Last year, I had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with a Croatian instrumental rock band by the name of Radio Free Isaac. While their music was definitely good stuff, and the band oozed potential, they still had some way to go before they would be a truly special group, and when they broke up, it started to appear as if their talent would be wasted. I was slightly relieved when band member Saša emailed me to inform me that some of the band members would soon be forming another band, and recording a new album.

Don't Mess With Texas is the new band that has arisen from the ashes of Radio Free Isaac, and they finally fulfil of the potential that their predecessors had. The addition of piano to the standard rock lineup of guitar/bass/drums has considerably expanded the band's range, and full use is made of every instrument in crafting winding, epic soundscapes reminiscent of both Sigur Rós and Explosions In The Sky. The Radio Free Isaac connection is evident, but it has a completely new dimension added to it this time around.

The opening track, entitled The Sound Of One Lung Filling With Water is an early favourite in my personal "song of the year" competition. It starts off slowly, with a very simple piano melody that repeats in a seemingly endless loop, while a variety of subtle samples and muted instrumentation away in the background. The tranquil melody is then shattered, with a blast of heavily distorted guitar that tears the song apart like a sheet of tissue paper, in the best tradition of Mogwai and Mono. Later tracks follow much the same pattern, although it's never executed quite as brilliantly as it is on the opening track.

If asked to quantify the difference between this band and the legions of other instrumental post-rock groups doing the rounds these days, I'd have to say that while other bands often mix different and varied genres into their sounds, Don't Mess With Texas keep their feet firmly grounded in rock music. There is even a punk rock influence, albeit a postmodernist art-punk influence, that runs underneath all the fragile arrangements here. They aren't a punk rock band, far from it, but they manage to take the ethos of keeping it simple and keeping it energetic, and then apply it to a vastly different genre very well.

If I sound like I'm enthusing and excited about this band, well, that's because I am. It's rare to see a band get it so right on their first outing, and with such style too. While Don't Mess With Texas might not yet be on an equal footing with Mogwai or Godspeed You Black Emperor!, another couple of albums of this quality will make comparisons to those bands a realistic proposition.