June of 44 was (and more recently, is) a post-hardcore band (usually thought of as math rock, but also
responsible for early post-rock and dipping into a variety
of other genres) formed in
Louisville in . June of 44’s music has humourously
been referred to as “boat rock” because of the
nautical textual and visual themes that they used (particularly in their first
three albums). June of 44 formed out of the breakup of guitarist and vocalist Jeff
Mueller’s previous band, the legendary math rock
outfit Rodan. The four members of June of 44 have all been part
of other notable acts, usually in the realm of experimental rock and post-hardcore, e.g.
HiM, Shipping News, Codeine, Lungfish,
Hoover, and The Crownhate Ruin. June of 44 played some
reunion shows in , and are releasing an album
(mostly of reworked old songs) . June of 44 are remembered for being classic math rockers and post-rockers, and having
a broad sonic palette that further expanded what the
Louisvillepost-hardcore scene could sound like.
June of 44 started off their recording career with the LP, “Engine Takes to the Water”.
This album has been criticised for apeing their
Louisvillemath rock/post-rock predecessors,
Slint (particularly, of course, “Spiderland” ()). Indeed, June of 44’s career
lives in the shadow of “Spiderland”, but comparing them to
Slint (or even calling them a “Slint rip-off”!) is
certainly unfair — although tempting, due to
“Spiderland”’s significance as one of the more well-known
albums of all time. Yes, “Engine Takes to the Water” does borrow
stylistic quirks of “Spiderland” (particularly in the first track,
“Have a Safe Trip, Dear”), like tense and angular guitar-driven buildups with spoken vocals that
explode into post-hardcore yelping and
distorted guitars. But even “Engine Takes
to the Water” has more to offer — unlike “Spiderland”,
fans of post-rock will have a hard time calling
“Engine Takes to the Water” “a post-rock
record”. “Engine Takes to the Water” settles into much more
punk grooves, with several of the songs largely chucking
more importantly, not all of June of 44’s discography has to live
in this shadow — by their third album, the “The Anatomy of Sharks”, June
of 44 had established their own sound. “The Anatomy of Sharks”
would lead to a full-length record, the
“Four Great Points”, which expanded June of 44’s sound
to include prominent trumpet playing from the band’s bass guitarist, Fred Erskine, as well as violin and synthesizers. June of
44’s sound was now more recognizably s post-rock, becoming eclectic
and pulling influence from electronic music and jazz fusion, while still retaining its math rock origins. The
“Anahata” would intensify these other influences considerably,
removing any straightforward punk attitude in favor of
repetitive and pulsing drums & bass guitar grooves that entertain an aesthetic somewhere between indie rock/slowcore, jazz fusion, and the post-rock of their
Chicago contemporaries Tortoise
(Tortoise founding member Bundy K. Brown was even a guest
musician on previous album “Four Great Points”). This removal of
almost all post-hardcore influence has made
“Anahata” a polarising album, with many who were June of 44
fans up to that point disliking the album.
notes on the distributions
“In the Fishtank 6” is sometimes listed as simply “In the
Fishtank”.
June of 44 discography
title
Engine Takes to the Water
Tropics and Meridians
The Anatomy of Sharks
Four Great Points
Anahata
In the Fishtank 6
Revisionist: Adaptations & Future Histories In The Time Of Love And Survival
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