{"id":8634,"date":"2015-07-22T16:16:48","date_gmt":"2015-07-22T16:16:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-time-spent-driving-passed\/"},"modified":"2018-03-21T22:16:11","modified_gmt":"2018-03-21T22:16:11","slug":"album-review-time-spent-driving-passed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-time-spent-driving-passed\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: Time Spent Driving –\u00a0Passed & Presence"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"image\"Like last year\u2019s surprising yet ultimately triumphant return by The Jazz June, the re-emergence of California\u2019s Time Spent Driving<\/b> is another unexpected throwback to a time when emo wasn\u2019t all about sweeping haircuts and guyliner. <\/figure>\n

The likes of recently reformed emo heroes Braid, Mineral and American Football all left a fine legacy before calling it quits \u2013 indeed, they all left a body of work which took on an almost mythic status prior to their respective reformations \u2013 yet it wouldn\u2019t come as a shock if you missed Time Spent Driving<\/b> (originally 1999-2003) the first time around. <\/p>\n

Even though I spent a fortune on music (and mainly the classic emo sound from about 1995-02) during my time at university \u2013 which coincided perfectly with Time Spent Driving<\/b>\u2019s initial run \u2013 my knowledge of them stems back to a song on Deep Elm\u2019s consistently excellent Emo Diaries series. <\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

Even with easy access to the brilliant Tempest Records in Birmingham (now served by Ignite in the Oasis), two Tower Records, a multitude of DIY distros and a girlfriend working in HMV, getting hold of some of the more left-field emo albums took effort. For reference, I remember shelling out the best part of \u00a325 on Miracle of 86\u2019s first album. Repeat that a dozen times a year on a meagre student loan and you can see why it was simply impossible to keep up with all of the great bands being thrown at me from the other side of the world. Even now, with a disposable income and a more than burning desire to fill in the gaps, there\u2019s new old bands out there to be discovered, making it a never ending cycle. <\/p>\n

Which brings us nicely to this week\u2019s best new old band \u2013 Santa Cruz\u2019s Time Spent Driving<\/b>. <\/p>\n

Sitting snugly alongside luminaries such as Ex Number Five and Errortype 11, there\u2019s a real emphasis on textures and soundscapes which build to epic chest-beating swells, it\u2019s the sort of sound I adore. Throw in a real edge and punch then you\u2019re looking at a comeback almost as epic as their songs. <\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not the first thing I noticed. Instead, the vocals remind me so much of a multitude of my favourite singers. There\u2019s moments which recall the passion of Blair Shehan (Knapsack, The Jealous Sound), the conversational tones of Jon Plett (The Home Team, The Details) or the anguish of Greg Dulli (Afghan Whigs). It\u2019s an instant hook for you as you try and find a way in to the group\u2019s dense, rhythmic music. <\/p>\n

\u2018Passed & Presence\u2019<\/i> does require a little work though. It\u2019s not an accessible record, requiring multiple listens to really get the most out of it. But it really does reward persistence. There\u2019s no knockout single, the closest being \u2018Sheep Shaped Words\u2019<\/i> which has a phenomenal chorus but relies on a pulsating, rhythmic verse to get there. <\/p>\n

What \u2018Passed & Presence\u2019<\/i> does possess however, is numerous meandering epics. \u2018Blame The Valley\u2019<\/i> is just stunning, arguably one of the finest, most emotive songs of the year. The last 2 minutes (it\u2019s an epic 6:30) are stupendous and well worth the journey to get there. Duelling overlapping vocals challenge for your attention before it explodes into a gorgeous instrumental outro. <\/p>\n

But \u2018Passed & Presence\u2019<\/i> is blessed with deceptive depth, meaning Time Spent Driving<\/b> don\u2019t fall back on this failsafe too often. At first, the songs have to fight their way out from the denseness, but more condensed and accessible cuts such as \u2018Weight of the Water\u2019<\/i> or the soaring balladry of \u2018Skin and Knees\u2019<\/i> or \u2018I\u2019m Not Done With You Yet\u2019<\/i> are uniformly excellent. <\/p>\n

Overall, \u2018Passed & Presence\u2019<\/i> is an unexpected triumph. Reunion albums can be hit or miss, and bands reuniting on the back of the emo revival have a patchy track at best. For every \u2018After the Earthquake\u2019 there\u2019s a \u2018There Are Rules\u2019. It seems the lesser lights are making a better fist of it than those more lauded \u2013 and falling into this group, Time Spent Driving<\/b> definitely deserve your time and attention. <\/p>\n

4.5\/5<\/p>\n

‘Passed & Presence’<\/i> by Time Spent Driving<\/b> is out now on Cardigan Records<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Demons<\/strong> links: Facebook<\/a>|Twitter<\/a>|Bandcamp<\/a><\/p>\n

Words by Rob Mair (@BobNightMair<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Like last year\u2019s surprising yet ultimately triumphant return by The Jazz June, the re-emergence of California\u2019s Time Spent Driving is another unexpected throwback to a time when emo wasn\u2019t all about sweeping haircuts and guyliner. The likes of recently reformed emo heroes Braid, Mineral and American Football all left a fine legacy before calling it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":14600,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[3692,5074,15022,5073],"class_list":["post-8634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-cardigan-records","tag-passed-presence","tag-rob-mair","tag-time-spent-driving"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAlbum Review: Time Spent Driving -\u00a0Passed & Presence - Already Heard Staging<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Like last year\u2019s surprising yet ultimately triumphant return by The Jazz June, the re-emergence of California\u2019s Time Spent Driving is another unexpected\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Album Review: Time Spent Driving -\u00a0Passed & Presence - 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