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Okay so this is awesome.  Been meaning to post about it, but with their set at Dunk having just caused massive waves, it's time we all hopped on!  The labels have already sold through nearly half of their stock. 

 

Cavum by PILLARS released May 17th, 2019 via A Thousand Arms Music and dunk!records.

180g white and black mix with yellow accents (purple accents for EU).  Album artwork by L U X I N V I C T U S.  Digital download included with vinyl.

Limited to 170 copies through A Thousand Arms Music.

Combine any two PILLARS items and use promo code 'CAVUM' at checkout to receive $5.00 off your entire order from A1KA.

 

US Residents:  https://athousandarms.store/collections/pillars
EU Residents:  https://dunkrecords.com/products/pillars-cavum-lp

US variant: IMAGE IS NOT A MOCK-UP:

IMG_3082_1024x1024@2x.jpg?v=1558731490

 

EU variant:

IMG_3081_1024x1024.jpg?v=1557488500

FULL ALBUM STREAM:

 

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10 hours ago, Derek™ said:

I'd try it but I'm bored as fuck with Dunk-core.

“Dunk-core” is harsh haha.  But I totally get it.  I definitely don’t echo that sentiment, but this is the first album that has me feeling a bit burned out.  And I’ll still be excited to see them live again, but this album is just waaaay too much Caspian worship without putting their own stamp on it.

 

Ok I’m done highjacking the thread with negativity.  Just wanted to see if I was the only one feeling this way about this album.

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10 hours ago, Derek™ said:

I'd try it but I'm bored as fuck with Dunk-core.

 

24 minutes ago, mrewest said:

“Dunk-core” is harsh haha.  But I totally get it.  I definitely don’t echo that sentiment, but this is the first album that has me feeling a bit burned out.  And I’ll still be excited to see them live again, but this album is just waaaay too much Caspian worship without putting their own stamp on it.

 

Ok I’m done highjacking the thread with negativity.  Just wanted to see if I was the only one feeling this way about this album.

Just one more then we can be done. Dunk Records to me is the Rise Records of Post-Rock. They are forever putting out the same stuff over and over. 

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1 hour ago, MayCauseDeath said:

 

Just one more then we can be done. Dunk Records to me is the Rise Records of Post-Rock. They are forever putting out the same stuff over and over. 

I have nothing against Dunk I think they do a great job.  I love the live releases they do.  Everything they’ve pressed is top notch in quality.  And I do like the sense of community they’ve created.  But yeah if you’re looking for something that pushes the genre forward, you’ll probably have to go elsewhere.  

 

Although to counter my “sense of community” point, I’ve noticed everyone pimping each other out HARD which risks getting comfortable & removing the ability to criticize.  It’s almost like when Will Yip says EVERY release he works on “IS THE BEST THING THIS BAND HAS EVER DONE”.

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Yeah, Dunk make a quality product, absolutely.  Don’t own a ton from them but like you said, the live RC album is sublime and I’ve heard plenty of good things about their WLTS live record.  (They did justice to the From Fathoms reissue as well.)  The quality always justifies the price as far as I can tell.

 

My lack of interest is specifically in what they curate, musically.  And it’s not bad – any day of the week I’d prefer to queue up something from their webstore over most of what’s topping the billboards or Spotify.  But man, it feels so derivative.  And to dowse that fire even more, we have people who are clamoring and insisting that it’s profound, life-changing, truly fresh, massive riff, brilliantly composed post-rock... so time and time again, I’ll fire it up with an open mind and realize it’s Caspian lite or basic tremolo and crescendos.  I’m over it.

 

Not trying to shit on the people with complete Dunk collections or who gobble up this stuff.  Gumbo will tirelessly defend it with “yeah I know it’s not groundbreaking but even if it’s Caspian esque I just love that shit, it’s transcending”.  And it’s cool if that’s the mileage or experience that he or others get out of it.  But for those of us who’ve gotten our fill of that formula for the last decade and need something more to retain our interest for an hour, I don’t think it’s unfair to voice that.

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4 hours ago, mrewest said:

“Dunk-core” is harsh haha.  But I totally get it.  I definitely don’t echo that sentiment, but this is the first album that has me feeling a bit burned out.  And I’ll still be excited to see them live again, but this album is just waaaay too much Caspian worship without putting their own stamp on it.

 

Ok I’m done highjacking the thread with negativity.  Just wanted to see if I was the only one feeling this way about this album.

You aren't wrong with the Caspian worship.  But I still love it.  If you're going to copy a band, it might as well be Caspian.


I'll tell you though, these songs fucking CRUSHED live.  Like, CRUSHED.  Seeing them on the main stage with the lights was a trip and a half.  I call them "Bomb" post-rock, because they do these like, big explode-y detonations in the peak sections.  Like just slamming on the open strings, dropping bombs haha.  It was very fun live. 

