Labels: Omnibus
Review by: Andy Malcolm
Total antithesis of what I listen to throughout the course of daily events, but that’s what music is for, right?
About a month ago, maybe two (I forget now) someone taped me a Mates of State song and I played it in the car and I thought “woah, that was cool”. But I forgot. 2 months later I was drunk and looking for records to order on the internet. I do this every now and again. When it is the weekend and I have had too many beers I start trawling websites to order records I might not ordinarily pur-chase. This time I found a site in California that would sell me Mates of State 7″ singles. So I tapped in a few numbers (strangely similar to those that appear on my credit card), et voila, a week later my order arrives. A little while after this I was ordering an album by the Bonaduces, purely because someone taped me an amazing song by them, lets see, 16 months ago. Having such a “laissez faire” (did I spell that right? Did I even get the right phrase? I only got a C in GCSE French) attitude to buying music is cool, I implore you to try it, unless you have no money.
This two tracker comes on clear(ish) vinyl and is just pure indie pop brilliance. Boy + Girl dual vocals, simple keyboards, no guitars, effective drumming, some words, and just all round catchiness. Nadia would hate this. I have listened to the record about 8 times in a row, consumed more beer, and will probably listen to it 8 more times in a row. Side A is called “It’s the Law” and it should be the law to listen to this at least once a day. Maybe. Mates of State sound like: if Rainer Maria became simple, cutesy indie pop. Perhaps a long the lines of Park Ave. but with more than 2 good songs. The organ sound is really well done, and Kori & Jason sing their harmonies just perfectly. They don’t have many words, but the main ones are: “I thought you were alright but I wouldn’t die without you by my side”. Nice.
Over on side B is “Invitation Inn”, which is more of the same. Simple keyboard plinky plonkyness kicks it off and you are hoping that Kori is going to sing or you’re going to be real upset, but she does. Eventually. So you can breathe a sigh of relief. And it breaks into more mid-paced, repetetive, saccharine catchiness which I really can’t dispute the greatness of.
If you like Rainer Maria (especially the boy+girl poppy aspect of the 2nd album) and you like keyboards, and you like indie pop – YOU WILL LOVE THE MATES OF STATE. Can’t say fairer than that. Oh, and they just put an album out. Neato.