[review 2007: favourites]

The Octopus Project is one of two bands to wow me unexpectedly with their live show this year. Though practically none of their songs have any vocals and there isn’t really a frontperson or obvious focus on stage, the Austin, Texas trio (augmented with an extra multi-instrumentalist on tour) are a flurry of flying limbs and joyous noise that definitely gets the heart racing—imagine if you were watching an Arcade Fire concert where no one could sing, and you’re in the same general ballpark. Hello, Avalanche is a different beast—you don’t get to see the flying limbs and the album doesn’t sound as if its various components could fly off at any point. That means the Octopus Project on record isn’t as freewheeling on record as they are on stage; what you get instead is a lot of insistent instrumental grooves and otherworldly soundscapes. With the euphoria somewhat muted, you have time to luxuriate in some of the finer details you just can’t hear very well in the live show.

Hello, Avalanche is the third proper album from the group, and based on the singles from previous albums it seems the Octopus Project have cut back slightly on the electronic content this time out. “Mmaj” and “I Saw the Bright Shinies” are the most overtly beat-driven songs here, but the group have done a fantastic job of making their electronic concoctions sound organic. Much of the credit goes to the surprisingly forceful and prominent roar of the guitars and the athletic drumming underpinning the whole album. But sometimes it’s the little details, like the glockenspiel on “Upmann” or the ghostly theremin on “Snow Tip Cap Mountain” that convince the most.

Considering the sheer number of balls the Octopus Project keep in the air on many of the tracks on Hello, Avalanche, it could’ve been easy for the whole enterprise to dissolve into a mess of noise and static, too complex and belaboured to elicit any real pleasure. But the band are very much fans of pop progressions and concise running times; no song passes five minutes and every track has an obvious payoff and a distinct character, avoiding the usual post-rock syndrome where moments of beauty punctuate long, ponderous sections of build-up and fall-off.

It’s weird how Hello, Avalanche isn’t quite as showy as the Octopus Project’s live show, and yet feels just as infused with energy, enthusiasm and sincerity. You can hear it in the gleefully bleepy keyboard tones of “Truck,” the propulsive drumming on “Upmann” and the strings that close out “Loud Murmuring.” And then, to close out the album, there’s “Queen,” the one song where the band drop the instrumental schtick and actually sing for the first time, almost as though the members of the band just wanted to drop in and say hi.

Hello!