Review: ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead | So Divided

After 2005’s disappointing Worlds Apart, ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead returns with the satisfying So Divided. While not on a par with 2002’s superb Source Tags And Codes, So Divided is definitely a return to form for the Texas-based act, as the band has fine-tuned its grandiose, kitchen-sink approach this time around. The instrumentation and musical styles are once again diverse, but the mix works.

Conrad Keely and his cohorts focused on songwriting and the results are impressive: “Stand in Silence” and “Wasted State of Mind” both have killer riffs that propel the songs along. The title track is a majestic, piano-driven, mid-tempo rocker, “Eight Day Hell” is a short ditty that wouldn’t be out of place on a Shins album, and “Sunken Dreams” has a Cure-like quality to it. ToD also does a decent cover of Guided By Voices’ “Gold Heart Mountain Top Queen Directory.”

Reports from ToD’s current tour say that the band is only playing a few songs from So Divided, preferring instead to focus on material from Source Tags And Codes. Not completely surprising, given the popularity of the latter. But the newer material is strong and deserves some exposure in a live setting. -- Jay Kumar

...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead: InterWeb | MySpace | YouTube | Flickr

[Buy So Divided from Newbury Comics here / stream it for free at Rhapsody]
[Buy the record from ITunes and receive the demo version of "Let It Dive."]

11/20 -- House of Blues -- New Orleans, LA
11/21 -- Warehouse Live -- Houston, TX
11/22 -- Emo's -- Austin, TX
11/24 -- Granda Theatre -- Dallas, TX
11/25 -- Jake's Backroom -- Lubbock, TX
11/27 -- Hoodlum's Music -- Phoenix, AZ
11/27 -- Marquee Theatre -- Tempe, AZ
11/28 -- House of Blues -- Las Vegas, NV
11/29 -- House of Blues -- San Diego, CA
11/30 -- Henry Fonda Theatre -- Los Angeles, CA
12/01 -- Henry Fonda Theatre -- Los Angeles, CA
12/02 -- The Glass House -- Pomona, CA
12/04 -- Empire -- Sacramento, CA
12/05 -- Rasputin Music -- Berkeley, CA
12/05 -- Fillmore -- San Francisco, CA
12/06 -- Crystal Ballroom -- Portland, OR
12/07 -- Sonic Boom (Ballard) -- Seattle, WA
12/07 -- Showbox -- Seattle, WA
12/09 -- Sugar Nightclub -- Victoria
12/10 -- Croatian Cultural Centre -- Vancouver, BC
12/11 -- MacEwan Hall @ University of Calgary -- Calgary
12/12 -- Red's -- Edmonton, AB
12/14 -- Avalon Theater -- Salt Lake City, UT
12/15 -- Fox Theatre -- Boulder, CO

Oh yeah, here's some recent video of the band trashing their gear, perhaps the signature facet of any good ...Trail Of Dead show.



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