Album Review - EF

EF – I Am Responsible
[And the Sound Records; 01/02/2008]

Sweden’s EF is one in a long line of formulated post-rock bands. There was always going to be a time where it all sounded a little too similar. Because vocals are all but none existent in the manner of post-rock, the generic time scale was always going to come sooner rather than later.

Although EF’s sophomore album, I Am Responsible weighs in with a pale amount of solidarity, once again timing is the issue as to when the Swedish collective have entered the fray.

Their drawn out songs like ‘TVA’ and ‘Bear’ seem a little precarious and lack a killer blow, unlike their shorter tracks, with ‘Thrill’ holding enough kilter to weigh up with some of the best acts in the genre. ‘Appendix’ is slower track that introduces vocals, but not enough to really remain exiled away from their contemporaries.

EF could be passed off as an orchestrated sound of Explosions In The Sky. Vary rarely does the band employ the ear-splitting sounds of feedback, much preferring to tread the waters of a cleanly produced and melodic sound, which their Texan forefathers have so brilliantly mastered in this era. I Am Responsible is nothing new on the radar of the post-rock genre and although it’s obvious that EF know what they’re doing, it’s hardly alarming that many others around them are doing the same.

Simon K