With the looming death (or at least apparent dampening) of garage music to come out of the Bay Area being marked this year by local media outlets, including SF Weekly, it’s refreshing to see bands come out and move away from the ever-reported garage rock genre and into something different.

Wander, a post-rock outfit from the East Bay, falls into that category of bands, showing that the San Francisco Bay Area still nurtures music acts that range far beyond the garage rock or psych-rock genre. Their newest album Mourning, furthers the group into the ambitious feat of remaining merely instrumental. However, they do not disappoint.

Released this month, Mourning features 7 songs that take listeners through a somewhat epic journey, each telling a story of significance and mystery. Of particular note is the track “Youth“, which is a six-minute long build-up reminiscent of the likes of bands like Explosions in the Sky that is vastly inspiring, slightly dreamy, and purely incapacitating – in the best way possible. The simple use of cymbals, snare drum rolls, arpeggio sweeps, and melodic chords come together into a crashing combination that is adrenaline-pumping-heart-racing good. Each build-up leaves you with a cliché sense of “calm-after-the-storm” feeling.

The entire album is worthy of revel for being a part of the fluid Bay Area music scene. Is it a part of something we should expect to see more of this year? Who knows. Should we be excited if that is the case? Absolutely.