SARGENT HOUSE

And So I Watch Your From Afar will be playing with Russian Circles and Indian Handcrafts on June 20th at Dickens / Sled Island Fest then will be touring with them in the the US through June 29th where they will meet up with Zechs Marquise and tour through to New York. SEE ALL DATES HERE

“My first thought upon hearing Belfast, Ireland’s And So I Watch You From Afar was essentially, “this band would fit really well on a bill with Russian Circles.” Then I noticed that they’re currently on tour with the Chicago trio, and a man in a glitter-coated tuxedo came to my door with an oversized million-dollar cheque. (Only half of this is true, but it’s good to have dreams.)

And So I Watch You From Afar are an instrumental post-rock group, but to describe them as such is a bit misleading. This isn’t “post-rock” in the rote “start quiet, get loud” narrative form. No, this is a band that has the gall to open their first album with a track called “Set Guitars to Kill.” That may as well be their modus operandi, as subtlety and overt intellectualization aren’t this band’s game, no matter how many math-rock underpinnings their deceptively playful music is laced with. Here, focused down to a cinematic pace, rock energy reigns supreme.

And So I Watch You From Afar are “heavy” but not metal; they’re progressive, but not prog—like Russian Circles, they’re probably only referred to as “post-rock” because their music is instrumental, despite having more in common with say, Tera Melos than Mogwai. I wouldn’t call this stoner rock, but I’d be willing to bet these guys have spent ample time playing Contra—double or nothing, at least one member will have the Konami code memorized. Major keys in the scale of “epic riffage” abound; somewhere, beers will be shotgunned. But hey man, as you stab into that frothing beer can, remember the band’s song title advice: “Don’t Waste Time Doing Things You Hate.”

by Devin Friesen for Sled Island’s Get To Know Whose Playing 2012