Meet Me in St. Louis - Variations on Swing Album Review

Meet Me In St Louis
Variations on Swing
Album Review

Never judge a book by its cover they say - good advice, as sometimes it's actually a completely different book slipped inside the cover. With a name like Meet Me In St Louis, and a beautifully non-descript, hazy cover, the brain naturally expects perhaps a sensitive indie offering of mellow tunes.

The plot thickens with the song titles though. 'The Torso Has Been Severed in Mid Thorax', 'I Am Champagne And You Are Shit' Maybe this is something other than that which we expected? Listen to the tunes and it's like meeting a Rottweiler dressed up as a cuddly puppy.

Meet Me in St. Louis are a pure revelation. Angular, stark and technically beautiful, they peddle a gorgeous hybrid of eclectic noise. Without wanting to offer too many lazy comparisons, this would easily be at home on the mighty Dischord records, and shares similarities with Faraquet, HP Zinker and perhaps on a more contemporary tip, At The Drive In. It's altogether a more mature and considered approach to the whole affair though, blending cutting, jagged riffs with a carefully considered sensitivity.

If you fancy something refreshingly different, try MMISL. This is one amazing Brit album you can truly look forward to growing on you.

Richard Edge