St. Elias

Hindsight may be 20/20, but it still seems too soon to truly get a big-picture idea of what the '90s were all about. Luckily for St. Elias, the big picture is moot. With its debut full-length, Believe It, the Denver trio has homed in on one tiny but worthwhile slice...

By Jason Heller

October 15, 2009

Audio By Carbonatix

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Hindsight may be 20/20, but it still seems too soon to truly get a big-picture idea of what the '90s were all about. Luckily for St. Elias, the big picture is moot. With its debut full-length, Believe It, the Denver trio has homed in on one tiny but worthwhile slice of '90s pie: all the heavy alternative rock that fell outside the boundaries of grunge. Combining the slinky, acrobatic prog of Shudder to Think with the pulverizing loveliness of Hum, the men of St. Elias have crafted a gem of an album that doesn't stoop to equate thunder with toughness. Instead, the band funnels raging, riff-fueled tempests into exquisitely sculpted teacups — a feat that just might make it pretty forward-looking after all.

Jason Heller is a staff writer at Westword. He's the author of the book Strange Stars: David Bowie, Pop Music, and the Decade Sci-Fi Exploded (Melville House/Penguin Random House), and has contributed to the New Yorker, The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork and NPR.org. His work has won a Hugo Award and a Colorado Press Association Award.

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