The Mae Shi were born from television static and neon lights, raised on amphetamine and Super Mario characters in the bowels of nacho-stained arcades. Well actually, they’re from LA, which probably does make all those statements completely true, and they’ve just released their third proper full-length, Hllyh, of which one thing should be said up front: no one in this band can sing.
Now that that’s out of the way, prepare yourself for forty-five minutes of synthesizers, chants, self-destruction and speeches from God. Dan Deacon-esque video game pop. Everyone banging on something or another. Part one is exhausting. "Pwnd" reminds me of zombie movies and The Protomen. "Boys in the Attic" is delightfully noisy. Then the eleven minute epic of "Kingdom Come" happens (which, by the way, transforms into a danceparty about -5:27 if you REALLY have to fade it out early, but it’s worth all eleven minutes), we slip unnoticeably into "I Get Almost Everything" and we’re chanting selfishly at the tops of hills and suddenly you think “damn, this is starting to sound like an album.” Then we’re running again. Part two really shapes things up, and proves that when The Mae Shi can keep their focus for more than two minutes, they can write one hell of a musical sequence. I think I’m just envious of their apparently unending energy (which is rumored to hold up flawlessly during their live shows as well). And the more I listen to it, the more I get it. These guys are having fun. And they don’t care that I can’t keep up.
So with all that, verdict: worth listening to. Worth playing. Attention-deficit disorder reigns supreme.
And seriously, listen to "Kingdom Come". I don’t care that it’s eleven minutes long. You listen to Sigur Ros, don’t you?
The Mae Shi play SXSW next week and then will continue to play around LA if you happen to be cursed enough to live in that area.
The Mae Shi:
Buy Hllyh here.
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