Strangers Die Every Day, Aperture For Departure

On their debut album, Aperture For Departure, Strangers Die Every Day play instrumental chamber rock, reminiscent of Dirty Three with the rock feel of Papa M. The use of the violin and cello gives the group a distinct quality. They have a beautiful sound, which is pretty much given when you include strings, but their songs are also interesting. And while the strings also limit the range of things you can do, they still cover a lot of ground.

The first song, “…And The Blood Shall Spill,” sounds like an acoustic version of Mono, although the violin goes a lot of its own places, including some classical-sounding variations on the melody. The minimal drumming fits perfectly with the tone of the piece, and on the chorus takes the song up exactly the right notch. And the bass player plays some clever lines that work like guitar parts.

“Aperture For Departure,” another simple, pretty tune, sounds like a Dirty Three anthem, with a big, beautiful melody and a nice cello part in counterpoint. The melody is simple enough that they don’t need to change it, and they keep repeating it, building it all further and further up. And it breaks down half-way through like a Sonic Youth tune or something — one of those “Expressway to Yr Skull” tension builders, but much quieter.

Strangers Die Every Day have a lot more good songs here, too. And they make the most of their group, every member occasionally taking on the role of a different type of instrument. Because there aren’t any dramatic changes of texture, some of it does start to sound the same, but their sound is unique enough that it doesn’t matter. They have a lot of good ideas, and Aperture for Departure is an auspicious debut.