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Album Reviews
Music
has the power to express emotion. There are times in life
where words cannot express what is going on. Countless times
I have used other people’s music, other people’s words to
get my feelings across. I do not have that gift.
Mewithoutyou has the uncanny ability to get their emotions,
questions, and beliefs across through their songs and they
do it more effectively than virtually any band around today.
“Catch For Us The Foxes” is the follow up to their
breakthrough album “A-B Life,” which propelled them into the
spotlight in early 2003. Their unique style of rock and roll
set them apart from their contemporaries. There is no
singing from the band. Vocalist Aaron Weiss does not sing in
the sense that we would normally think. Instead he uses
spoken words to deliver the verses and then uses something
like a shout or a holler for the choruses. It’s not a scream
so much, but a shriek, cutting to the center of your being.
One listen and you will forever recognize the band.
While “A-B Life” was lyrically based in relationships,
lending some of the most emotional lyrics I’ve ever heard,
this new album is much deeper and far more personal. Weiss
reveals his soul in a way that would make me very
uncomfortable. He delves into issues such as suicide, normal
earthly relationships as well as faith. He uses his lyrics
for something other than verses and choruses for a song,
they are almost open letters to himself for therapy, or a
prayer. No matter what form they take they are brutally
honest and his unique delivery adds to the power.
Musically, Mewithoutyou has no peers. Plain and simple they
have a sound that is unique in every way. In almost every
other band in the world the vocalist leads the band
musically, but here the instruments carry the melodies. The
beautiful, subtle instrumental melodies are accentuated by
Weiss’ purposely abrasive vocals. The contrast of the two is
what makes MWY so great. They encourage you to dig a little
deeper for the melody and when you do find it, it is that
much sweeter. In “Catch For Us The Foxes” the band, for the
first time, does experiment with actual vocal melodies like
in the single “January 1979.” The song starts out with the
signature vocals and then something strange happens…A vocal
melody is found. The chorus of “If I could be your servant,”
stands out so much because it is actually sung. This song is
the best on the record because it is so melodic, both in the
vocal and instrumental realms.
The other thing that needs to be discussed about this record
is the faith aspect. Tooth and Nail Records has always been
known for its Christian leaning bands and MWY is definitely
in that category. They speak of their faith in a way that is
not at all “preachy.” Most of the time Weiss talks about his
struggles to be the man and the Christian he wants to be,
and that is something that strikes especially close to home
for me. There are at points some very over the top
references to God and spirituality, but it is done in a
classy way.
“Catch For Us The Foxes” is the next step for Mewithoutyou,
a band that is a few branches of the evolutionary tree ahead
of the rest of the scene today. They combined elements of
rock, jazz, hardcore, pop and psychodelia with the most
brutally honest lyrics I have ever heard, forming something
so totally unique and so different that is almost hard to
grasp, but when you do, it will be hard to let go. This
album challenged me both lyrically and musically and for
that, they are to be commended.
~
Johnny L.
A broken, moss-stained bathtub sinking in rotted
floorboards. A beaten, desperate flower growing from a
chipped coffee mug. A rocky beach devoid of every color
but grey and white. These are a few images that come to
mind when listening to this band. These are a just basic
semblance of the pictures the mewithoutYou paint. A
listless body draped over a rotted stump...an-okay, I’ll
stop.
As much as I’d like to steer from the word ‘concept’,
there’s a concept to mewithoutYou’s sound that may pull
you in or drive you away. The music is there, guitars and
the rest of it, but the vocals buy and large are spoken
in a rhythmic, rant-like fashion. This is what will make
it or break it for you. A prime example is me just a few
years ago at the first listen of this band’s first album,
‘[A-->B] LIFE’. In my impetuous, youthful (yeah, I know
that it came out only 2 years ago, but hey, people change
and get older) scope, this was far out of it, nothing
made sense to me and I simply brushed it off. And, as if
mewithoutYou was meant to be in my collection, ‘Catch For
Us The Foxes’ found its way to my mailbox and later to my
eager, yet cautious ears.
‘Catch For Us...’ starts off with a near-tribal drum beat
and goes right into lead vocalist, Aaron Weiss’ fragile,
but undoubtedly poetic tirade. Now, if you don’t care for
the spoken/shouted word that’s provided on this song,
stop the player, put the cd back in the spool, and ask
your friends if they want a new CD. I’ll admit it took a
while to get me hooked, but not long. As soon as
mewithoutYou pulls you in, you can’t get out of their
clutches, this was solidified for me after going back and
listening to their first album, of which was passed off
with a shrug and sigh, that appears to serve artistically
as a precursor to this one.
The lyrics are heart wrenching, deep, tragic, hurt, and
well, beautiful. The instrumentation is deep and this
band uses their instruments and effects equipment to
their full advantage. If there’s a downside to this
album, it’s that it only sounds right if it’s played
through its entirety, picking out a sing here or there
doesn’t really work and the passion of mewithoutYou’s
music is distorted and thinned out, so only listen if you
have forty-six minutes to spare.
If you have an open mind, everything will sink in: hate,
patience, jealousy, love, destruction, confusion,
anticipation, regret, solitude, doubt, bewilderment,
pride. This album will affect you as much as you’ll allow
it to, open your ears.
~
Phil
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