Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra
and Tra-la-la Band
Born Into Trouble as the Sparks Fly Upward (2001)

review by: Matthew Scrivner
Date: 5/10/02

THE SILVER MT. ZION MEMORIAL ORCHESTRA AND TRA-LA-LA BAND (which I assure you, no matter how you may see it abbreviated, is the full band name) is chamber rock without the cheese of psychedelia that Emerson Lake and Palmer and Pink Floyd ruined some of their own work with. People familiar with Godspeed You Black Emperor! will recognize the sound here since it's basically the same band members. The music is nearly lyric free, and the songs waver back and forth from gentle intimacy to violence, crashing. And for once, the titles of the songs are accurate (if absctract) descriptions of what the song contains; for example, the first track, appropriately named: "Sisters! Brothers! Small Boats of Fire Are Falling From The Sky!" Hey now, doesn't that make you want to listen just to figure out where a title like that came from?

If you like Mogwai, or GYBE!, or some of the newest Aphex Twin, this album is worth the listen. It's a little overdramatic in spots, maybe the whole post-apocalyptic vibe I get from it is just a little heavy-handed, but it's certainly a well-crafted, yet somehow less self-concious work compared to other bands who attempt "chamber rock." My grade is B+.