mewithoutYou

mewithoutYou: Brother, SisterBrother, Sister (2006)
Tooth & Nail Records

Reviewer Rating: 4

User Rating:

Contributed by: InaGreendaseBrian
(others by this writer | submit your own)
Published on September 29th 2006A serious difference occurs between Christian bands and bands composed of Christians. Enough lyrical themes inhabit mewithoutYou's Brother, Sister to suggest the act falls into the former of these groups, as does their history and association with the Tooth & Nail label (who themselves have denied s.

A serious difference occurs between Christian bands and bands composed of Christians. Enough lyrical themes inhabit mewithoutYou's Brother, Sister to suggest the act falls into the former of these groups, as does their history and association with the Tooth & Nail label (who themselves have denied strictly Christian ties while signing a number of arguably Christian-oriented acts). In punk rock, this creates a most disconcerting clashing of conflicts -- we saw it this past summer among the divisive Warped Tour lineup, notably between NOFX's Fat Mike and Tooth & Nail's own, Underoath.

But what happens when the band themselves manage to avoid preachy overtones and simultaneously create expansive, entrancing and mesmerizing soundscapes? What happens when the way they discuss their faith merely becomes a vivid series of metaphors and occasional Bible storytelling, personal observances and confessions rather than directive fundamentalism?

What happens is a great album is written. What happens is Brother, Sister.

Quite arguably, mewithoutYou have produced their best effort to date in Brother, Sister. In toning down much of their past aggressive post-hardcore nature in exchange for atmospheric, brooding and yet dynamic indie rock, it's hard to resist labeling the band as having "matured," but that would be underwriting the ambition undertaken on the album.

"Messes of Men" proves frontman Aaron Weiss's voice is surprisingly fragile when expressed in more hushed tones rather than anxious speeches and paranoid shouting -- and this revelation occurs in more than one spot. In "Messes of Men" itself, soft acoustic licks eventually integrate a plethora of more orchestral instruments and at some point brings to mind a more lush, dramatic Decemberists. The introducing style of the song begins a recurring theme, providing a backbone for tracks titled "Yellow Spider," "Orange Spider" and "Brownish Spider" in which Weiss repeats the same basic melody and lyrical base with a few obvious replacements.

The band's vague Dischord influence of yore does come into play quite a few times, but when combined with their softer, wider post-rock referencing moments, makes for quite a dynamic pairing ("A Glass Can Only Spill What It Contains") that hardly seems to draw "too" much from either. "Nice and Blue (Pt. 2)" is a more or less rewritten and re-recorded version of its earlier appearance on 2002's [A --> B] Life, and helps play into a revolving number of melodies and lyrics that pop up throughout Brother, Sister. Surely, Weiss lets slip a now rare Fugazi similarity when he shouts seemingly offhand in the chorus of "In a Market Dimly Lit."

`90s emo pioneer and fellow Christian Jeremy Enigk offers guest spots on two songs here, and his performances are, in a word, incredible. In the chorus of "The Dryness and the Rain," his eerie voice brings to mind his inflection on the post-reunion Sunny Day albums. The same could be said for his absolutely haunting yet enchanting line of "in darkness your light shiiines / on / me" in "O, Porcupine" -- until he lets out a breathtaking, eyes-clenched emotional scream, channeling the most wrenching moments off 1994's Diary. The songs are great on their own, but Enigk brings a whole new element to each that make them all the more compelling.

"C-Minor" is another of Brother, Sister's assured standouts. The flawless transition to the chorus, where Weiss is eventually found pleading to his Lord "do whatever makes me love you more" *should* make even the most secular of listeners join in his pleas. Weiss even seems to either poke fun at exaggerated ideology or question his own practices with the offbeat remark of "I'm still technically a virgin after 27 years, which never bothered me before / what's maybe 50 more?"

The fruits of mewithoutYou's labor come to, well, fruition in the epic, beautiful closer of "In a Sweater Poorly Knit." Upon layered, ringing guitars comes tense but paced acoustic strumming to usher in the track. Pretty harp strings -- if I'm not mistaken -- and a chorus of yearning "ahhh"s help provide a lightness to Weiss' nervous singing, but the powerful line "the trap I set for you seems to have caught my leg instead" really helps the song stand out. A chorus eventually leaves Weiss singing "I do not exist / only You exist" alone and the harp plucking away to close the song. A rather breathtaking ending in all.

