Me Without You - Album Review - EU Jacksonville 3/1/07

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me without you

By Brian Jerin

Artist: mewithoutYou

Title: brother, sister

Release Date: 09.26.2006

Label: Tooth and Nail Records

      I must be honest with you. My 2003 Jeep Wrangler has the worst factory stereo system installed. The monotone-glorified treble through my 6X9’s didn’t stop those tiny hairs on my arm from standing tall the first time my eardrums grazed the sounds of mewithoutYou. Their third release, out now on Tooth and Nail records, brother, sister struck me dumb. It is a breath of fresh air and one of the most sonically pleasing albums I have heard in since At the Drive In. This album maintains the same strength as their sophomore album Catch for Us the Foxes. With an industry that is suffocating the public with redundant formulated-puke, pop bands, mewithoutYou has created an album that includes the one thing that most modern recordings lack – artistic value.

      Aaron Weiss, mewithoutYou’s singer, is a soapbox preacher complete with a megaphone duct-taped to his mouth, an RP McMurphy ranting quirky lyrics that are as often narrated as sung. Weiss’s slam poetry-style is complete with a lazy diphthong annunciation that flows with the bands post-hardcore jams. This is evident on the album’s first track ‘Messes of Men’, which explodes with a Spanish-style acoustic strumming that reminds me of Calexico on crack. This album is overflowing with frenetic guitar riffs, occasional clapping sessions and layers upon layers of vocals that bleed melodic anthems into your brain. The biggest surprise for me was noticing Jeremy Enigk, formerly of Sunny Day Real Estate, lending his voice to a couple of tracks.

      MewithouYou has cafted a masterpiece. If anyone is looking for that “breath of fresh air” that you haven’t heard in new music for a long time, buy this record.

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