I'm not going to pull the wool over your eyes here - you've heard this all before. Post rock is a beast that comes served one of only two ways - good or bad. Well, three I suppose if you include 'pleasantly average', which is exactly what 'The Prisons Of Language' is. Sydney's Greenland spin out nice-enough rock instrumentals, but never threaten to raise the listener's pulse in the way that the likes of Godspeed and Mono so often do. There's little connection on an emotional level, so whilst it's clear as day that these three guys are supremely talented musicians, something's just not there. Well, it's not there for me anyway, but maybe I've been spoilt of late by great, similarly categorised efforts by Youthmovie Soundtrack Strategies and Old Man Gloom. The third track of this four-track EP, 'Secret Rat & The Bag Of Happiness', is the best one here, fleshed out by a squealing brass section, but that aside the repeat-listening value of this release is practically non-existent. At times it recalls 'OK Computer'-period Radiohead (it's the, forgive the expression, 'plinky-plonk' factor), at other times Mogwai of 'Young Team', but not once does it stamp its own mark on the post-rock genre. Sorry guys, but this is just too small a drop in an already overflowing pond. Maybe next time...
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6Mike Diver's Score