As a genre, Indie Rock hit its peak in the mid-2000s, as bands like Arcade Fire and Death Cab for Cutie became mainstream, thus causing bands to branch off into the post-punk branch of punk rock. Activity’s new album A Thousand Years in Another Way (Western Vinyl) takes you back to the last great days of indie rock. The album opens in a tense, more brooding mood than their previous work. They balance this out with the fragile plea of the pained tenor vocals. The trembling urgency of this vocal approach brings Radiohead to mind.

Where they set themselves apart from this comparison are in the subtle swathes of ambient noise framing the mix.. The second song finds female vocals in the spotlight as the atmosphere created on this song carries a more whimsical intent. “We Go Where We Are Not Wanted’ is more like the more experimental post- “Ok Computer” era of Radiohead, with stellar mixing layering the sound, despite the beats leaning these guys more heavily in the direction of Tom Yorke and company.

There is a more conventional song structure to the lazy strum of “Your Dream.” Under this kind of arrangement, the band is stylistically more sure of themselves and their creative identity as artists. Midway into the song, the drugs begin to kick in. The mood might remind you of a band like Blonde Redhead. It makes sense that “Scissors” would be used as the lead single for this album. The song finds the best balance of all the band’s varied elements. “Heavy Breathing” drips out of this song, and is a more atmospheric jam.

“Her Alphabet” drifts more deeply into its cloudy ambiance. “I Came Here to Hurt” is not unlike the kind of ballad Billy Corgan might have written for Smashing Pumpkins, when he tried to shed some of the band’s ’90s grunge influence. The song eventually ambles with more of an indie rock shuffle, which builds to a climax in the song’s final minute as it intensifies. In terms of intensity, it is more dramatic than ’90s indie rock, but not as sonically heavy as what post-rock bands do.

The last song does not find the band veering off into any experimentation, and does not deviate from the mood of the album. The overall vibe of what the band does here is a wistful ambiance with an introspective undertone. Fans of moodier, more atmospheric veins of indie rock will find a great deal to embrace here. The band has stepped up in terms of the dynamic range of their songwriting and the overall manner in which the sounds were captured in the studio. Proving their best days are not behind them, as this band continues to grow.

Buy the album here:
https://activity.bandcamp.com/album/a-thousand-years-in-another-way

8 / 10
WIL CIFER
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