{Originally published in UR Chicago Magazine, August 2008}
The Silent Years
The Globe
First Date, August 12
Rating: 4.5/5.0
Start to finish, the sophomore release from indie pop-rockers The Silent Years is cohesive, concise, and complete. Awash in luxuriant sonic landscapes aided by producer Chris Coady (Grizzly Bear, TV on the Radio, Blonde Redhead), The Globe is the rare album that is simultaneously immediate and timeless. What sounds so right the first time you hear it sounds even better the 50th time. Hailing from Detroit, The Silent Years are no Rock City garage band, more likely honing their craft in the attic or on the roof. Their songs reach gloriously upward, and The Globe progresses in that direction with shades of a concept album. The dense compositions are themselves grand assertions, and Josh Epstein’s lyrics and vocals follow suit. The album title is the metaphor at play, a symbol of scale in each direction, and the songs shift naturally from the microscopic to the universal.
-Jason Horine
