mewithoutYou - It’s All Crazy! It’s All False! It’s All a Dream! It’s Allright

label: Tooth And Nail Records, 2008
contact: www.myspace.com/ mewithoutyou
genre: indie/folk
rating: 7.5
mewithoutYou, formerly pretty sharp post-hardcore have changed almost out of recognition on the new disc. Forget about massive tracks overflowing with emotions in the veins of Wolf Am I, forget about guitar noises and aggressive drum beats, too loud, too many screams to plead mercy, rather turn the volume down a bit, substitute rebellion by humility, if you get slapped just show your second cheek.
The leap is really huge. Instead of crude performance full of energy, there is a compilation of eleven utterly calm, polite tracks full of biblical metaphors about forgiveness, instead of classic set of guitars, bass and drums there is large scale of various more or less exitic instruments, amplifiers remain locked in the rascal years, summing it up, you have in front of yourself eleven harmless indie/folkish pieces. Don’t know exactly what has happened with the band since their last album, if they went through some experience that turns heart outside out and brings new attitudes, if they found up till now dormant deep love for folkish things. Just look at their live performances, the times of sweat, emotions and weird dances are over, now there are four settled guys seated on chairs, where did this changes come from during the three years after the Brother, Sister i can’t tell.
I don’t want to say that i don’t like the new album. Meanwhile previous album absorbed you by brutally spilled emotions, this time the work is much subtler, especially ingenius production tricks, handy incorporation of large number of untraditional instruments that make out of It’s All Crazy! a diverse and rich spectacle. Even as the songs do get deep into the folkish matters, sometimes for my taste even too much, still there is a unyfing melancholincal dreamy thread knitting the stuff together, even though not as strong and intense as on previous efforts. And, of course, what you will immediately recongize mewithoutYou by, frontman Aaron Weiss, even though he no longer is the ardent and passionate, on the contrary you have in front of yourself a seated, older, calm preacher. But still his voice has the immediately recognaziable husky, optimisticaly broken flavour and his lyrics still haven’t lost neither head, nor heel nor fantasy.
From what i have written it is not really clear what i think about the new disc. As with every drastical change in the musical direction, I expect lots of different reactions, ranging from utter disillusion (true fans disappointed) to utter happiness and love. I personally am somewhere in the middle, i like It’s all crazy, i like the subtle melancholic vibe, i like the production and wide variety of instruments. It’s not love, more like somwhere in the middle of liking, but you can peacefully listen to it even in the middle of people with whom you have absolutely no musical overlap. Easy listening, well composed album, indie mixed with folk, mixed well.

mewithoutYou:
Aaron Weiss - vocals
Michael Weiss – guitar
Greg Jehanian – bass
Richard Mazzotta - drums

11 / 44:49

bible:
1. Every Thought a Thought of You
2. The Fox the Crow and the Cookie
3. The Angel of Death Came to David’s Room
4. Goodbye I!
5. A Stick a Carrot and String
6. Bullet to Binary (part II)
7. Timothy Hay
8. Fig with a Bellyache
9. Cattail Down
10. The King Beetle on a Cocnut Estate
11. Allah Allah Allah

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