on sawhorse
3 years ago
As a blogger and professional music hack — hell, as a human being — my prediliction for self-absorption compels me to tell you who read this himble weblog — hi, mom! — what I’ve been listening to. With that, I present to you Baltimore’s Sawhorse.
I stumbled across the Baltimore sextet the way I stumble across most new bands: randomly, and in an odd place. I happened across Sawhorse on a guitar-gear forum I frequent and gave the band a listen because … well, I liked their equipment. (Which, perhaps not incidentally, is quite reminiscent of Godspeed’s, right down to the aluminum Travis Bean guitar.)
Turns out, Sawhorse treads the same epic build-and-release ground as A Silver Mount Zion and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, hitting the majestic, “Holy. Fucking. Shit.”-inspiring stride of the latter while avoiding the tragic, “Jesus. Fucking. Christ.” missteps of the former. Indeed, it’s nigh impossible to separate Sawhorse from the Canadian post-rock legends. Like GY!BE, the emphasis is on — and, indeed, the strength is found within — dynamic range, and Sawhorse is equally adept at tiptoeing through whisper-quiet passages as it is blasting through thick walls of fuzz. The instrumentation is the same — electric rock instruments paired with amplified chamber strings — and used in virtually the same manner.
So what separates Sawhorse from Godspeed? Perhaps nothing. But in the end, Sawhorse makes absolutely beautiful and, like Godspeed, paints its compositions in fine strokes, filling every nook and cranny of its sonic canvas with melody and nuance. No note, no drum hit, no pedal stomp is off-the-cuff; every move is deliberate and calculated. The end result is nothing short of wonder.
Sawhorse’s debut — Cover It With Asphalt — is due out on Dec. 13 on Blackjaw Records
