Pushing an interesting post-punk out of Little Rock, Arkansas is Mount Desert Island. Their latest album is Let Me In and it's a subtle romp through political and personal narratives. Their genre blend is a complex one of indie and alt rock with heavy notes of grunge. It's sort of like a quiet, indie rock riot. Enough of me trying to peg the album. Let's dig into what made me like this album.
On the narrative side, this album is pretty damn thick. Everything from breakups, to war to immigration is addressed across the nine tracks. These heavy handed lyrics are armed with the voice of Anthony Jarrell, who is essentially fifty percent of this group. He delivers impassioned and vulnerable vocal performances that stuck with me. His performance style is one that is often aloof and haunting. It's not hard to identify who his vocalist idols are and lord knows I'm a fan of all of them so naturally Jarrell's vocal contributions work for me. Musically this album plays with a lot of different tactics. The other half of this group is Micah McClellan who happens to be drummer. Percussion had a big role for me with this album. Sometimes they would use the organic talents of McClellan and sometimes they would opt for drum and base machines, sometimes both. There was always a lot of thought sewn into the percussive elements when they were present whether it was electronic or not. It got to the point where I wasn't getting much percussion that I would miss it. The guitar and bass elements are another block in the album's solid foundation. It was here that they really dictated their mood whether it was surfy and lofty or dark and introspective. The tracks that focused on bass and guitar were often lively and many times along a vintage counter culture vein compared to the tracks that were supported by atmospheric and electronic elements which were often more moody and psychedelic. Naturally there were tracks where all these elements collided, and those often became my favorites. I did hit a snag with some of the production choices even if I understand why they chose to do things a certain way. Given my affinity for Jarrell's vocal work, I would get a little frustrated when he would get buried underneath all the fuzz and ruckus. Not that I'm against ruckus, by all mean, ruckus away, and this album has some top tier ruckus. "Let Me In" actually did a good job of isolating Jarrell's vocals so I could take them in without effort which is great because the lyrics on that track are fantastic. I get that there is an instinct to lean toward a garage punk sound with their mixing choices, and it fits. However I feel a few tweaks in favor of vocals or even the awesome bass on certain tracks would have been beneficial. I also think isolating elements outside of the guitar and percussion would shake some of the dated sounding haze that would hang over several of the tracks. What I can say? I hear a lot of talent in these layers and I just wanna gobble it all up.
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