mewithoutYou - Ten Stories

This last May saw the release of the fifth full length album Ten Stories from Philly's loudest poet-story tellers, mewithoutYou. It's quite a shame I just got around to picking up the album knowing that mewithoutYou has been a favorite band of mine for several years.  Back when I only had a couple of songs on a mixtape and first heard that yell hollered by Arron Weiss, I knew that they were unlike any band I had ever heard then, and really, since.

This angry sound has come to be known as the band's trademark.  Starting from their debut LP, [A to B] Life (2002), the music is very raw, tremendously loud and is the closest the band ever sounded to their hardcore cousins from the early aughts.  The guitars were thick with distortion, octave chords were plentiful, many songs had drastic volume dynamics and they even played around with simple time signature changes.  Wiess' vocals were the hallmark, setting mewithoutYou apart from other bands.  It was a mix of yell, scream spoken-word that was neither singing nor talking.  Combined with vivid lyrics that dealt with religion and heartbreak proved to be a very potent mix that could evoke strong emotions in any listener.

They further refined their sound with 2004's Catch for Us the Foxes, ratcheting down the noise but keeping their intensity. But it wasn't until two years later that the band struck gold with Brother, Sister.   This album showed mewithoutYou at their most mature.  Wiess' lyrics were more poignant and he exhibited more versatility in his voice with convincing singing.   The instrumentation was also more stout with the band reaching out into different styles.   The rock was still there but it was emphasized with a more talented band.   Even more, it was interlaced with folk interludes about a slowly aging spider that worked suprisingly well to create a rounded sound.

In 2009 mewithoutYou surprised its fan base with It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All a Dream! It's Alright! which planted the band firmly in the Indie-Folk camp.   With the electric guitars being overcome by a chorus of acoustic guitars, accordions, harps and many other instruments, their rock seemed to be gone.   Aaron Weiss was not yelling anymore, so gone was their fire as well.   It seemed as if Weiss had turned a major corner in his life because the antagonism of the past had all but vanished. If I didn't know any better I might say that he was actually happy because that is what the music reflected.   The record seemed to surround itself with morality tales and fables staring animals inspired from writings by Sufi teacher Bawa Muhaiyaddeen. I found the beauty of the album but it wasn't easily won. I still find it the most difficult one to grasp from the band's catalog even though I consider it one of their best from a creative stand point.

It's from here that I thought mewithoutYou would draw their material for their fifth LP, Ten Stories.   I was partially correct, but still a surprise came with the opening of the first track, "February, 1878."  Gritty distorted chords move upward building tension until the band breaks in with Weiss reclaiming his trademark yell.   I was giddy, this was mewithoutYou returning to the sound that made them famous.  The song later mellowed out retaining some ominous overtones but there was no denying that this was mewithoutYou.

The energy held out on "Grist for the Malady Mill" with one of the catchiest pop beats that I have heard in a while.  It evokes past songs such as "A Glass Can Only Spill What it Can Contain" and even "The Dryness and the Rain" to an extent.

"East Enders Wives" is a short and melancholy song that focuses on a clean electric and acoustic guitar.  It doesn't have the impact of similar songs by them, though it is still very good.  My favorite line is the question, "Let's give up sacrifice next lent?"

"Cardiff Giant" provides the most fun you will ever have listening to a mewithoutYou song.  Echoing guitar chords propel the music forward during the verses while arpeggiated notes are played with perfect delay over a chorus of vocals that beg to be sung along with.  This song shows how much the band has learned since the last album.  Keeping the folky optimism but incorporating an amount of pop to keep the sound accessible.

"Elephant in the Dock" has the most engaging story on the record.  It's about an elephant being charged with a crime and being tried by a jury for it.  The elephant is brought before a crowd to be sworn in.  The elephant is rather obstinent because she declares, "I don't know anything about truth," and continues with the pointed statement, "but I know falsehood when I see it, and it looks like this whole world you've made."  The chaplian then interviens with a prayer until the crowd rouses together, "We must hang the elephant, must hang the elephant, must hang!"  The elephant has time to defent herself and choses to declare, "This mock trial can do no more to determine my lot, than can driftwood determine the ocean's waves."  The fate of this creature does not seem sure because after another chorus from the crowd to hang the elephant, the elephant's last words we hear are, "I feel it stealing now, all adrift fathoms down."

This song brings the overall arc of the record in focus.  It's about a circus train running through Montana.  While going through a snowy mountain pass, the elephant uses her strength to break the cage and derail the train, setting the rest of the animals free.  The album's songs tell the stories of the animal's fates and interactions.  Some had luck while others did not.

Ten Stories plays close to the sound of the last LP.  Sonically, it can be found between It's All Crazy... and Brother, Sister.  There are songs that ride the folk road and others that crank the gain knob, it has a fantastic mix.  Lyrically this isn't their strongest record with some songs being better than others but the standard set by mewhithoutYou has always been high.  I applaud the band for striving to keep consistent themes late in their career, this one completely being a concept album.  In the age of quick singles and the scavenger mentality (pick the best, leave the rest), it's great to know that there are bands that are keeping the spirit of the album alive.

