The Four Trees raised the bar for debut LPs; the full and intense experience of this album rendered You Are the Conductor a tame and distant preview. It exhibited an evolution, a dynamic transformation that nurtured a maturity. Joy Wants Eternity milk every bit of its emotional arsenal—clusters of quiet-loud transits dispersed in reverb, epic strumming and melodic guitar-driven passages—but it all stays well within the boundaries established on Must You Smash. There’s no drastic reconstruction; even the length is hardly extended, clocking in at less than 40 minutes and a mere four longer than the EP. Venturing outside the boundaries and expanding the band's repertoire never seems to be a priority, as if by choice. Compared to the transformation Caspian made between its debut EP to the debut album, You Who Pretend pales in comparison. With this in mind, I must stress that it is not a criticism per se, as hard as it is to believe. Joy Wants Eternity have flourished in their own right as a bold and technically sophisticated group, almost enough to mask the inevitable fate of being, at times, a near dead ringer for they-who-shall-not-be-named. Even short and sweet gems like “Yet Onward We Marched” encapsulate the retention of hope in darkness and glowing visions of stadium lights, and together with a deceivingly alluding title, could have been subservient in anchoring the imagery of Friday Night Lights. You Who Pretend is a complementary effort to this, and to itself. Joy Wants Eternity’s bind between EP and LP is not a destructive one; the strength of Must You Smash, and indeed the saga-like open-endedness of its EP format, left room for a release like this. The quality of thought in composition vindicates itself as something that has to exist, not merely a substitute reiteration. You Who Pretend to Sleep will resonate. -Mac Nguyen
Joy Wants Eternity commands something that their predecessors don't have, which
author: Julio Enriquez http://julioenriquez.blogspot.com/Joy Want's Eternity Anytime I come across any music that resembles the landscapes of what it would be like to be amongst the glaciers, I stop and pay attention immediately. Joy Wants Eternity commands something that their predecessors don't have, which is the ability to have peaks and valleys in their music allowing for the listener to fully indulge in the sorrow and the joy that their music manifests itself into becoming after several spins.
Ambient guitar riffs brilliantly layered under beautiful keyboard melodies with
author: Alex @ www.indiechristoph.comThe most beautiful thing about bands like Explosions in the Sky, or Mogwai, is their ability to illustrate the entire spectrum of human emotion without the use of words - and Joy Wants Eternity is no different. This 5 piece instrumental group out of Seattle poured everything into their first full length album You Who Pretend to Sleep which is slated for release on May 22 and is comparable to Explosion's The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place. Their songs are lush, and full of ambient soundscapes that bend, twist, and mold to the mood of the listener. Every song tells a story, but never the same one twice. Bands like these pour their heart and soul into one song which will have an infinite number of meanings to each individual listener. Ambient guitar riffs brilliantly layered under beautiful keyboard melodies with the a familiar driving drum beat is a sound we've come to know and love. And as long as our imaginations are fully functional, we'll never get tired of it.
an exceptionally beautiful and powerful sounding record that will wrap itself ar
author: Jonathan Harnish www.builtonaweakspot.comJoy Wants Eternity is a 5 piece band based out of Seattle, Washington that by sifting through materials online would lead you to believe that they are another instrumental post-rock band. Honestly that’s what I figured it would be when I initially checked out the group’s page on MySpace, but I was pleasantly surprised to hear what began to play as soon as it loaded. The song, which was “Existences Rust” from their upcoming debut album You Who Pretend to Sleep, sparked the thought in my head that if I were to be in a band like that, then this is what I would want to sound like. So I was thrilled to find the actual album show up in my mailbox this past Friday and it has proved to be every bit as good as my first impression of them led me to believe. Comparisons to fellow post-rockers like Mogwai, Mono, and etc. are sure to be pinned on these guys. It’s obvious that there are parts of You Who Pretend to Sleep that draw from these bands, but I found myself being taken in by the amount of warm feedback and the almost full scale ambient direction they tend to take the music at times. I would consider this album to be more motivated by past shoegaze acts than anything else. The crashes of slow melting feedback are quick to remind me of either Slowdive or Flying Saucer Attack, especially the more ambient and spaced out tracks like “Death is a Door That Opens” and “What Lies Behind”. To me, this is where they really excel, in creating such warm and lush sounds that will do more than get your blood pumping for a few mere minutes. Joy Wants Eternity has created an exceptionally beautiful and powerful sounding record that will wrap itself around the listener for eight solid tracks. I can’t recommend this one enough for those that enjoy both post-rock and shoegaze; it’s a great mixture of the two that will surely please fans of either.
an expansive full-length of trippy ambient psych-rock instrumentals
author: KEXP 90.3 FM SeattleJoy Wants Eternity - You Who Pretend To Sleep (Beep Repaired) This Seattle band follows up their promising debut EP with an expansive full-length of trippy ambient psych-rock instrumentals reminiscent of Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky and Sigur Ros. - Don Yates