Although Philadelphia band mewithoutYou is most often described as “indie,” that’s just because it’s easier than trying to figure out what they actually are. The focus of their sound is vocalist Aaron Weiss, who switches effortlessly between singing and shouting to suit the mood of the song. The instrumental backing is mostly devoid of hooks and riffs, serving primarily as a backdrop for the vocals. Fuzzy electric guitar grooves are the norm, but acoustic guitars, strings, brass and synthesizers make occasional appearances.The lyrics are simply incredible. They are full of metaphor, literary allusion and strange vocabulary (if you want to interpret them thoroughly, you’re going to want both the official lyrics booklet and access to Google); but at the same time, they’re unpretentious and powerful, often profoundly emotional and personal, and have a poetic flow that makes them easily memorizable.
MewithoutYou’s latest album, “Ten Stories,” was released on May 15th, 2012. It’s loosely based around weird, almost fable-like stories of escaped circus animals after the elephant crashes their train. The story of that train crash is related in the first track, “February, 1878,” which provides a good introduction to the schizophrenic style of the album: the song starts out with appropriately chugging guitar chords underneath Weiss shouting the most straightforward lyrics of the album: “February 8th, 1878 / South of Trout Creek, West of Cedar Lake / On a winding mountain trail, of the North Pacific Union Rail / the snow arrived on time, the circus train was running late.” As the song goes on, the heavy guitar line drops away, replaced by a hypnotic ambience, and Weiss goes from storyteller to poet, even referencing Blake’s “The Tyger.”
The tracks of“Ten Stories” show incredible variety: there’s “Grist for the Malady Mill,” a mostly straightforward rock tune, then “East Ender’s Wives,” a melancholy acoustic piece, then “Cardiff Giant,” which would fit comfortably on an ordinary indie rock album if it weren’t for the anguished screaming towards the end. And that’s just the first third of the album. Yet somehow, the stories and poetry make the album feel like a cohesive whole, without the whiplash you would expect between such different songs. In fact, sometimes you’ll be hard-pressed to tell exactly where one song ends and the next begins.
The best track is “Fox’s Dream of the Log Flume.” It features two of our recurring characters, the fox and the bear (though you’ll need the liner notes to know who says what), and their dialogue is desperate and moving to the point of drawing tears. Although Weiss’s vocal delivery is originally derivative of post-hardcore, the raw emotion of this song puts any “emo” band to shame. If you aren’t a fan of harsher vocals, the track to hear is the tragic “Bear’s Vision of St. Agnes,” featuring the same characters, but now the vocals are softly sung, practically whispered, until the bear jumps off a cliff, sacrificing himself so that the fox can go on a little longer. Then a suicidal guitar riff takes over, underneath resigned singing. When the lyrics run out, the vocals continue, layering wordless sighs over mournful brass and strings.
MewithoutYou is one of those bands that can’t really be described, just listened to. If you’re a fan of meaningful, poetic lyrics, shamelessly artistic rock, tear-jerking ambience, or all three, you should give “Ten Stories” a listen. You might just find a new favorite band.
