Mister Loveless bring the swagger and the rock on their new EP, Two Words. Singer Rob Miller cops a radical singing style that reminds me of Jello Biafra, meaning that the bar’s already set pretty high for some serious rock n’ roll. Instantly delivering, the EP opens with “Hardly Young,” a Guided By Voices-style jam that builds like a great drinking song. At the end, Rob’s shouts are matched by a bawdy crowd of background singers.
The back beat kicks in and the guitars tidy up their sonics for the bouncing riff of the second track, “Good Story.” It’s got a 90s alternative feel to it, the guitars chiming and Rob sounding like a lamenting Ben Gibbard on the song’s quieter moments. True to their roots, Mister Loveless launch from the quiet to the bombastic in the chorus, led by charging guitars and Rob’s melodic rockarolla shouting.
The third track, “Just Thoughts,” is my favorite. It’s a got a super-visual feel to it, like you would want to make it into a great video. The band cranks up the song’s intensity second by second, till it’s sounding like a full-on Wolf Parade romp. They drop a few well-timed dramatic pauses to give a fresh starting place for the tension to rise from without ever providing a resolution. The song slips out from the growing intensity like a thief and ambles into a rad Swedish pop feel, complete with a whistled melody line like a tip of the hat to Peter Bjorn & John. I would love to hear a female vocalist during the end of “Just Thoughts.”
The CD ends on a bluesy waltz full of bleak music box melodies weaving in and out. The song goes on somewhat slowly to a Radiohead style guitar ballad, cycling through the chords while the long low wails of guitars ring the band further and further out of earshot… it’s Fake Plastic Trees-y for sheezy.
Mister Loveless