Explosions in the Sky

To their credit, the members of Explosions in the Sky didn't change the band's name after 9/11. Instead, they kept on making the kind of explosive, pyrotechnic music that inspired it in the first place. Although the moniker might suggest an emo or post-hardcore sound, this Austin-based outfit is closer musical kin to Mogwai and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Rather than follow in anyone's footsteps, though, Explosions opts for soaring, evolving melodies. Not strictly post-rock, its sound is more like ambitious instrumental pop. While the band creates meditative musical atmospheres punctuated by blazing guitar lines, the overall tone is one of warmth and tenderness rather than angst and alienation. Even the somber moments are coated with kernels of bright expansion.