With Bring It Back, Mates of State do just that, they bring back the sound that we've been missing out on since Team Boo hit shelves a couple of years ago. Was the wait worth it? Do trees have leaves?
It's hard for me to believe that there was a time before Mates of State, but apparently, there was. I imagine that I hadn't discovered fire or indoor plumbing at that point in my life, but I might be wrong. Am I saying that my life was incomplete and unfulfilled without this band? Yes, Yes I am. Do I feel as though I'm more complete still as a result of Bring It Back having been put out? Oh God, yes. This is the album that may well come to define MoS for the foreseeable future. It's just that good. Not that they'll read this, but thank you Kori and Jason. Thank you from the bottom my very being.
These guys are married. They created a life, even! Did you know that? I bet you did. We're an obsessive group of fans like that. Well, after years of letting us in on their little crushes with one another, Kori and Jason have decided to let us in a little bit more, treating us to their most adult and progressive work to date. With Bring It Back, the Mates have managed to craft an album that will honor fans of old and make things a little easier to accept for those uninitiated masses that are sure to come in throngs (the move from Polyvinyl to Barsuk is just a sign of things to come). That isn't to say that this is their most readily accessible album to date, it's just the most well-built. Songs like “Fraud in the 80's” and “Think Long” are the most single-friendly, to be sure, but they're still excellent tracks. Jason still delivers syncopated drumming and Kori still pairs that with a nice, low-end synthesizer/high-register piano sound that has helped shape the feel of this band. And fret not, they still sing in tandem throughout most of the songs, playing with rounds and harmonies and all that good stuff. This is the Mates of State, after all.
Each track possesses the simple structure (both in lyrically and musically) that have given the previous albums an immediate identity with fans. The Mates specialize in writing songs that are easy to sing along with, easy to hum at work, and all-too-easily get lodged in your brain at the absolute right times. “Fraud in the 80's” may be single ready, but it's hallmark Mates, it's got driving music that you feel an urge to move around to, and the lyrics are just begging to be screamed out of a car window as you cruise the interstate headed to visit your far-away friends, they even tell you that you're going to enjoy this song (“You will surely find this pleasing to your ears”). The piano work on songs like “Like U Crazy” and “Nature and the Wreck” are proof that Kori really has taken to her instrument more and more over the years, likewise for Jason on tracks like “For The Actor" and "So Many Ways”. In a lot of ways, it helps that they only picked these instruments up on a chance, coming from guitar-based backgrounds, because it gives them the chance to feature each different set in kind, almost like guitar solos.
The music now more focused and directed, the Mates now begin to tackle a variety of subjects in song, sometimes even verging on the open discussion of problems with love, marriage and parenthood. I don't think we should be looking towards a split or anything, but it is very refreshing to now that not everything is sepia-colored in the way they view the world. On “Running Out”, the chorus would even lead one to believe that the change in writing style was intentional (“Tired of singing 'oooooooh'”). Never before has the maturation of a band been so glaring and obvious. And, for me, never has it been more refreshing. If nothing else, the changes will probably make people love them more.
A more grown-up Mates of State is not a bad thing, and more people are certain to embrace them in this new light they've put themselves under. Having already been treated to a few of the new tracks on their most recent tour, I'm not too worried about how this album will play live. If you've been straddling the fence as far as this band was concerned, then this just might be your chance to come on down and play sing-along with the rest of us. If you're already Mates die-hard, then this is even more of a reason to buy tickets to as many shows as possible for any and all tours to come.
(Note: I attended the Dallas stop of their 'coming out party' tour (not really the name), and will write up a review soon)
