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Source Tags & Codes
And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of The Dead
by Chad Beck

What kind of band uses a 10-word phrase as their name? Are they idiots trying to make good on a half-heated gimmick, or what?

That’s what I thought the first time I ever heard of Austin’s current kings of hype. Then, I saw the band live, which changed everything. And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of The Dead is not a misnomer. In fact, it would be tough to come up with a better name for this quartet who frequently leaves the stage (and themselves) splintered and bleeding.

Live, . . . Trail Of Dead assault the audience, violently tearing down the literal (and figurative) barrier between the two. Breakneck tempos and a relentless barrage of choppy guitars are spread out among long sequences of ambient noise, jolting the listener from one emotion to the next with jaw-shattering force. In the past, . . . Trail Of Dead have struggled to achieve the energy and carnage of their live show onto recording. However, on Source Tags & Codes the band finally perfected their studio time, creating an otherworldly album.

Musically, . . . Trail Of Dead approach their songs like works of art. Each track follows its own path from beginning to end, going in whatever direction their mood is at the time. The band’s three primary songwriters have distinctive styles, but there are enough similar threads to keep the disc cohesive and uniform. Guitarist, drummer and most frequent vocalist Conrad Keely’s “Another Morning Stoner” starts off with dreamy guitars, segues into a blender of white noise, then works its way into an abrasive wake up call.

Drummer, guitarist and vocalist Jason Reece’s “Days Of Being Wild” isn’t unlike a cement truck barreling down the highway with one wheel missing, but . . . Trail Of Dead manage to mold it into somewhat of an anthem by the end. “Monsoon,” the discs’ strongest track, highlights the raspy voice of bassist Neil Busch as well as the band’s penchant for creating a foreboding wall of sound.

On all of Source Tags there’s a strange beauty underneath the catharsis, a calm hiding in a torrential storm of sound. Its reputation may be in mayhem, but . . . Trail Of Dead often sound positively breathtaking. Check out the strings that close out the title track, or the French-Café’ interlude before “Baudelaire.” Although calling the band “emo” would be inaccurate, the band is very emotional, evident in all the songs. “Relative Ways,” for example, is a bizarrely comforting cacophony of noise even if it is all about mistakes and regrets. Comparisons to Sonic Youth are almost impossible to escape, but . . . Trail Of Dead are only wearing their influence on their sleeve, not ripping them off. Like SY, . . . Trail Of Dead are “non-musicians” who make music. Beauty out of chaos, art from the scrap heap . . . call it whatever you want. I’m calling it the album of the year.