1 hour ago, Derek™ said:

 

Not trying to shit on the people with complete Dunk collections or who gobble up this stuff.  Gumbo will tirelessly defend it with “yeah I know it’s not groundbreaking but even if it’s Caspian esque I just love that shit, it’s transcending”.  And it’s cool if that’s the mileage or experience that he or others get out of it.  But for those of us who’ve gotten our fill of that formula for the last decade and need something more to retain our interest for an hour, I don’t think it’s unfair to voice that.

Yeah i mean, we like what we like and there's no problem with that.  We have to remember though that this is a business.  Yeah, Dunk! is out to create community and all that good hippie love stuff, but at the end of the day.... they need to sell.  They need to make money to keep things going.  And judging from the rabid response that the merch tent gets at the festival, this shit sells.  A lot. 

I mean, they've been able to open up their own pressing plant.  Between Dunk! and A1KA, they've sold almost half of this first pressing, and Pillars is a small-ass band in the scheme of things right now. 

Look at Ranges.  I love CJ and I love Ranges, but the music isn't breaking any new ground - it's just very well done post-rock, and they've managed to make it to a 3rd pressing that is now almost sold out as well.  Their next album is looking to be a banger though, I'm very excited about it. 

But we can sit here and critique from our office chairs and our beds, but at the end of the day, this product (what Derek calls "dunk-core") moves units and generates interest.  We'd all love for EVERY single release to be ground-breaking and fresh and super unique, but we're all human - we copy and steal and re-purpose and that's okay.  I know that I don't fall in love with every release, and that's okay.  I'll buy what I like, and leave what I don't. 

This Pillars album isn't my favorite either, but the dudes are kind as hell, genuine, and passionate.  For their efforts and approach, they deserve to succeed.  Especially with the success of Post. Festival - that's Nason from Pillars' brainchild, along with another buddy.  The American Post-rock scene is taking off in large part due to the relationships between the A1KA, Post. Festival and Dunk! and think that's an absolutely beautiful thing. 

We talked about this on the New Musical Horizons radio interview we did at Dunk!.  It was CJ, myself, David from Young Epoch and some other writer friends - we were asked if post-rock is dead and CJ was like "Fucking nope, I sell enough to make a living off of this, so no way" (in so many words haha).

You guys also forget or don't really get to see that the scene is SO, SO different in Europe.  They just support bands more over there, they go to smaller shows more often.  It's just different.  In America, we don't really give a shit about the arts or small bands - we really don't collectively make an effort to go see dive shows with 9 people.  In Europe, that's the norm.  I mean, I went to see Toundra before Dunk! last year in a mid-sized city in Belgium (Ghent) and there had to have been 500 people there.  It was fucking wild.  Ranges pulled about 100 people at their Hard Rock Paris gig last year, where here they'd get maybe 20 outside of their hometown.  So, it's just a different place. 

To echo something I said earlier about Pillars being fun live, I think that's another element that is being forgotten - this stuff is very engaging in a live setting.  For instance, I couldn't stand Wang Wen on record but their set at Dunk was enthralling.  I fucking loved it.  So, there's 2 realms to be considered I guess.  I go to A LOT of shows, so I tend to listen to a record and think "Oh yeah, this would crush live" even if it's a bit tepid on record.  This has happened to me a number of times, and it's gone both ways where I think some bands are better in the studio than on record - like Rosetta.  I love Rosetta, but they've never quite really gotten me at a show to where their studio stuff gets me.  Caspian is sometimes the same way, it depends.  Other bands absolutely slaughter their studio stuff with the live show.  So, it really depends.  I would put Ranges in that category, because I feel like their songs just take on a bigger life on stage. 


Anyway, buy Cavum!   XD XD XD

Edited by Gumbo72203
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1 hour ago, Gumbo72203 said:

You aren't wrong with the Caspian worship.  But I still love it.  If you're going to copy a band, it might as well be Caspian.


I'll tell you though, these songs fucking CRUSHED live.  Like, CRUSHED.  Seeing them on the main stage with the lights was a trip and a half.  I call them "Bomb" post-rock, because they do these like, big explode-y detonations in the peak sections.  Like just slamming on the open strings, dropping bombs haha.  It was very fun live. 

Yeah i mean, we like what we like and there's no problem with that.  We have to remember though that this is a business.  Yeah, Dunk! is out to create community and all that good hippie love stuff, but at the end of the day.... they need to sell.  They need to make money to keep things going.  And judging from the rabid response that the merch tent gets at the festival, this shit sells.  A lot. 

I mean, they've been able to open up their own pressing plant.  Between Dunk! and A1KA, they've sold almost half of this first pressing, and Pillars is a small-ass band in the scheme of things right now. 

Look at Ranges.  I love CJ and I love Ranges, but the music isn't breaking any new ground - it's just very well done post-rock, and they've managed to make it to a 3rd pressing that is now almost sold out as well.  Their next album is looking to be a banger though, I'm very excited about it. 

