The Life and Times have released the rare record where the name of the label would be more suited for the name of the album than what they actually chose: Tragic Boogie is arena rock, and while certainly tragic, boogie?  Not so much.  But the sense of humor with some titles (including a few songs, like the title track, “Pain Don’t Hurt”, and “Fall of the Angry Clowns”) is just enough of a wink for this epic, impressive record.  The Kansas City, Missouri band’s sophomore full-length is a great combination of post-rock grandeur, expansive indie, and hard-hitting rock.

Given its nature, Tragic Boogie is not, however, a record that is just a compilation of tracks, with some standouts, and some low-lights.  Instead, the album is really a whole project, beginning to end, lying in the high atmosphere, while staying rooted to the ground.  Sometimes, Life and Times go for a darker, harder rock procession, like with “Angry Clowns”, “Let It Eat”, “Confetti”, or “Tragic Boogie”.  Other places, the band climbs up into the brighter reaches of the air, such as on “Que Sera Sera”, “Old Souls”, “Dull Knives”, “Lucid Dream”, and “Catching the Crumbs”.  And there are two post-rock instrumentals, “Pain” in the middle, and “Little 4Notes” at the end, the former epic, while the latter more relaxed.

In general, the higher stabs seem a bit better than the lower ones, but that might be a matter of opinion (though “Let It East” is a little off the mark in its thud beneath speed).  This is a band that can reach high and low, best epitomized in “The Politics of Driving” (whose own title sounds like a Minutemen song…), where the song starts stripped and singular, but then grows and grows and grows into epic terrain – much like Tragic Boogie itself.

MP3 Stream: "The Politics of Driving"