“You could surely try to be more alive,” but without listening to at least one Mates of State song before passing on you will surely fail; this is Kori Gardner’s plea in, “Fraud in the 80’s,” the first single off The Mates’ new album Bring it Back, and a statement I can relate to. If you listen to and enjoy the album, chances are you’ll do more than just come alive: you’ll probably dance around like an idiot (I know I do).

The variety of sound created by just the two instrumentalists is awe inspiring; they work their keyboards and drums like no other. With album opener, “Think Long,” we hear the familiar Mates of State sound but altered so slightly enough to draw attention until the 2:30 mark when a buzz analogue organ makes a grand entrance. This isn’t to say that they haven’t grown, as they have been branching out into new sounds like, “For the Actor” where a keyboard disguises as an electric guitar.

Bring it Back reaches its climax on “Punchlines,” when Kori belts out “Whoa!” and the reverb makes your hair stand up. The resolution, “Running Out” has Kori admitting, “Tired of singing,” and who could blame her, she’s done an excellent job. The album claims to Bring It Back, and well, it was brought.

• Amazon.com
• Amazon.co.uk
• Play.com

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 8th, 2006 at 11:14 pm and is filed under Recommendations, Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.