El Toro

Item: May and Marielle
Author: Justin Carretta

May and Marielle

(2005)

Reviewed by Justin Carretta

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Label Undecided RecordsDecapolisMay 2005

electronic indie rock

El Toro's debut, May and Marielle, is the chronicle of a young band who already knows the direction they want to take despite being together for less than two years. Most bands are highly derivative early on, but El Toro definitely stumped me because I couldn't figure out exactly who to compare them to. They sound like a mixture of Radiohead and Death Cab For Cutie, with numerous other influences mixed in--soft and melodic but with the ability to be extremely catchy at times. This signature sound leads to a very solid debut, and songs such as "Georgia Peach," "Bouncing Ball," and "Figure It Out" show a band ready to break out.

At its core, May and Marielle is a very simple record with simple melodies and likeable rhythms. Matthew Ludwikowski's vocals are very impressive, and the music is never arranged in a way in which they try to do too much.

They augment the instrumentalists with electronic samples, and it really does make the band's sound jump out more. If anything, they aren't in the forefront enough-often they're simply in the first few seconds of the track and then abandoned, or briefly revived for the bridges. They don't need to be the Postal Service, and they shouldn't be because its not their style, but they should spice up the choruses with them at times. It could be because of budget (being on Undecided Records isn't going to produce as many studio tricks as if you were on a major). We probably will find out soon, because after hearing this album, I bet a budget that fits the band's talents should be on the way soon.

The only problems are unexplainable screaming in the background for parts of "You Will Write" and "Beauty in Romance" and the former tracks unending drum solo right in the middle of the song. "You Will Write" is one of the strangest tracks I've heard in the form of structure, a great pop song for three minutes, then goes completely off track for the next three minutes. However, it's just nitpicking, because May and Marielle is eleven solid tracks and while none of the songs will absolutely blow you away, the CD will definitely be in your regular rotation. For a young band, that's pretty impressive.

3.5/4