The band mewithoutYou has had its fair share of changes throughout their dynamic career. Starting off as an extremely anguished post hardcore band highlighted by the fascinating yells and pleas of frontman Aaron Weiss, the band got their foot in the door of the indie rock scene by sheer originality alone. As the band got older the angst filled lyrics were replaced with thought provoking poetry, the hard hitting instruments were toned down and a definite folk music vibe entered the fray. Still the one constant was Weiss' fantastic vocal delivery. Even on their last album when he decided to give singing a chance, the fierceness was still there, the delivery still as powerful as it had ever been. Never in the many stylistic changes the band had gone through over the years had mewithoutYou taken a false step, until now.
The band's fourth full length album, titled It’s All Crazy! It’s All Flase! It’s All A Dream! It’s Alright, consists of a sound that all but completely breaks free of the group’s origins, and prominently features the meek vocals of Weiss rather than his powerful shout. The group doesn't necessarily lose their originality on the new album, but they do lose an element that made them very endearing to me. That being said, It's All... is in no way a mundane or recycled effort by any means, it's actually hard to imagine mewithoutYou ever writing a song that falls into those categories. The album is a vibrant and jovial affair, with bright and colorful imagery assisted by a variety of instruments. The change in disposition is about as far away from the suicidal despair featured on the band's debut, A -> B Life, as possible. Lyrically Weiss' spiritual side is more obvious here than on past releases, but the most enduring images that you'll be left with after listening to the disc, is the multiple food and animal references, the oddity of the food based poetry probably leaving the biggest impression.
Examples: “Me and my cantaloupe friend cast our cares as a couple of pears set a blueberry garland on Apple’s head,” from “Bullet to Binary (pt. two).” Or this enigma of a verse, “I’ve got a walnut-brownie-brain and molasses in my veins/ Crushed graham cracker crust/ My powdered sugar funnelcake cocaine,” from the song “The Fox, The Crow and the Cookie.” They’re interesting lyrics no doubt, but they just don’t pack the same punch as the more literal musings of past songs. And on a number of the album tracks it seems like it's going to take some serious digging to find the point that Weiss is truly trying to get across.
Now let’s talk about the musical aspect of the songs themselves. Once you get past the fact that mewithoutYou has crafted a new sound altogether, you’ll soon see that at times Weiss’ wavering vocals and the band’s more roots based, acoustic laced sound fits the songs they’ve written perfectly. The album opener, “Every Thought a Thought of You,” is a joyous little tune that sets the more uplifting vibe that the rest of the disc will emit. “The Angel of Death Came to David’s Room” is a creeping build up that carries more weight than any other track on the album and “Goodbye, I!” is upbeat and well paced, it’s one of the few tracks on the album that Weiss absolutely takes control of. As the disc goes on though, songs like the repetitive “Timothy Hay” and the out of place “Fig With a Bellyache,” drag the record down. It’s a shame too, because despite all the disappointment that I already had festered up, the album was really a joy to listen to until just after the half way point. The LP kind of limps along after the interesting “Bullet to Binary” sequel that sits in the middle of the disc, disappointment overshadows it from that point all the way to its unimpressive closing track. Even the epic “The King Beetle on a Coconut Estate,” which Weiss says he’s most proud of, ends up sounding a little flat – wasting the charming instruments that accompanies it.
There’s little doubt in my mind that the mewithoutYou I had grown so fond of over the past few years is gone for good, but the new version of the band’s sound is still some of the most strikingly original and satisfying music you can find today. The new album may only be half of a great record, but it’s still a wholly interesting listen. The more time I spent with it, the more I began to enjoy the sound I heard. Gradually while listening to the album, images of an old dusty farm ran by deeply religious Jewish-Christians came to mind. A farm loaded with hosts of baked foods, swarms of wild animals and a few talking fruits. If that sounds like an appealing journey to you, mewithoutYou’s latest album is right up your alley.
"It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All A Dream! It's Alright" is on sale May 19, 2009 from Tooth & Nail.
