Album: Explosions in the Sky <!-- none onestar twostar threestar fourstar fivestar -->

At this year's All Tomorrow's Parties festival, one of the headline acts will be the relatively little-known Texan post-rock band Explosions in the Sky (EITS), who secured the spot by winning a fans' vote. Like Icelandic soundscapers Sigur Rós, the band have quietly but steadily built themselves the kind of secret mass audience which modern trend-watchers would have us believe is only achievable via MySpace or other internet portals. Along with Mogwai, Sigur Rós remain the most obvious comparison for EITS, whose lengthy, methodical instrumentals proceed at a sometimes achingly slow pace, without any startling changes in direction or structure. The result is laborious pieces that seem to be forever building to a climax that never arrives - a gratification deferred way too long in the case of the 13-minute "It's Natural to be Afraid". Better by far are tracks such as "Birth and Death of the Day" and "So Long, Lonesome", which offers a more satisfying, balmy experience.

DOWNLOAD THIS: 'Birth and Death of the Day', 'So Long, Lonesome', 'Catastrophe and the Cure'