Finally got a chance to sit with the EP this morning, and wow. I love it. I've been a fan of this band for about 9 years now and they never stop surprising me. I can't wait to have this album just in time for my October trip to the east coast. Gonna just soak in all the colors and sounds.
"Winter Solstice" is probably my favourite as well, but it can't be understated how much "and sometimes when it's quiet my heart feels like Guernica" from "August 6th" resonates with me.
One thing that continually blows me away is how they fit the lyrics into the music. Like, every other band on the planet would have a verse/bridge/whatever and have at least some kind of little break or clue that they're moving from one stanza to the next or when he has [these kind of descriptions] in the middle of something, there's no auditory sign of that. That's one reason I have a really hard time memorizing lyrics from this or the last album or two.
It was def the right call to combine both releases into one thread I think. Can't wait to hear Winter Solstice on the lp.
Every time new mwY stuff comes along I always like to share my favorite memory of them. It's 2006, a friend got grounded and could not go with me to see mewithoutYou, The Blood Brothers, Dredg and Coheed in support of Good Apollo 1. My mom is a champ and comes with me. We are waiting in line outside to get in, and this dude with a big beard, massive jacket and hat comes around just staring at everyone with a massive pot. He is spooning soup out of the pot and eating while just quietly walking up and down the line of people waiting to get in. My mom says that was weird. Flash forward to mewithoutYou's set, and the pot guy is actually Aaron killing it on stage. He runs off stage, no idea where he went. He's gone for like half a song, then comes running back out with the same pot, empty smacking it with a massive wooden spoon. No mic around to pick it up, just going nuts with the pot to himself. Great night, great show.
January 2009, bored in my dorm room, lonely and 800 miles from home about to start my first semester of college. I went onto iTunes after grazing bands that toured with Brand New (sorry, not sorry, they're just this small part of the story). I bought Manchester Orchestra's Like a Virgin, and then proceeded to buy all of mewithoutYou's discography up to that point. I was hooked on Manchester Orchestra pretty quickly, but mewithoutYou was not my cup of tea. In fact, I hated mewithoutYou. But I'd just spend $30 on their three albums, so I forced myself to keep listening. A couple of weeks later, I was obsessed. Learned they had a new record coming out soon, and I bought tickets to a show a couple hours from my home town because I knew I'd be there for the summer. And that's how I fell in love with mewithoutYou.
Aaron on Parahoy was the biggest enigma, he looked like he was having the best time just wandering around in touristy summer clothes. He took a photo for my friends at the beach they ended up at in the Bahamas. (missed that, sadly.) I think I also peaked as a person/show-goer watching mwY on Parahoy, because their last set was on the pool deck and we watched from the hot tub with pina coladas. How do you ever top that.
Holy shit. I did not realize A->B came out when I was 10 lol Edit: I wasn’t aware of it of course. But that’s crazy
Not much of a story here. I knew January 1979 just because I would always check out Tooth & Nail band PureVolume pages and that was on there. Thought it was fine but at the time they were a bit too "weird" for me and I didn't think I'd ever be a big fan. Then 2006 came and I think the first single for B,S was Nice and Blue Pt. 2 and I lovvved it. I remember going into Best Buy to buy the CD when it came out with my first paycheck from my first job. I was 16. The rest is history.
I also saw him skipping and spinning by himself down Comm ave in Boston when they played at the paradise. What a soul.
my earliest encounter with mwY was the "january 1979" video which i almost certainly saw on mtvu in the dual-credit high school/college composite i attended, but the tvs were always muted lol. i was also always attracted to their album art, and only recently discovered that kafanov did the artwork for machina, which, the smashing pumpkins were my first favorite band, and mewithoutyou are my favorite band now, and it feels very full circle in a way as i said earlier i only got into them with ten stories which is kinda just the result of there having been a good ap thread about the album + spotify made it easier and less forbidding for me to approach their discography
found them through the january 1979 video on comcast ondemand. a year or so later brother,sister came out and quickly became my favorite album of all time.
This EP and your comments made go back and revisit Pale Horses and I can't believe it took me three years to get it. This shit is great! Did you go further back? If so, what'd you think? What's the verdict?