Music Review: mewithoutYou
Margaret Price
Issue date: 10/26/05 Section: features
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Versus Magazine Online [Image based format]
There is really no way to accurately describe the captivating musical oddity that is mewithoutYou. Playing November 1st at Rocketown with headliners Coheed and Cambria, mewithoutYou was formed in 2000 by brothers Aaron and Michael Weiss, and quickly developed into a fiery five-piece. The band, signed to religious independent label Tooth & Nail Records, shows no signs of slowing down after two successful releases. They have developed somewhat of a cult following, not yet achieving mainstream status, but with their latest music video, "January 1979", in heavy rotation on MTVU, mewithoutYou is primed for the spotlight. Some fans have described them as "Godcore", and the band's religious influence cannot be disputed, but their music is spiritual screamo without being overwhelmingly pious. This is not just your average cookie-cutter, post-punk emotional rock. Vocalist Aaron Weiss (think Morrissey with a more poetic, hardcore edge) is truly a lord over lexicon. His use of intricate euphemisms and passionate storytelling is interwoven among heart-wrenching lyrics that concern his struggles with materialism, lust, suicide, and spirituality:
"Brother, I'm far away from everything good!
She's like a hot cloth on a fevered head
And like a needle she leads me
(Well, I follow like thread)
Tie me up!
Untie me!
All this wishing I was dead is getting old...
It goes on but it's old."
The band approaches such sensitive subjects with refreshing honesty, not aiming to undermine the gravity of these issues by merely viewing them through religious rose-colored glasses. Music is driven by aggressive guitars and abrasive vocals, and mewithoutYou plays with an intensity that few bands have achieved, especially those falling in the spiritual realm. mewithoutYou creates a charismatic theatrical tour de force when performing, putting on an energetic show that is not to be missed.
mewithoutYou plays November 1st with Coheed and Cambria, The Blood Brothers, and Dredg. The show begins at 6:30 p.m.