With their sophomore release Future Women, The M's earned both fans and notice. Their craft even drew comparisons to such heavy hitters as The Kinks, T.Rex, and The Beatles. However, on their subsequent release Real Close Ones The M's took a giant leap away from their previous success and sound. Straying from their cool riffs and easy melodies The M's churn out a messy assemblage of everything from bossy guitars to tedious acoustics.
The first track "Big Sound" stands and delivers exactly what the title implies: pounding piano, blaring trumpet, and urgent vocals. It radiates a hazy fuzz which gives it something of a nostalgic feel. Fans of The M's previous albums will be quick to climb back in bed with this one; unfortunately the same cannot be said for the remainder of Real Close Ones.
"Breakfast Score" provides some serious brass action, but its soggy vocals are distracting to the point that listeners would have just been better off skipping breakfast. The muddied dream pop number "Pigs Fly" suffers at the hand of a boring, drawn out riff. Incidentally, dullness is a recurring theme on the next 5 songs. And it’s particularly obvious when lead singer Josh Chicoine, flatly drones on "don't be late". Mmmkay.
"Get Your Shit Together" is some damn good advice that The M's would do well to put to practice. But instead, Real Close Ones continues on as mixed bag of songs sampling from random music genres. Like the creepy circus styling of "Naked"; a song further plagued by lyrics that wouldn't even amuse a horny teenager.
A glint of redemption does come through on "Impossible View" and the first half of "Bros In Arms" (the second half is absurdly repetitive). On these tracks The M's reintroduce the fuzz, add some beefy bass, and kick up the tempo. Regrettably the energy surge is short lived and the album closes with a couple perfunctory twang-y tunes.
It’s hard to decide if The M’s overshot or fell short, but either way Real Close Ones definitely missed the mark. The disjointed aural experiment that is Real Close Ones certainly doesn’t match the esteem of its predecessors. The album does however hint at the band’s desire to explore unfamiliar territory and hopefully The M’s can get it right on their next try.
The M's MySpace Page
The first track "Big Sound" stands and delivers exactly what the title implies: pounding piano, blaring trumpet, and urgent vocals. It radiates a hazy fuzz which gives it something of a nostalgic feel. Fans of The M's previous albums will be quick to climb back in bed with this one; unfortunately the same cannot be said for the remainder of Real Close Ones.
"Breakfast Score" provides some serious brass action, but its soggy vocals are distracting to the point that listeners would have just been better off skipping breakfast. The muddied dream pop number "Pigs Fly" suffers at the hand of a boring, drawn out riff. Incidentally, dullness is a recurring theme on the next 5 songs. And it’s particularly obvious when lead singer Josh Chicoine, flatly drones on "don't be late". Mmmkay.
"Get Your Shit Together" is some damn good advice that The M's would do well to put to practice. But instead, Real Close Ones continues on as mixed bag of songs sampling from random music genres. Like the creepy circus styling of "Naked"; a song further plagued by lyrics that wouldn't even amuse a horny teenager.
A glint of redemption does come through on "Impossible View" and the first half of "Bros In Arms" (the second half is absurdly repetitive). On these tracks The M's reintroduce the fuzz, add some beefy bass, and kick up the tempo. Regrettably the energy surge is short lived and the album closes with a couple perfunctory twang-y tunes.
It’s hard to decide if The M’s overshot or fell short, but either way Real Close Ones definitely missed the mark. The disjointed aural experiment that is Real Close Ones certainly doesn’t match the esteem of its predecessors. The album does however hint at the band’s desire to explore unfamiliar territory and hopefully The M’s can get it right on their next try.
The M's MySpace Page
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