Dreamy, neo-psych instrumental guitar rock. That’s how I’d describe Saxon Shore’s Exquisite Death. Maybe that’s a bit too generic of a description. If you’re familiar with the production work of David Fridmann (Mercury Rev, Flaming Lips, Mogwai,) you know he’s essentially the champion of what we could call Frid-rock: shoe-gazing, psychedelic, long winded at times - the blend of electronics, high guitars, and thunderous energy. Saxon Shore is Frid-rock, for sure.

Having no vocals to work with, the band explores the art of the crescendo. Elements of Pink Floyd come to mind here and there, but where they clearly shine is in the slower songs. Near the end of the album is “How We Conquered the Western World on Horseback,” a beautiful song that glides through old-school post-rock sounds that we probably forgot about, what with all those revivalist sounds sweeping the nation's commercials at an ever-expanding rate. Those with short attention spans will probably complain that most songs sound the same (and maybe they do sound similar,) but those with patience will be very pleased, as there are many subtle differences to be heard from song to song.

This Exquisite Death is emotion through instrumentation. Clearly these guys are talented, and I can only imagine that their live show must be something to drool over.