The Parable of mewithoutYou
You shatter the TV and I'll shatter his skull for stealing my bicycle seat.
The uniquely named mewithoutYou has been around since 2001 and released their fourth album, It’s All Crazy! It’s All False! It’s All A Dream! It’s Alright earlier this year. Depending on my mood and level of alcohol consumption, the album teeters between curiously amusing to epically brilliant. It reminds me of a folk-ish, flora/fauna version of The Flaming Lips’ Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, although I’m not exactly sure why. Whatever the reason, this album beats the hell out of their first three releases.
Once classified as an experimental band, the Philadelphia group has traded their raucous rifts and vocal rantings for a more refined sound that includes strings, horns, piano and a very stretched-out accordion. Vocalist Aaron Weiss actually makes an effort to sound like a real singer too.
The music is happy-go-lucky, full of peaks and valleys, much like the seventh track:
Watch the live version here to see how accordions can rock.
The album flows with busy arrangements textured with heavy influences on the teachings of sufi mystic Bawa Muhaiyaddeen. Many of the songs are poetic, pastoral parables that tell a story, often with a moral, ala Aesop’s Fables. The songs being spiritual in nature has led the band to be incorrectly labeled in the christian category. Although singer Weiss is a christian, the band itself doesn’t refer to their music as bible-thumping. It’s a bit of a shame because how many bands can say they’re a christian band with a cult following?
The band has finished their summer tour and are now on hiatus depending on Aaron Weiss’s (as yet unsure) direction in life.
Again, it’s a bit of a shame because It’s All Crazy! It’s All False! It’s All A Dream! It’s Alright left me wanting to hear their next opus.
Tyge also writes at The Neon Lounge.
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