A Band Named Mew

I've been listening to a lot of Mew's latest album, And the Glass-Handed Kites, this week. It's strange to hear at first, both because the lyrics make no sense and because the band's major reference points seems to be '80s proggy pseudo-metal of the Blue Oyster Cult and Queensryche variety. (NOTE: The 8.4 Pitchfork review here also makes the Queensryche comparison, just in case you don't believe me.)

The first song I heard was "The Zookeeper's Boy," which I enjoyed at first as a curiosity. ("Huh, that's odd, there's a band out there trying to sound like Yes. How bizarre.") But the song just grew on me. It's peculiar refrain (I think they're saying "Are you...my lady, are you..." but don't quote me on that) kept rattling around in my head. I felt kind of silly bumping it in my car on the way to work, but continued doing so anyway.

It's not a fluke. The whole album's in this vain, save a few songs that feel a bit more imitative of shoegazer pop like My Bloody Valentine. I'd like to stress that all this isn't an ironic pose. These guys don't seem to be pretending to assume to demeanor of a cheesy '80s hair band. They genuinely are trying to ape the sound of those old bands, albeit with contemporary production.

Moreover, they're really good at it. The entire album's filled with good, catchy songs, and it's really cohesive. Singer Jonas Bjerre's voice, hovering somewhere between the unearthly wail of Thom Yorke and the meta-whine of Ben Gibbard, was designed to sing soaring, nonsensical, anthemic rock songs like "Zookeeper's Boy" and "Special."

I'll admit, at times the sheer '80s-ness of it becomes overwhelming. Some of the synth effects in "Apocalypso" are just too ridiculous to work, no matter how hard Mew tries to sell it. But for the most part, it's a great listen, another great album in what's been a pretty strong year overall for new music.

[Check out "Zookeeper's Boy" and "Apocalypso" in mp3 form over at Both Sides of the Mouth.]