Even those who don't overanalyze and choose to derive all sort of sordid meanings from the Bible recognize that it contains some rather well-written, creative and impressive types of stories. Is it so much to ask to regard Brother, Sister in much the same way? Develop your own set of morals, but recognize that when another's relies on a completely different base, the mere practice of expressing it can be a whole 'nother fascinating, intriguing set of notes -- as, without a doubt, Brother, Sister is.

STREAM
The Dryness and the Rain
A Glass Can Only Spill What It Contains
Nice and Blue (Pt. 2)
C-Minor

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

drugmoney (November 24, 2010)

this album is simply amazing, just so so so good.

thesidekicksuicide (July 2, 2008)

this is one of the first albums I've ever said is truly perfect

shot_in_the_dark (November 9, 2006)

this record is gorgeous. absolutely gorgeous.

stricken (October 20, 2006)

shit forgot the score

stricken (October 20, 2006)

i fuckin love this band...

Anonymous (October 9, 2006)

to the below poster.

you own, haha.

nuff said.

Anonymous (October 6, 2006)

"fuck this band. its all about joan of arc. and before you get story from shit local paper, how about talking to nate himself. then youll hear how fucked this so called christian band is. oh and how all the fans for this band are christian, homophobic, nazis. eat it. long live joan of arc!!!"

don't get your panties in a bunch. i said the newspaper could be wrong, and I will try my best to contact nate to find out what truly happened.

o and calling the fans of mewithoutyou...christian, homophobic and nazis is just ignorant. don't stereotype you cunt.

Anonymous (October 6, 2006)

-to the below poster

that was the point

Anonymous (October 5, 2006)

to the below poster -

what you just wrote was as redundant and pointless as the comments you quoted.

Anonymous (October 5, 2006)

wow, you've just said the same thing, everyone else said. so why bother.

its the reviewers and the people commenting that fucked.

reviewer-this album sucks, and i knew it was gonna suck before i listened to it, so i wasn't surprised

the commenters "I love this band" "fuck this band" who cares. if you like it, good for you, if you don't oh well, don't listen. taste is relative. What did you listen to when you were 10 years old? Do you still listen to it? If it speaks to you, or your heart, or it makes you tap you foot, sweet. Enjoy!

if not, move on.

i hearby give up on even reading reviews on the slanted little site.

Anonymous (October 5, 2006)

fuck this band. its all about joan of arc. and before you get story from shit local paper, how about talking to nate himself. then youll hear how fucked this so called christian band is. oh and how all the fans for this band are christian, homophobic, nazis. eat it. long live joan of arc!!!

Anonymous (October 4, 2006)

I've been following this band since before they were on Tooth and Nail (the I Never Said I was Brave EP) and although I confess CFUTFs was not my cup of tea, it just seemed like they didn't know where they wanted to go musically. Now they do. And this is the product. The guest vocals by Jeremy, and percussion by the Psalters, was just the icing on the cake for me.

This is probably one of the most compelling bands to come around in the last 5 years. I didn't say there were the GREATEST band.... i said COMPELLING. Go see them play live, and talk to them, and you will understand what I mean by this...

The negative, the various colored spiders on the corresponding leaves, I heard that Aaron just learned to play guitar, and he wrote them, and blah blah blah, but really, I thought they were just filler to me.

Anonymous (October 3, 2006)

"they refused to play for fans unless some of the idiots in the crowd offered testimony on nate. they are not friends and tim often mocks mewithoutyou during shows. the only reason they played together is because a member in this shit band liked joan of arc and asked them to play. tim did , just to mock the christians and try to push the limits. 90% of the shit fans started calling tim "gay" and "sinner". now thats funny. stupid christians."

funny how the news article I read about the incident reports quite the opposite.

http://www.chicagoreader.com/TheMeter/050909.html

the news article could be wrong.

long live the kinsellas!!!

Anonymous (October 3, 2006)

O and I love gay people. Nothing wrong with homosexualism.

Anonymous (October 3, 2006)

I like mewithoutYou and joan of arc/make believe. I care about the music not what happened at a show. People make mistakes. So whatever happened, happened. Make love to the present, fuck the past!

