Tristeza have been fairly inert over the last few years, but their name ought to ring some bells-- besides guitarist Jimmy Lavalle's incarnation as The Album Leaf, and other members' involvement in The Locust, they've shared bills with the varied likes of !!!, Mouse on Mars, and GBV. Spine and Sensory was their debut LP, originally recorded in 1999, but out of print for several years. It's been re-released with a badly needed new mastering job and three bonus tracks. The timing might seem a little odd (has the range of nostalgia already been conflated to the five year mark?), but the folks at Better Looking must have figured that it'll ride the current wave of uplifting post-rock a la Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky, as well as guitarist Lavalle's growing success as The Album Leaf, to find a greater audience.
Thanks to several years of nonstop touring, Tristeza enjoyed a fair amount of attention relatively soon after their formation in 1997. But they've had their detractors; their sophomore release, Dream Signals in Full Circles, was slammed by some-- including Pitchfork-- for being too "new age." Tristeza's attempt to inject their scene with some positive frequencies has been as happy to me as it is distasteful to those who need their beauty twisted, and given the more recent directions of instrumental rock, such a sound might land on friendlier ears these days.
Spine and Sensory, however, only hints at the deeper listening to come from Tristeza. The first two tracks are fairly standard pieces of instrumental rock, beginning with interweaving counterpoint guitar lines and some synth, adding interest to the texture. "RMS 2000" is where the sonic exploration begins, as delayed percussion, feedback drones, and reverbed organs announce themselves in the mix. After some more mid-tempo builds, "Memphis Emphasis" quickens the pace with a tight staccato pulse. The album sags a little in its third quarter, but the beautiful piano/synth flute piece "Cinematography" provides a textural surprise toward the end of the album, and foretells the gentle, sweeping nature of their forthcoming work.
Criticisms of "too repetitive" have plagued Lavalle's music through its incarnations. Though the songs of Spine are constantly shifting and building, the intentional lack of memorable melody can forcefully relegate them to the background of one's attention. Still, Tristeza should be approached on their own terms; their music is about movement, not of the dancing kind, but the spiraling, racing and blooming that instrumental rock can evoke. Without any member rising to the forefront, Tristeza are able to work as a true ensemble, creating thick textural structures that gesture toward the expansiveness of ambient music while retaining more standard forms.
Spine and Sensory was and remains a sincere effort to inject the decidedly emotionless lines of math-rock with some color, without resorting to the aggressive crescendos of their counterparts. It's not uniformly gripping, but contains enough moments of beauty and interest to be worthwhile. The tracks of Spine and Sensory explore a variety of rhythmic and timbrel contrasts, each managing to set itself apart in a genre that is often plagued by formulaic, indistinguishable pieces. The new age stigma is thrown around quite readily if a band employs atmospherics toward any means other than the melancholy or foreboding, and Tristeza, despite their name's translation, are decidedly uplifting. But even if the idea of warm pads and chimes still gives you chills, this record strikes a balance not found in their later work that should appeal to all.
