Sunlight Ascending burst onto the post-rock scene in 2009 with the $5 bargain-boxed All the Memories, All At Once. The promise shown on that initial offering has been developed over the course of four years and four more releases. Leaving My Waiting Room is confident, loud and occasionally brash, the result of the quintet’s time, experience and chemistry.
This particular brand of post-rock plows right up the middle: drums, bass, and three guitars. The mood is jaunty and upbeat. Even on the slower numbers, melancholy seldom shows its face. Glockenspiel, keyboards and electronics also appear from time to time. This isn’t everyone’s type of post-rock; some prefer moody or psychedelic to catchy and melodic. However, it’s the type of post-rock most likely to break through to the great unwashed, who despite the scene’s internal dialogue (“Is post-rock over?” “No, it’s still alive!”) may never have heard of the tag in the first place. On the one hand, such realizations are humbling; on the other, they create opportunities. Radio-friendly tracks such as “Vladdie” and “They’re Lonelier On The Outside” (featuring the percussive windings and tickings of a clock) may yet find a home on the international airwaves, while the riff-filled “Multivac” and bass-heavy “Gamma” push up against the boundaries of metal. The ability to move within post-rock’s substrata may be Sunlight Ascending’s greatest strength.
Fans of classic post-rock tracks are used to scouting the playing lengths before the needle hits the groove (or in this case, the button is pressed). Their instincts will be rewarded here, as the longest tracks are also the best – and unsurprisingly, they occupy the opening and closing slots (brief intro excluded). “The Dhanbad Rails” begins with hefty drumming and solid bass before morphing into a festival rocker. The glockenspiel adds a welcome texture first to the central section and then to the surprisingly subtle outro. Title track “Leaving My Waiting Room” returns to the riffs of “Multivac”, welding the harder edge to a post-rock base and providing a satisfying finale. Sunlight Ascending honors its roots while moving forward, a pairing that should help their career to continue on its present trajectory. (Richard Allen)
a closer listen 