Desoto
2001
A Future Lived In Past Tense
About This Album
Opening with a brief moment of found sound, "A Thousand Motors Pressed Upon the Heart" slowly gains momentum as crisscrossing guitars are layered over a pumping organ. Arlie John Carstens' scratchy, Bob Mould-like vocals and the contributions of guest bassist Nick Harmer (Death Cab for Cutie) help push this three-guitar band to a harder rocking sound on the second song, "Covered With Hair," but after a slow guitar intro guides you into "When I Was in _____," it becomes clear that this intricately arranged and spacious-sounding album is as much about developing, sustaining, and then changing a mood as it is about individual songs. Indeed, A Future Lived in Past Tense doesn't feature an overabundance of memorable songs with catchy hooks that demand your immediate attention; instead, Juno methodically builds and envelops the listener with swelling, emotionally subtle textures of sound while Carstens sings his poetic, fragmented, and somewhat melancholic lyrics. For example, Carstens begins "The French Letter" with slow, restrained, and somewhat mournful vocals, then his singing becomes more expressive, and eventually he sounds like an unusually emotive Roger Waters fronting a punk band.
Track List (try tracks 2,3,7,10 and 11)

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