Thomas Giles – Pulse

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Metal Blade
Produced by Tommy Rogers

The existence of a solo album for Between The Buried And Me frontman Tommy Rogers (recording under the pseudonym Thomas Giles) implies that there’s some music that goes beyond the scope of that band, and I’m not totally sure that’s the case.

Regardless, Pulse, Rogers’ debut solo album has plenty of what one would expect to hear from the mellow side of BTBAM, a smattering of their metal side, and a handful of curveballs. Crucially, Pulse is a true solo record: Rogers did all of the writing and arranging, played all the instruments, handled all the vocal duties, and produced the album himself. As such, certain influences that have never emerged in BTBAM’s music are present here, namely pulsating electronica and gentle, bare bones acoustic numbers (though Desert of Song from The Great Misdirect came close).

These bring the biggest curveballs – Catch & Release could be a more subdued Aphex Twin song, while album highlights Scared and Armchair Travel sound like outtakes from side B of David Gilmour‘s On An Island LP. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Pulse is that Rogers brings in literally dozens of influences and incorporates dozens of genres into his songwriting, and yet the album holds together as an album rather than a mere collection of unrelated experiments from the BTBAM singer.

The album’s themes are chiefly psychological, and the lyrical narrator is at times hesitant but increasingly self-assured. Rogers brings these emotions to the listener through seemingly limitless techniques with the skill of a virtuoso, and his album retains its identity through its prevailing atmosphere regardless of the genre employed to communicate it.

Undoubtedly some indie-approved points of reference like Radiohead and Björk will be brought up when discussing this album, but that isn’t giving Rogers quite enough credit. Pulse is a thoughtful, studied piece of work that will be used as a measurement of its creator’s greatness just as much as Colors when the musical history books are written.

“ seemingly limitless techniques ”

Tracklist: Sleep Shake / Reverb Island / Mr. Bird / Catch & Release / Hamilton Anxiety Scale / Scared / Reject Falicon / Medic / Suspend The Death Watch / Armchair Travel / Hypoxia

Written by Brad Sanders
More: 2011, Albums, Post Rock/Metal, Thomas Giles