Looking back over mewithoutYou’s seven-album discography, it’s all crazy! stands out like a sore thumb.

That’s not severe enough: it stands out like a giant thumb that was swollen to five times its size, painted bright neon, severed, and worn like a hat.

It’s been the subject of debate and controversy among the mewithoutYou fanbase, some disowning it entirely, others calling it their creative peak. But there’s one thing that everyone agrees on: it’s a bit out of place.

But while it makes almost zero sense now, when it’s all crazy! was released, it made all the sense in the world.

With the massive statement that was Brother, Sister, the Philly punk-quintet added more folk elements to their sound—and with much success.

Frontman Aaron Weiss played a few songs on acoustic guitar, using his singing voice with as much frequency as his trademark shout. The album closer “In a Sweater Poorly Knit” seemed to kick open the doors to a whole new sonic palette. 

After the release of Brother, Sister, the group did a series of acoustic shows in FYEs across the country. Before full band shows, Aaron would come out and play Bob Dylan and Neutral Milk Hotel covers to the folks in line. In 2008, Aaron and Mike embarked on a coffee house tour, playing many of the songs that would make it onto the it’s all crazy! track list.

And when the album finally came, it felt like it fulfilled the promises of “In a Sweater Poorly Knit.” Aaron spends the entire album on the acoustic guitar, delivering the entire album in his Dylan-esque singing voice, barring a couple shouted lines in “Bullet to Binary (Pt. Two).” His lyrics are deep examinations of fables from Sufi teacher Bawa Muhaiyaddeen, focusing on mischievous animals, Biblical stories, speaking vegetables, and a Beetle Kingdom. There are horns and strings and all sorts of odd percussion. As if this all wasn’t quirky enough, they brought in Daniel Smith (of Danielson Famile fame) to produce.

It might be hard to believe nine years later, but at the time it was met with widespread acclaim. It earned them scores of new fans—who were disappointed by the rest of their catalog, and every subsequent release. Some reviewers even heralded it as their best album ever.

While I wouldn’t say it’s a bad album, it’s certainly not their best. It includes some of their best songs—specifically “Every Thought a Thought of You,” “Goodbye, I” and the stunning “King Beetle On a Coconut Estate.” But it was also the first mewithoutYou record to have any songs I didn’t like (the obtuse “Fig With a Bellyache,” the corny “Allah x3“).

It’s a fine record—but not a great mewithoutYou record. Although, I have a theory that it was never meant to be a mewithoutYou record at all.

I believe that after Brother, Sister, Aaron began working on a solo record. After all, on many occasions he had stated that he wasn’t the biggest fan of punk music, and mostly listened to folk and classic rock. Also, while the band would never say this publicly, word is that they were pretty unhappy with their record deal with Tooth & Nail. I think that Aaron had a record he intended to release under his own name—or maybe as a Weiss Brothers collaboration (see: the earlier coffeehouse tour), but the band decided to release it as a mewithoutYou record in order to fulfill the terms of their contract. Whether there was ever an intention to release it as a different project or not, Aaron has gone on record saying that he wrote the songs himself and basically hired the group as sessions players (this is the album’s biggest weakness—Rickie Mazzotta in particular feels like he’s playing in a cage here). 

Whether or not the group was meant to be a mewithoutYou record or Aaron’s solo debut, it’s become part of the group’s DNA now. They still play some of these songs live (they closed with “Timothy Hay” when I saw them last weekend). Every album since has featured a few singer-songwriter songs from Aaron. Even the fiery (Untitled) released this year. Though luckily, those tendencies have been tempered with the rest of the band’s incredible interplay. 

These days, I don’t listen to it’s all crazy! very often. I have a couple songs on various playlists, but the last time I listened to the record the whole way through was when Pale Horses came out two years ago. It’s never the record I put on when I want a mewithoutYou record, but I do appreciate it for what it is.