It’s a shame more people don’t know about MuteMath, the alternate rock band from New Orleans.
The influence of their area is prevalent in their third studio album, “Odd Soul.” The replacement of their former guitarist with Todd Gummerman had a mild impact on their sound. The entire album sounds like a frenzied mashup of electric blues and garage rock. But there’s a blending of music in every song.
Long-time fans of the band will either love this album or absolutely loathe it.
The title track opens the album with a gut-wrenching wail very reminiscent of Howlin’ Wolf. It came as a surprise, since the band is well-known for a softer electronic sound. Many of the songs on the album sound an awful lot like demos from The Black Keys.
The boys experimented with almost every track, gaining some successes and a lot of awkward failures. “All Or Nothing” sounds like an uncomfortable Justin
Timberlake singing karaoke. As for “Sun Ray,” there was no singing at all, minus the wailing in the background.
“Allies” is the lead vocalist, Paul Meany’s, vocal high point. There’s a swagger in his voice that doesn’t exist anywhere else on the album. The best part about every song is the impeccable Darren King on drums. He may not know what’s going on but he sure does keep up and keep the songs alive. “Equals” sounds like bluesy, surfer rock if that makes any sense at all. That is exactly the point. None of the music on this album makes sense.
Some songs are too long, like “Quarantine” and “In No Time” and they actually feel dragged out. The band hit the nail on the head with “Blood Pressure,” the overall best song in the bunch, which is also its new single. Because of its newfound mild fame from being the lead song in the “Twilight” films, it seems to be experimenting a little too much with a new sound to please new fans.
Grade: B+
