This band has come out of nowhere for me. I had not heard anything about them prior to this release although they have released a demo and put out a couple of songs on split 7inches. mOck are a 3-piece from Berlin and they have sent in their debut LP complete with nice cover photo with some clever use of mirrors. They play some kind of mathy, indie, slightly jazzy post something-or-other with a strong 90s Midwestmo influence. A vague description indeed. Joan Of Arc appear to be a big influence. They set their stall out from the off with a twiddly guitar riff kicking things off and changing pace and time signatures in the opening track, “Time and Motion”. These reoccur throughout the record but not at the expense of the songs. The vocals slot into the music nicely. The singer has quite a smooth, gentle voice – it’s quite understated at times. I am reminded of Polaris in the intricate guitar work and frequent hammers on and off. The janglier bits really ring out. It also gets quite driven at times when they pick the pace up. There are 6 instrumentals interspersed between some of the tracks on the album. The sound is a bit more jazzmo and distorted on these tracks, sounding experimental at times as they play even more so with the time signatures. Those instrumentals are a bit of an oddity at times but intersperse some very good songs. I love the way that “57” threatens to fly off the handle as the vocals strain but keep it in check throughout – a stunning track. “vs. comodo” is another standout – a fast intro picks up the pace and the song develops with long build-ups, twists-and-turns and great vocals. They don’t hit the heights on every track here but this is a most accomplished debut album and very much worth checking out.
