December 25, 2009

10. No More Stories . . . / Mew


No More Stories Are Told Today Sorry...

The D Man wishes there were more bands like Mew. Whimsical and wholly original, this Danish band keeps making records that defy explanation but hit the pleasure button track after track. Mew distills prog-rock's pretensions down to five-minute songs and still manages to sound epic and imminently listenable. Lush, swirling popscapes allow Jonas Bjerre's falsetto to pierce through your defiant armor and turn your cynicism to musical mush. Who else could sing the lines "You drew me cartoons / so playful" and make you want to hear it over and over again?

While No More Stories may not be as groundbreaking as And the Glass-Handed Kites, the record showcases Mew's arena-rock bonafides in an almost beautiful fashion. Guitarist Bo Madsen recently referred to Mew as "the world's only indie stadium band." And he's right. Too bad they will never play Giants Stadium, even though it would be bigger (and better) than watching an aging Mick Jagger strut around.

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