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Written by Cindy Gao Friday, 24 March 2006 06:33

Aerogramme writes songs that are poignant and powerful and relatable.  You know that cheesy song that goes, "I don't know much/but I know I love you"?  That's how I feel about Seclusion. 

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I’m not going to lie. I’ve never listened to Mogwai. Or Godspeed You! Black Emperor. It’s one of those “I’ve been meaning to get around to them but then I ran out of money buying Sufjan vinyl, and then Yeah Yeah Yeahs tickets went on sale, and then I had to stay home and watch the Project Runway reunion special” things. Looking over the press release in my hand, the only companion band mentioned that’s gotten a bit of playing time on my iPod is Death Cab for Cutie. I don’t even like Ben Gibbard’s voice. I also have no idea what the hell DCFC has to do with Aereogramme, besides further proving that I’m not very well equipped to write this review.

Let’s forget all of the things that I’d ordinarily touch on. Band history? All I really know is that Aereogramme is from Glasgow, Scotland. I would insert some witty comment about Mogwai here, but as I’ve stated before, I don’t know anything about Mogwai, and I somehow doubt that a Franz Ferdinand comparison would have any merit whatsoever. Influences? No thank you. This band was formed in 1999, when I was still in elementary school. Pop culture ties? Well, I’ve already managed to fit in Project Runway, however randomly, so I can die happy now. What I can tell you, faithful readers whose eyes are probably straying toward album reviews of Agoraphobic Nosebleed or AIDS Wolf (don’t you just love alphabetical order?), is that this album is really, really good.

You know that cheesy song that goes, “I don’t know much/but I know I love you”? That’s how I feel about Seclusion. I don’t know much, but I know that “Lightning Strikes the Postman,” in addition to being one of the best-titled songs ever, makes me want to break things and air guitar madly and headbang until my neck falls off. I know that “Inkwell” sounds like Rivers Cuomo finally got laid and decided to hire Jónsi Birgisson of Sigur Rós as lead singer. I know that “I Don’t Need Your Love,” with its synth-y strings and absolutely heartbreaking vocals, is pretty much making me want to cry right now.

Most of all, I know that this is music that needs to be heard. Where is the hype train when you need it? Is NME too busy covering Arctic Monkeys or something? Aereogramme writes songs that are poignant and powerful and relatable, and I don’t need to be able to write a college thesis on the history of post-rock/electronica/blah blah blah to know that I like this. And that may be all I need to know.