mewithoutYou - Ten Stories

It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All A Dream! It's Alright.

The title for mewithoutYou's fourth full-length was like a four step guide to how fans would react to the record. Like the twelve stages of grief.

It's All Crazy was a record I had anticipated and was very excited about but it turned out to be the most disappointed I've ever been in a record. MewithoutYou has such a strong discography up to that point, each record just as good as the last. Each showing growth and each was a progression of the band getting better and better with each outing. It's All Crazy was not just a punch in the stomach, but a knockout blow that leaves you in a coma. I know every band has released an album that feels like your girlfriend is cheating on you but It's All Crazy was more like finding out God doesn't exist.

Ok... That might be taking it a bit far but you get the idea. And honestly, the more I listened to It's All Crazy, the more I liked it. There are some great songs on that album and the band deserves a lot of credit for stepping out of their comfort zone and doing something completely new, original, and unexpected. And it's that unexpectedness that made the record such a shock. When you're expecting another killer post-hardcore album and end up with an indie/folk/acoustic album... You can see where disappointment rears its ugly little head.

Three years, a minor break, lots of shows, and mewithoutYou is back with Ten Stories, their first independent release. The best part about picking up this album is one really has a clue what to expect. Where would mewithoutYou go musically on this opus? Or maybe more to the point, where would Aaron Weiss go lyrically?

Ten Stories is a balance of sorts. It doesn't feel like the band returning to their old sound but there are elements that remind me of Catch For Us the Foxes and Brother Sister. But that folk/gypsy/indie quality still seems to be the driving force behind Ten Stories but the way the band channels that is completely different from It's All Crazy. 

February 1878 sets the tone of this record quite nicely. It introduces you to not only the musical direction of the record but it sets the stage for the story Aaron decides to tell throughout Ten Stories. The intro riff is biting and raw and tracks moves at a steady pace, like a train chugging down the tracks.  And while the intro and first part of the track remind of Brother Sister, the song changes tone and evolves. The middle section sounds like a full band version of the Spider Chronicles. It's a balance that the album carries throughout. 

Lyrically the song sets the story. February 1878 is about a circus train derailment in the Pacific Northwest that sets free the animals. The album tracks the trajectory of different animals as they break free and are on their own. February 1878 is the story but it's also about becoming so accustomed to our situations that we become comfortable in harsh living conditions rather than breaking free to find something new. The track talks about the tiger that stays in her cage despite the ability to leave when the cage breaks open. The song references William Blake's great poem "The Tyger."

Grist Mill For Malady Mill has the whimsical nature that It's All Crazy had but musically the song sounds like it could've been a track on Catch For Us the Foxes. But I feel like that's about as "old school" as mewithoutYou gets on Ten Stories. The rest of the tracks, as I said earlier, remind me of It's All Crazy, only channeled and captured better. There's an energy on Ten Stories, a reinvigorated passion. It's not that energy was missing on It's All Crazy, it's just different on Ten Stories. Cardiff Giant is probably the best example of what I'm talking about. Aaron's vocals go seamlessly in and out of singing and his signature yelling/speaking. 

What's always made mewithoutYou special is the lyrically honesty and passion in Aaron's vocals and I think more than anything else, that's what made It's All Crazy seem so disappointing. But what makes Weiss such a great lyricist is his ability to tell stories. Weiss and David Bazan both have an ability to tell stories with their songs that his unmatched. The best songs on It's All Crazy were the strongest stories (The Fox The Crow The Cookie, The King Beetle, A Stick A Carrot A String). And that's what Weiss delivers on Ten Stories. Given the record a concept and a story to tell was a brilliant idea. I know people want some more honest spiritual lyrics and fewer songs about animals and their parallels to every day life but that's Weiss has given us and he's done it well. 

From setting the stage on February 1878 to the closer, All Circles, each song has a deeper layer to it, a secondary meaning. Foxes Dream of the Log Flume is my favorite song both musically and lyrically. It's just a smart song. 

Ten Stories isn't a return to an old sound but it's mewithoutYou continuing to evolve and grow and get better. The band has shifted and changed it's sound in some way on every record and Ten Stories is no different. But more than that, it's just a brilliant record. Fans of the band shouldn’t be disappointed with this record.