WE\ARE\MIRRORS radio silence will end soon. Until then, here are three track reviews all from the second-best streaming site out there. Oh, and all of these bands spell their names with all caps. I wasn’t even planning that.
“Room to Run” by MEDIC
Despite being based in Colorado, the pop-rockers known as MEDIC have a decidedly “New Nashville” sound to them. In all the best ways possible, “Room to Run” – the band’s latest single – seems like it was written in a room with WAVE & ROME (hey, another all-caps band name), Ruelle, and Fleurie. Brooding, atmospheric synths and crisp guitar evoke a sense of urgency as the lyrics deal with feelings of confinement and a longing for freedom. Check out the track below, and catch them on tour with W\A\M favorite Paper Lights if you’re on the eastern side of the continental divide. They sound like they would put on a mean live show.
“Oh” by FMLYBND
I was admittedly disappointed an even frustrated with FMLYBND’s release from earlier this year, Hearts on Fire. The largest root of this aggravation had to do with the EP not building much on the styles from their monthly single series (you can read my full review here if you’d really like to), but in the months since I’ve moved past that and realized that, really no matter what they’re doing, FMLYBND does it well. Even their venture into surf grunge (“Save Me From Myself”) was great. The Isla Vista joint’s latest track, “Oh” gives the development I wished had been present in their EP. Layering an ending sax solo over a groovy slow jam isn’t out of character for FMLYBND in any sense, but it’s exciting to see this facet of their personality represented. That and it doesn’t feel like a generic hype song. “Oh” can be also be downloaded from the player below.
“Talk Too Much” by COIN
The latest from indie-pop bros COIN definitely is in keeping with the bubbly, upbeat mood of their self-titled debut, though maybe a bit less intelligent (see this video to get my thoughts on the lyrics in one simple sentence). Nevertheless, the track is undeniably catchy and fun and probably as close to a “guilty pleasure” post I’ll get on this blog (well, I did write about Taylor Swift that one time). COIN is set to release another full-length album by the year’s end – pretty impressive given they released an album only last year.
We Are Mirrors 