But we can sit here and critique from our office chairs and our beds, but at the end of the day, this product (what Derek calls "dunk-core") moves units and generates interest.  We'd all love for EVERY single release to be ground-breaking and fresh and super unique, but we're all human - we copy and steal and re-purpose and that's okay.  I know that I don't fall in love with every release, and that's okay.  I'll buy what I like, and leave what I don't. 

This Pillars album isn't my favorite either, but the dudes are kind as hell, genuine, and passionate.  For their efforts and approach, they deserve to succeed.  Especially with the success of Post. Festival - that's Nason from Pillars' brainchild, along with another buddy.  The American Post-rock scene is taking off in large part due to the relationships between the A1KA, Post. Festival and Dunk! and think that's an absolutely beautiful thing. 

We talked about this on the New Musical Horizons radio interview we did at Dunk!.  It was CJ, myself, David from Young Epoch and some other writer friends - we were asked if post-rock is dead and CJ was like "Fucking nope, I sell enough to make a living off of this, so no way" (in so many words haha).

You guys also forget or don't really get to see that the scene is SO, SO different in Europe.  They just support bands more over there, they go to smaller shows more often.  It's just different.  In America, we don't really give a shit about the arts or small bands - we really don't collectively make an effort to go see dive shows with 9 people.  In Europe, that's the norm.  I mean, I went to see Toundra before Dunk! last year in a mid-sized city in Belgium (Ghent) and there had to have been 500 people there.  It was fucking wild.  Ranges pulled about 100 people at their Hard Rock Paris gig last year, where here they'd get maybe 20 outside of their hometown.  So, it's just a different place. 

To echo something I said earlier about Pillars being fun live, I think that's another element that is being forgotten - this stuff is very engaging in a live setting.  For instance, I couldn't stand Wang Wen on record but their set at Dunk was enthralling.  I fucking loved it.  So, there's 2 realms to be considered I guess.  I go to A LOT of shows, so I tend to listen to a record and think "Oh yeah, this would crush live" even if it's a bit tepid on record.  This has happened to me a number of times, and it's gone both ways where I think some bands are better in the studio than on record - like Rosetta.  I love Rosetta, but they've never quite really gotten me at a show to where their studio stuff gets me.  Caspian is sometimes the same way, it depends.  Other bands absolutely slaughter their studio stuff with the live show.  So, it really depends.  I would put Ranges in that category, because I feel like their songs just take on a bigger life on stage. 


Anyway, buy Cavum!   XD XD XD

Well said Gumbo.  And I do applaud the efforts being made to “popularize” post-rock in general in the US.  Hell, even if POST. fest is another “Dunk-core” fest, my brother & I are most likely going.  We’ve had the “live vs studio” discussion a million times so no need to rehash but I agree with your points.

 

Sign me up for seeing Pillars at Post Fest (assuming they’ll be there), but I just don’t have interest in this on vinyl. If they ever cut a live album, I’d most likely snatch that up.  I know they closed with one of the new songs when I saw them with Seeress (if I had to guess it was Escape) so I know how much better it translates live.

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7 minutes ago, The Butcha said:

I feel like bands like this are setting out to make “the most epic as possible” type records. And in turn makes many other things go untouched that really make a well balanced record. 

Would like this twice if I could.  Nothing at all wrong with a grand scope or idea in your record, but a lot of the cinematic cheese is something I’m just so incredibly over in the year 2019.  It’s why acts like Lights & Motion are borderline meme status.

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On 6/6/2019 at 6:18 PM, Derek™ said:

Would like this twice if I could.  Nothing at all wrong with a grand scope or idea in your record, but a lot of the cinematic cheese is something I’m just so incredibly over in the year 2019.  It’s why acts like Lights & Motion are borderline meme status.

I can see what you mean, because I LOVED Lights and Motion at first - that dude can write some truly moving stuff.  However, they are as annoyingly one-dimensional as I think I've ever come across.  It's literally all the same, and for whatever reason his medium or approach gets annoying to me.  I love the first couple releases, I think they're great.  But fuck dude, please write ONE dark song.  Just one.  JUST ONE. 

 

I'm not sure I agree with that being Pillars' approach....  I think they're just trying to write engaging, heavy post-rock that crushes on stage and they've done just that.  You don't always have to reinvent the wheel.  I'll give them props tho because this album is vastly more unique than the previous one, which has many, many sections where it's like "Okay this is the Gone in Bloom and Bough part", "here's the Not My Blood part", "here's the Some are White Light part" etc etc.  I still love it, but that album has a lot of very very similar parts to other songs. 

I know the allure too though because I did that with my death metal band - i copied riff stylings and song structures from Morbid Angel all the time.

On 6/6/2019 at 6:03 PM, The Butcha said:

I’m usually one to get into a gumboXcore band here and there but this one truly did bore me. Sorry Gumby. 

As long as I keep you hooked on Elusive releases.... XD XD XD XD

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