Seen live, Air Conditioning can be impressive; at times they're utterly awesome, and even when things don't coalesce perfectly, the band's sonic imprint is one that's not easily forgotten. It's frustrating, then, that the Allentown, PA troupe's discography has always been scant, and that what recordings surfaced proved to be less than effective documents of the band. Their debut, I'm in the Mountains, I'll See You Next Year, released by White Denim in 2003, is now a collector's item, of sorts, but proves ultimately less than satisfying. A disc released by Level Plane just one year later, Weakness offers more of the same. The ingredients are there, but the album's don't quite cook. A small number of 7"s have been issued in recent years, but, the capture of the band's powerful sound on wax or cd continued to be an elusive order. Dead Rails, surfacing this spring on Load, is not only the band's most high-profile release, but also the album that is the first to approach an effective transplant of Air Conditioning's live sound onto recorded media.
On previous efforts, Air Conditioning's sound seemed diluted, moving as a vaguely menacing cloud rather than the shuddering behemoth that is for the trio at their best. From the opening of "Where to Litter/Trash Burning," it's obvious that things will be a bit more focused on Dead Rails, due to a fidelity which, though sacrificing none of the music's rough edges, creates a clarity heretofore unheard on an Air Conditioning disc. Robert Jürgensen's bass, detuned to the extreme, is paired with Matt Franco's guitar to create a hellish din, but Sean McGuiness, handling the drums during the sessions, in the axis upon which the music revolves, his percussion providing a rhythm that, rather than landlocking the proceedings in conventionality, serves as the means for the music's locomotion, keeping what might result in a messy miasma afloat, if not at a rolling boil, then at least at an ominous simmer. The band is at their best when moving full steam ahead, the drums keeping rapid time and the noise flowing over top with an ear-searing intensity. Their more atmospheric work paints a menacing picture, but its the inertia of the more uptempo missives that has always been the most electrifying hallmark of Air Conditioning's sound.
So though Dead Rails may not inspire the full-on frenzy that Air Conditioning caused at the inaugural No Fun Fest, it represents the finest moment yet in what's been a spotty discography for the band. The physical force of the sound isn't there, but this disc allows the listener, for the first time, to truly sense what it might feel like to be in the mouth of the beast. Newcomers, upon hearing it, still might not understand the fervor with which live A/C shows are anticipated by some, but in Dead Rails, Air Conditioning have released the first recording that might help the band's recorded reputation catch up, just a bit, to their live one.
