The Calm Blue Sea

Like Austin’s other descriptive instrumentalists Explosions in the Sky, local fivepiece the Calm Blue Sea reaches into the quiet/loud/quiet bag of tricks on its self-titled debut, coming up with a darker, wetter beast. The length of songs certainly doesn’t absolve the band of its “cinematic” proclivities, but the CBS manages to layer its parts with precision, using a knife to transition. “Now Those Ashes Are at the Bottom” spins the album’s best example: The chiming blue intro is interrupted by a rumble of bass, which flows into a rough, gray middle half, building seamlessly on echoing guitars and warm keys, and gets a running start into its final white squall of noise. On this song alone, the Calm Blue Sea uses its left and right brains to full effect. (CD release: Saturday, Oct. 4, Emo’s.)

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This article appears in September 26 • 2008.

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