mewithoutYou
it’s all crazy! it’s all false! it’s all a dream! it’s alright
tooth & nail
4.5 / 5

Three years ago, prior to the September 2006 release of mewithoutYou’s third full-length Brother, Sister, the band was known to me by little more than the recognition of “January 1979″. I was intrigued the first time I heard the song, watching the video on some music TV channel, seeing front man Aaron Weiss dance around in his captains outfit shouting things I didn’t understand. I picked up Brother, Sister early one morning after working a long graveyard shift stocking groceries at a local Wal-Mart. Little did I know as I drove home that dark morning, in the frigid Utah winter that what I was listening too would soon become the most profound, life-altering album I had ever heard. I would spend the next 3 years emersed in the depths of Brother, Sister’s lyric booklet, put in awe by the sheer magnitude of a songwriter who is still left unmatched in his deft pen-weilding abilities. Let this be a preface that I may be biased by my undying love for mewithoutYou but It’s impossible for me to believe that this band could write a bad album, and their follow-up, it’s all crazy! it’s all false! it’s all a dream! it’s alright is no exception to that rule.

mewithoutYou has always been known and loved for their ability to craft mathy post-hardcore anthems filled with the hollering-spoken word of Aaron Weiss. It is no surprise that once a band drops nearly everything that has made them recognizable up to a point, a backlash will present itself. In recent interviews prior to the release of it’s all crazy!… the band stated that they went into the songwriting process with no rules and no direction, which is suprising for a band known for everything opposite. Although, it’s all crazy!… may not be the bands most cohesive collection, at 11 songs, the record is void of excessiveness and plays with a very noticeable sense of direction.

it’s all crazy!… opens with perhaps the most poppy song on the record. Backed by an electronic keyboard and thumping bass riff, “every though a Thought of You” begins what will undoubtetly become the bands most polarizing record. The song plays with swift percision in a normal 4/4 timed fashion. The simplicity that will be so apparent throughout the rest of the record is immediately showcased, both musically and in Weiss’s lyricism.

The record’s first half is by far, it’s strongest. “every thought a Thought of You” is followed by the strongest cut “the Fox, the Crow, and the Cookie” where Weiss introduces imagery that will be the central theme for the rest of the record. The song tells the story of a Fox who distracts a local Baker selling his goods on the streets of his poverty-stricken community so that a nearby crow can steal some of his baked treats. After the crow steals the goods, the Fox asks for the stolen cookie. Reluctant at first, the crow is wooed by the Fox’s sly request to hear the crow’s “pearls of wisdom” and the “passion in [his] caw”. The Crow opens his beak to sing, and drops the cookie which is then taken by the Fox. The crow is immediately humbled by the Fox’s trickery as the song climaxes into one of the most oddly beautiful stanzas i’ve ever heard. “we’ll rest upon the knee, where all divisions cease to be!”

The climactic finish of “…the Cookie” is followed by “the Angel of Death came to David’s room” which details the dialogue between…you guessed it, the Angel of Death and David. The song is a slow builder which begin’s with Weiss’s timid spoken word delivery, and then builds into one of the most beautiful refrains the band has ever written (see also: “in a sweater poorly knit”). “goodbye, I!” is a steady follow-up which features mewithoutYou’s signature guitar riffage, creating the perfect backdrop for the albums focal point; Weiss’s lyrics.

As the album progresses, it is apparent that it’s all crazy!… is an album released on the major themes of contentment and worship of God. While the band’s sprituality has always been apart of the main theme of each release, it’s all crazy!… marks the first album to stray away from the questioning and doubt in their relationship, and move towards a straight up record of praise and forgiveness, themes that seem to have been lost in a mainstream American Christianity, marred by a nationalistic supremist exclusivity contradictory to it’s roots. This is clear on what follows in “a Stick, a Carrot & String” where Weiss sings
“When the rain picks up,
and the sun goes down,
sinner, come inside!
with no money, come and buy
no clever talk nor gift to bring
requires our lowly, lovely king
come, all empty handed
you don’t need anything”

The theme continues on “bullet to Binary (pt. two) which ends on Weiss preaching
“we all well know,
we’re gonna reap what we sow
but Grace, we all know,
can take the place of all we owe
so why not lets forgive everyone, everywhere, everything all the time?”

If the album begins to slow down even a little, then it begins with “Timothy Hay”. The track opens with a sunny humming by Weiss and finishes with a layered chorus singing “What a beautiful God there must be!”. While the track is not bad in the slightest, it lacks the depth found in it’s predecessors. The chorus leads into the albums lowest point “Fig with a Bellyache” which is led by eery “ba da da’s” and and spring-like instrumentation. The track is the only one that can be found on the album that lacks certainty and direction, both lyrically and musically, and ends unimpressively awkward.

The three songs that follow keep it’s all crazy!… on track. Cattail Down follows the previously established formula of slowly building it’s way into an epic finish. Featuring a brass backing, and a jazzy guitar riff, the track flows flawlessly into it’s epic ending. However, it seems that lyrically, Weiss is at his best when using parables as his direction. “the King Beetle on a Coconut Estate” tells the story of a colony of beetles, living on an estate where at the end of the day, the helpers rake up the leaves and burn them near the lake. The curious leader and King Beetle calls on the colony to investigate the fiery mystery. All attempts come back unsuccesfull, and the track ends with the King Beetle giving all of his “wealth” to the “poor and alone” and flying “headlong into the blazing unknown!” The track ends masterfully, as the band questions “Why not be utterly changed into fire?”

The album closes on the straightforward anthem “Allah, Allah, Allah” in which Weiss retains his lyrical prowess with suprisingly simple yet powerful words. It is on the closer, that mewithoutYou seems less of a band, and more of a travelling community, content on being messengers of love and forgiveness, as the Neutral Milk Hotel-esque horns become the backdrop to Weiss’s closing “if you’d care to sing Forgiveness songs, come down and join our band, we’ll cut you like a sword, and sing Forgiveness songs!”

It is in these closing words that mewithoutYou’s “statement” can ultimately be found. It would be easy to spend enormous amounts of time studying the lyrics of Aaron Weiss, however, he has made it for the first time, somewhat easy to retain the message. It is easy to write it’s all crazy!… off as lazy or apathetic when comparing it to it’s predecessors. However, when this is done, one loses focus on the message that is ultimately intended by the band. One that seems less focused on the wounds inflicted by self-doubt and more focused on letting them heal. Weiss says it best himself in the closing lines of the album;

“don’t worry, it’ll heal just fine!”

mp3:: mewithoutYou – the Fox, the Crow, the Cookie
mp3:: mewithoutYou – Allah, Allah, Allah