Anonymous (October 2, 2006)

i am going to pick this up, hav enot heard it yet.

who cares if this band wants to sing christian-themed lyrics?

who cares if propagandhi wants to sing political lyrics?

if you don't like it, don't listen and stop complaining. i think bands have that right to sing/write about whatever the fuck they want to.

Anonymous (October 2, 2006)

the score is for this nazi homophobic band. joan of arc is alive and well. thank god.....hahahaha

Anonymous (October 2, 2006)

its the fans , idiot....the fans reek of bullshit. long live joan of arc

Anonymous (October 2, 2006)

joan of arc, whos the fool.....hahahahahaha. listen to make believe now!

Anonymous (October 2, 2006)

Allure all those posts were made by the same person, hes not fooling anyone

Anonymous (October 2, 2006)

to the comment below: whats their "dangerous ideology"- don't kill or steal and take care of your fellow man.

Nazi's ideology is that the white race is the supreme race but chritians main ideology is to love others and do unto them as they would do unto you. so
your comment is very ignorant and you are hating on christians cause they read a book and see the words as the truth...hmmmn where else does that happen? oh yeah you just did the same thing. your views seem more inline with the nazis than any christian. think about that

Anonymous (October 2, 2006)

Anyone who attacks anti-Christians on this site for supposedly being closed-minded should pick up Richard Dawkins' newest book, "The God Delusion," and read the "Why so hostile?" chapter. Nazis may be entitled to their opinions, but I'm also entitled to the intense desire to stomp their dangerous ideas into the dust. So I am also entitled to do to Christians, whose ideology is demonstrably more dangerous and insidious.

Allular (October 2, 2006)

"they refused to play for fans unless some of the idiots in the crowd offered testimony on nate. they are not friends and tim often mocks mewithoutyou during shows. the only reason they played together is because a member in this shit band liked joan of arc and asked them to play. tim did , just to mock the christians and try to push the limits. 90% of the shit fans started calling tim "gay" and "sinner". now thats funny. stupid christians."

I'm pretty sure that didn't happen. Anyone that knows the character of mewithoutYou would know that would never happen. I'm sorry, but that post reeks of bullshit.

Anonymous (October 2, 2006)

fuck this band. listen joan of arc! id piss on these guys also. joan of arc. all hail the mighty joan of fucking arc.

Anonymous (October 2, 2006)

nate is my bro, but i hear he is not down w/ that jesus guy.

Anonymous (October 2, 2006)

nate's the man!

Anonymous (October 2, 2006)

Nasty nate and the sweaty balls

Anonymous (October 2, 2006)

one more time but not the last.....joan of arc, joan of arc, joan of arc. mewithoutjesus. joan of fucking arc

Anonymous (October 2, 2006)

id like to baptize these guys w/ the sweat from my balls. hahahahaha.

Anonymous (October 2, 2006)

666 motherfuckers 666. hail make beleive. into the flames w/ joan of arc

Anonymous (October 2, 2006)

the new ap states that make believe is at battle w/ evryone. my moneys on tim. let the shit bands start falling. lets start w/ this fake christian homophobic band. kill them dead. hail satan!

Anonymous (October 2, 2006)

joan of arc all the way!!!

Anonymous (October 2, 2006)

id be pissed if i was in this band and checked this review. you might as well take it down and put up a review for make believes "of course". if i was part of the joan of arc family id laugh my ass off when i saw this. every post is about make believe. every post. except for the jesus dudes preaching about sin.

Anonymous (October 2, 2006)

score is for make believe and joan of arc.

Anonymous (October 2, 2006)

they refused to play for fans unless some of the idiots in the crowd offered testimony on nate. they are not friends and tim often mocks mewithoutyou during shows. the only reason they played together is because a member in this shit band liked joan of arc and asked them to play. tim did , just to mock the christians and try to push the limits. 90% of the shit fans started calling tim "gay" and "sinner". now thats funny. stupid christians.

Ianw (October 1, 2006)

i can't get past this bands name.

Allular (October 1, 2006)

I don't know what the big deal is with that dude and the whole Joan of Arc/Make Believe deal. I'm under the understanding that mewithoutYou and Make Believe are buds.