Cursive’s Tim Kasher has always had a knack for offering twisted, anguished rock and roll. Throughout their career, he has delved deeply into divorce, corrupt religion, art as masochism, and every neurosis you can think of.
But on Vitriola, he sounds downright demented. Continue reading
I was previously unaware of gates when I discovered 2016’s Parallel Lives. But I quickly fell in love with that album’s blend of tender indie rock songwriting and epic post rock composition.
So when my friend Rob offered their debut full-length up in a trade for a copy of my band’s full-length, I took him up on it.
And while Bloom & Breathe is a little less tight than its follow up, there’s a rawness here that makes it just as rewarding.
For the last few years, it’s been suggested by a number of music snobs (or at least by me) that we’re currently in a post-genre landscape.
While the dividing lines between, say, dream pop and post-hardcore have generally been laid out pretty clear, these days there’s so much cross-pollination between influences that music taxonomy is an almost fruitless undertaking.
Case in point: Death Lust, the debut record from Canadian solo project Chastity. When I went to add the files to my iTunes, the cursor sat in the “genre” tab for several minutes, blinking mockingly at me as I tried to put a name to this (I copped out and settled on “alternative”). Continue reading
After the release of the doomgazy single “Julia” and the subdued [untitled] e.p., speculation was high as to what the forthcoming [Untitled] full-length would bring.
But the similarity of covers between the releases seemed to promise an explosion.
Across social media, that theory seemed to be confirmed. When drummer Rickie Mazzotta was asked if the full-length would be as quiet as the e.p., he said, “that’s porch-sittin’ music. The album is cliff-diving music.”
Few artists have as diverse and unpredictable a sonic palette as mewithoutYou. From the scorched-earth post-hardcore of [A–>B] Life to the ambient punk of Catch For Us the Foxes to the rambling quirkfolk of it’s all crazy! it’s all false! it’s all a dream! it’s alright, few bands have created more different-sounding music that still sounds distinctly like themselves.
And nowhere is that wide-ranging individuality as completely displayed as the twin untitled releases that came out this year.
In the years following Ten Stories, a few things happened to mewithoutYou.
They added Brandon Beaver, who was a session player on Ten Stories as a full-time member. Then, they went on a special tour to celebrate Catch For Us the Foxes. Finally, they signed to Run For Cover Records, a haven of post-hardcore and punk bands.
You could look at that set of datum and conclude that they were returning to their punkier roots. And you’d be right.
After the rambling folkiness of it’s all crazy! many mewithoutYou fans weren’t sure what to expect. Several friends washed their hands of the band, firmly deciding that their best days were behind them.
And even though I had liked it’s all crazy! I must admit that a part of me worried that it might be more than a one-off. When the first singles were released from Ten Stories, the fanbase was apprehensive. Continue reading
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.
Continue reading
February of 2006, I saw mewithoutYou in the Kokomo Convention Center. They had wrapped up a tour a couple months before, had done some writing, and were driving to California to record their new record.
That night, they played some of songs from that record for the first time. And immediately, it was obvious that things would be different.
Continue reading
As much as I’ve looked forward to this section of my collection, I’m sitting here with “January 1979” blaring at a complete loss of what to say about this record.
Do I talk about the broad scope of Aaron’s lyrics as he dissects theology, philosophy, and his own mental state in a yelping shout? Do I talk about how the rest of the band broke the doors off of punk music to create some of the greatest soundscapes put to tape? Do I talk about how over the last fourteen years, no record has meant more to me?
Because this record is all that and more. And if I didn’t have work to do today, I could write about this record all day.