Timonium - Until He Finds Us

Despite sometimes long distances between members of the group, Timonium has been chugging along for a much longer amount of time than most bands could even think of staying together. Over the course of 9 years, they've put out several releases while for the most part working day jobs on top of that. Singer/guitarist Adam Hervey has even put together an enviable slew of releases out under his Pehr label and even will all of the above factors and distractions the group just seems to get more and more focused and strong with each release.

Until He Finds Us is the third full-length from the group and it's steps beyond their last release Resist Education. While that disc found the quartet (and sometimes trio) exploring more ambient realms and even bringing in some electronic effects, this newest release is sort of a back to the basics effort, but it's by no means simplistic. Instead, the group makes more use of tempo and dynamic shifts and the heavenly male/female vocal combination of singer Hervey and Tracy Uba.

The disc opens with a nearly perfect 3 minutes in "Populations." It builds slowly with the vocals of Uba over the steady marching of drums before the end of track lets loose with a controlled explosion. "Red Pawn" starts out in super slowcore ville, trudging along with call and response vocals from Uba and Hervey before it falls off the edge of a cliff and into a jangling, rocking middle section before again closing out with a vocal-driven section. "Filamented" weaves back and forth like almost a waltz before locking into step and might be one of the loudest tracks that the group has done to date.

Even the longer tracks on Until He Finds Us work quite well for the most part. "Across The Footlights" builds with a restrained patience that rewards in spades during an almost celebratory closing third. Like other groups that inhabit similar musical territory (like Low), Timonium has learned to make small things count for a lot. Something as small as a change in guitar tone during a bridge or a subtle tempo change mean a lot and over the course of 9 tracks and 45 minutes, the release keeps you guessing enough to keep things interesting. When you add to it that the group is also at their loudest (and dare I say even 'rocking' at times) on this release, and it makes for what is easily their best overall effort to date.

Rating: 7.5

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