Pitchfork

The Fast Rise & Fall of the South is the band's fourth full-length. After flirting with heavier rhythms and a more overt pop sound on 2003's Aztec Discipline, the Manx return to the more languid, understated sound of their first two LPs. Their sound is again subtle and stately, full of the humid tension and electric tingle of a summer thunderstorm. It has something of an affinity, both in tempo and melodic content, with early-70s Pink Floyd, especially Obscured By Clouds and side 1 of Meddle. The record is stuffed with two-part harmonies and country-lane textures-- banjos, acoustic guitars and wood block percussion mix with piano, mellotron, and organ.

The waltz has always been a formidable weapon in the hands of the Manx, but they outdo themselves on opener "Harness and Wheel", with swaying pianos, woozy harmonies, and cyclical guitar picking. "And What Fallout!" follows with a 5/4 groove, acoustic strings burbling on a bed of piano and drums and those sleepy harmonies leading the charge. Electric guitar freaks out low in the mix, setting the placid vibe ever-so-slightly off-balance. "1000 8" is practically intravenous pop-- it never jumps out and bites you, but the insistent rhythm leaves the sly melody in your head for hours, even after they assault the song's pastoralism with distortion that gives way to laser synth on the fade-out. "Ruins", meanwhile, is nimble backroads pop with an opening drum fill that hints at zydeco.

Two late songs embody the band's weather affinity better than any others: "Nova", which pours down a hailstorm of guitar of the bridge, and "Ol' Mountainsides", a track that begins with eerie calm and climaxes with thunderous feedback. Of course, there are moments on the album where the band's subtlety backfires, leading to a handful of tracks such as "Greenland" and the organ-and-voice plodder "Zero G" that feel like filler. The mix fails to give proper weight to the vocals from time to time, as well, but these are minor issues when weighed against the full heft of the album. The Fast Rise & Fall of the South is quality Manx, never ostentatious but sure to captivate.