Hospice
The Antlers
Released:
Mar 2009
Label:
Frenchkiss Records
Worthy of forebears Godspeed You! Black Emperor, the Antlers' Hospice is as challenging, epic and foreboding as the work of that crescendo-loving Canadian outfit. Frontdude Peter Silberman belts some songs like a man fleeing a burning hospital in the rain; on others he whispers as if praying. Reverberated atmospherics swirl like a dust storm; toy pianos twinkle; distortion waits around every corner. In case you're still unsure what neighborhood we're driving through, there's a song where Silberman commands suicidal author Sylvia Plath: "Take your head out of the oven!" Roll your windows up, kids.