Mew is a special kind of band. One of those bands who, when someone asks you what they sound like, you can’t think of one group to compare them to—and that’s a good thing. Led by the fantastically gorgeous, angelic pipes of front man Jonas Bjerre, Mew create epicly layered soundscapes atop unpredictable time signatures that create a musical experience like nothing you’ve ever heard before.
And that’s just how they sound on record. Add in the live element that seemingly can’t be reproduced and they deliver, better yet, they astonish and dazzle. While the band has proven itself to be one of the biggest and most influential bands on the Danish indie scene—having achieved several Gold and Platinum albums as well as winning numerous awards—they have never broken wide open here in States.
Instead, they have sort of a cult following that celebrates the band’s entire catalog. It’s mind-boggling as to why a band that can create such incredibly unique, thought-provoking music can garner such a huge audience in one country with a lopsided following in another. Then again I think that Europeans are simply much more open to music that pushes the envelope, rather than worshiping conventional radio pop.
The setlist pulled heavily from their critically acclaimed 2003 dreampop/ shoegaze masterpiece Frengers, including “Comforting Sounds,” “She Spider,” “156,” and my personal favorite “Am I Wry? No.” Many claim that’s the band at their best, but I disagree.
The highlight of the show for me was hearing “Special” go right into “The Zookeepers Boy” as featured in perfect sequence from 2005’s And the Glass Handed Kites. That was supposed to be the album to break these guys wide open in the States, but alas, even the big machine that is Columbia Records fails sometimes pushing brilliance into an oversaturated market.
Another highlight in the set was the track “Satellites” which is the first single from their 2015 release. +-. While No More Stories Are Told Today was a solid effort, +- clearly signals a return to their independent roots.
No longer answering to a major label—as if they ever really did in the first place—it’s quite a refreshing record that takes its rightful place alongside an already impressive catalog. Mew continues to evolve and now that the original band is back together, let’s hope we don’t have to wait six years for the next record in this journey.
On another note, there was a really interesting band opening the show called The Dodos. After listening to the duo’s last two records all last week prepping for the show, I could have sworn that they were from the UK. Turns out they are actually from San Francisco.
I dig these guys—they make a lot of noise for a two piece, and they sound like a cross between The Strokes and Animal Collective. Cool stuff.
THE DODOS
Check out hi res photos of Mew here.
