May

19

mewithoutYou “it’s all crazy!” Review

Filed Under Updates 

 From their inception, mewithoutYou has been a perplexing and often rewarding animal. Though their first album, [A-->B] Life, bore the markings of post-hardcore, Aaron Weiss’s narration/stream of consciousness vocal style and claustrophobic guitars set them apart from the burgeoning emo scene. Their uniqueness was fully formed on the band’s sophomore album, Catch for Us the Foxes. Weiss and company dropped the posturing of their previous genre and formed something intense, introspective, and certainly their own.On Foxes, Weiss’s lyrics became more personal, dealing with faith, suicide, and concern for the poor. Then the band really threw us for a loop. In fall of 2006, mwY released Brother, Sister. The album was not without its driving guitars and Weiss’s distinct vocals, but it bore heavy traces of what the band has developed into orchestrated folk band mwY has transformed into on their latest release it’s all crazy! it’s all false! it’s all a dream! it’s alright.

     As I look at the albums mwY fans typically buy on iTunes, The Chariot, As Cities Burn, and Copeland are listed. For mewithoutYou fans who regularly listen to such bands, this album may be new territory, but for fans of indie rock, it won’t be surprising. This is an orchestrated pop/folk album and while there’s nothing necessarily bad on the album, there’s nothing that makes it stand out from the superb accomplishments in the genre that have been forged by Sufjan Stevens, Arcade Fire, and Bright Eyes in the last few years. Weiss is singing now and, while still recognizable, his vocal trembles make him sound like Conor Oberst. Occasional traces of Akron/Family and Iron & Wine are noticeable, as well. In fact, it’s not at all surprising that Daniel Smith of Danielson (and Danielson’s many incarnations) co-produced the album with Brian McTear (Mazarin, Matt Pond PA). Though mwY is much darker than the sincere yelps of Danielson, the jangly, multi-instrumental approach, centering around guitar, is in full force here.
     The press release for the album says the band collaborated with a “slew” of musicians, but fails to list them. For Brother, Sister, mwY collaborated with members of Anathallo, Psalters, and Jeremy Enigk (who sang on “O Porcupine”). I’m genuinely curious who the collaborators are, since the press release folks don’t deem us fit to know. I’m willing to guess that Anathallo is still around, and heavily so, as well as Psalters, who employ a bevy of non-traditional instruments.

     Anyone who has spoken to Weiss at a show (and there are many) has witnessed the contentment and genuine care the man exudes. The band isn’t as dark as they were, though the clouds are not gone. Lyrically, Weiss has transformed himself into a storyteller, regaling us with fables of animals, vegetables, and even a Bible story. He’s still cryptic and it seems his view of God and spirituality continues to expand beyond traditional boundaries. If someone played the final track “Allah Allah Allah” for me without telling me what band I was hearing, I would’ve sworn it was a happy group of Muslims performing for energetic children. If you’re here for the chug an drive of Catch for Us the Foxes, which the band was much better at, then you’re out of luck. This isn’t a transitional album, this is a transformational album. mwY is doing what few bands dare to do.

“The Fox, the Crow, and the Cookie” mp3

Will Thompson enjoys putting somewhat carefully chosen words in relatively meaningful order.

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