From the opening moments to the grandiose closer, "All Circles", Ten Stories is a superb addition to mewithouYou's catalog.  I found it instantly accessible while the story arc will make for deeper study.  My recommendation is to go as soon as possible to your nearest record store and pick this release up.  While you're there, pick up some of their older albums as well.  Educate yourself.  Find out about one of the most creative and unique bands of the last decade.

"Night, the Different Painting" by Jonah Michea Judy

The acoustic guitar is quite an instrument.  An instrument in the most literal sense.  A means by which something is achieved, value determined.  The level of expression is matched only by the artist wielding it.  It draws a rather fine line however.  Not faint nor delicate, but fine.  One cannot hide insecurities behinds its naked sound.  They must be prepared to lay themselves bare if using it by itself.  Solo guitarists are easily written off these days, for good reason.  Few musicians can captivate an audience with their instrument alone.  This takes talent, true admirable talent.  One of the few musicians who I know have this talent is friend and musician, Jonah Micah Judy.


Recently I had a new, soon-to-be-released album sent to me by him.  I've been a fan of his music for as long as I've know him and I was eager to dig into his new offerings.  He has flown well under the radar, but that's not for lack of trying.  Spearheading several regional tours and releasing a small yet impressive body of work, Judy has done what it takes to be noticed.  This will be his third studio release (after 2007's Milk Sink and 2009's follow up EP Taste Escape) titled Night, the Different Painting.


The first song, "Lights Won't Quit" immediately hits me with a haunting nostalgia. the plucked notes below his strained voice together sound as if it came from a movie that I should have seen but never did.  It's slow and languid and yet possesses a pleading energy that urges the song forward, into the song as well as deeper into the album. 


"Under the Well" poses a shift with a startling introduction from Judy's deep baritone.  This is a song that get's darker with each listen.  I feel like I am the man under the well as I watch a shadowy figure far above singing this ballad whilst shoveling me with dirt.  The darkness doesn't end there.  On one of the latter tracks,  "Swine", Judy sings, "The pigs I've known are good enough to eat there own."  With his tongue firmly in his cheek, Judy then continues by singing the chord structure of the song, "C, E, A.  C, E, G."  It's between the suspicion that there is more to this and the unease you feel from Judy's whistling in the middle of the song, you find something that you can't put your finger on, something that raises the hair on the back of your neck.


His skill for mood approaches his prowess on the guitar.  "Selu" begins with a serpentine chord structure, relying on  droning harmonics.  Then there is a shift.  Simple arpeggios aggregate together with light flourishes and those same drones until there is another shift.  Judy then sings against the hurried plucking highlighted by simple notes that move up.  The bars evoke the great piece "Suite Española" by composer Isaac Albéniz, made popular for guitar by Andrés Segovia.  Judy doesn't match the speed or urgency of this suite, but the simultaneous plucking of fast and slow notes is not something you hear very often on solo singer/songwriter records.

The thing that I've loved most about Judy's music is his guttural, primal growl.  His voice can dig out a deep aggression that makes us feel at our most animalistic.  One can find this style in much of modern Hard Rock music but an unlikely paring can be found in the diminutive accoustic guitar and a murderous howl.  When your words are paved with gravel on top of a base already at its limits, no one can deny you.


Judy reaches this best on the song "The Uncany Indifference."  Dissonant chords resonate harshly until the vocals kick in.  Instead of letting his voice become a shriek, he keeps it carefully controlled in its chaos.  By doing so, he retains the lower registers of his voice, keeping it's power.  Even at the climax of the song, when he allows those notes to turn upward into an actual shriek, that force is still there.

I must remark that that Judy has never sounded better than what he does here.  The true intention of his sound can be realized.  Milk Sink possessed brilliant songs but the production edged on the buzzier side with hallow overtones.  Night, the Different Painting is clear and  warm.  Michea strikes an almost perfect balance between his voice and his instrument.  I was able to ask him what his goal is when crafting a sound in the studio.  He said that he always wants to represent as true as possible the live experience.  Over the years I've been privileged to listen to him play in intimate settings.  When listening to this record I feel like I'm next to him as he plays.  I would say this, then, is the achievement of his vision.

The only qualm I have is with the song "Gunpowderlegs."  It's the only song on the record played on the electric guitar.  The distortion is dirty, his voice is growling and the formula is such to make for a solid rock song.  Ironically, by itself , the tone of the guitar doesn't provide enough power to feed the aggression that the song deserves.  I believe the effect would have been best achieved had Michea stuck with his acoustic but played the life out of it.  And yet, I keep coming back to the song.  A testament to the fact that there is something here, something worth listening to.


What Jonah Michea Judy has given us in Night, the Different Painting (Disk 1 of 2) is his most fully realized and well-rounded album yet.  What his has accomplished is proof that he is ready for a larger audience.  His solid songwriting and deft handling of varying acoustic and vocal dynamics makes him very interesting to listen to and should earn a permanent place on your iPod.  He is an artist you should put on your radar and track carefully.

Jonah Michea Judy is on Kickstarter.  Donate today to help his projects.