Ana Never are a five-piece post-rock band from the interestingly named town of Subotica, which is apparently in Serbia. I don't know if EvilSponge has ever reviewed an act from Serbia before, so i think this might be a first for us.
This is their third release, a four track LP that clocks in at 75:34 long. Yeah, that is a lot of music, but not a lot of songs. By simple math, each song is about 18:53 seconds long. They make long droning tunes that require ample patience on the part of the listener. Ana Never are not in a hurry to get their songs to progress.
This is classic post-rock. Slow drones build to crescendos, strings wander through, guitars flail under the weight of masses of distortion. If you like that sort of thing, these guys know what they are doing. This is a record for Explosions in the Sky fans who wish the songs were slower and more drawn out, or maybe for Stars of the Lid fans who want a little more guitar action.
The record starts off with Future Wife, which does exactly what i want a post-rock tune to do: it starts slow and meanderingly and builds slowly, the guitars really grinding away, with strings and ponderous percussion. It sounds like My Education covering a Mogwai tune. Cool stuff if you have the patience for it.
The second track, Half Way is only 4:46 long. It features a wandering, deep piano playing while guitars chime and ponderous cymbal-heavy drums thud along. It is kind of an eerie tune, but still pretty.
On Gorgeous One the strings take over. Violin saws out front over drums that are lethargically brushed. The guitars carry a nice tremolo, and the overall effect is like an instrumental Red House Painters song, with violin filling in for Kozelek's voice. It is very pretty.
And finally the record wraps up with To Live For, a tune that clocks in at an even 28 minutes. Again i am reminded of My Education, through prominent strings and nice drumming. It gets pretty epic, but, let's been honest, it gets a little noodly at the end. But how could it not?
Still, this is an impressive release. If you like slow-burning post-rock, Ana Never is a good choice.
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