If you like your rock with a touch of the epic, a dash of the orchestral, and a fair bit of emo (as in overwrought, not as in eye makeup) you could do a lot worse than the Airborne Toxic Event.
From the same school of rock as
Arcade Fire and The National, The Airborne Toxic Event specialise in dark yet likeable tunes.
Their 2008 single Sometime Around Midnight was named iTunes' No 1 alternative song of the year, despite not having a chorus, and if you liked that there's plenty more to go around here.
Album opener and title track All At Once is of the same mould - starting quietly then gaining in intensity, like a train building up a full head of steam. There's no chorus - and it works.
Then they up the pop level with Changing, which comes across like an updated version of Modest Mouse anthem Float On (which was sampled most recently by Lupe Fiasco).
A solid listen.
Stars: 3.5/5
