Mystery of Two – Mystery of Two
Hmm, very good stuff indeed. On first listen I rather dismissed this as indie-rock, with the emphasis on the rawk part. As soon as rock acquires that ‘aw’ in the middle (think the worst possible squawked, American nasal pronunciation) I get twitchy, but in this case it is part of a weird mixture which actually works really well.
There’s a lot in this sound. It’s straightforward enough in most ways – guitar music which builds from indie twang to full on rock noise – but the guitar sound itself is pretty interesting. There’s a lot of jangly indie in the detail work, but when the sound builds you end up with slightly punky rock-god riffs which seem to be shouty American high school rock from one angle, and an odd blend of Cramps/Ramones punk from another. It’s more the latter, but it’s almost as if every fifth thump of the guitar strings has this weird urge to tease you with the former – like the guitar sound is being pulled in a lot of different directions at once and that is one of the things which makes this record most interesting, from my perspective.
I’d also suggest that this album doesn’t finish quite as strongly as it starts. Gravity, Repeat it and French Rocking Horse are big, riffy, and brash as hell. Middle of a Field, on the other hand, doesn’t quite grab me and Swimming and Strange Town, for all they are interesting songs, let the pace of the album stutter a little by all being placed together towards the tail-end the way they are.
So I am left with an album which seems a little abrupt, and one with which I have a slightly awkward relationship, but nevertheless one which I find rather interesting and one which I have really enjoyed coming to terms with, after my initally rather frosty reaction.
Mystery of Two – Gravity
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Mystery of Two – French Rocking Horse
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So, I really don’t get this. Some combination of the guitar sound (which sounds like my guitar when I can’t be arsed tuning it properly through a clean amp), the guy’s voice and the riffs remind me overwhelmingly of high school bands about 15 years ago. There’s some nice touches in between riffs, and I liked the final minute of Gravity (probably because they hit the distortion pedal pleasingly) but struggled otherwise.
So I liked Georgie when I didn’t think I would, and dislike this when I thought I might. My hemispheres are in turmoil.
Well the ‘high school bands 15 years ago’ aspect really put me off to begin with, and then the more I listened to it the more the other stuff began to grab me, and then the weird dynamic began to appeal, and then eventually I decided that I liked it. So, yes, it wasn’t exactly a straightforward thing for me to get into either.
i get the sense (from only 2 songs) that this band could be really good live but maybe a little died in the production. who knows…i know zilch about this band.
mathew, if you have heard it, i’d be curious to know what you think of the new ‘times new viking’ record.
Hmm, just spotted that it was out and about, but not heard it yet. I will investigate…