Shutesbury, Mass.' Own Mobius Band has been making quite a stir with their debut full length, garnering rave reviews from places like Pitchfork, Spin, and Entertainment Weekly. Calling themselves "electronic indie pop" the band is sort of a mix between Interpol and Statistics.
One thing I'll give this CD is that it SOUNDS important. When you are listening you get the sense that the band has a lot of really poetic life experiences to share with you and lyrics are key to winning me over to an indie rock band. That said, I'm still trying to decide if the lyrics as a whole back that up or not. Sometimes they do (such as the haunting "Twilight" where we hear "I will teach my children to lie / They will know it's wrong to be right / It's the only way they'll ever get paid / I will teach them to lie") and other times (such as "Taxicab" and "I Just Turned 18") they seem tremendously unimportant and frivolous; as if they were just written as a stream of consciousness during somebody's lunch break at work.
Musically, this is a pretty good CD. It's at least as good as any other indie rock band out there, no better, no worse. The band writes good songs, I'm just disappointed that the music feels so important but the band fails to convince the listener that they truly have something to offer the world beyond typical indie rock cliches.
1.5/4
Similar sounding releases
2004StarsSet Yourself On Fire
2005Lake TroutNot Them You
2005The RaveonettesPretty in Black
2005BenzosMorning Stanzas
2001The Lassie FoundationEl Dorado
2003Death Cab for CutieTransatlanticism
