MISTER HEAVENLY – Out of Love (Part 2+)

Jenn took some time to respond, but it was most definitely worth the wait. Some cliffs notes: “Bronx Sniper” makes her break things; her mom is like George Clooney in the saddest way; she’s considering bringing mustachioed men into her shower. Read on.

Mister Heavenly – “Bronx Sniper”

Download Mister Heavenly – “Bronx Sniper” (mp3)

From: Jennifer Lao
To: Chris Mollica (and Brandon Hall, I guess)

Brandon, I’ll give you this. I was sitting at my kitchen table, listening to Bronx Sniper and drinking a cup of coffee. It was a nice, calm morning. Then 25 seconds into the song, I swung my arm across the table and threw everything off onto the ground, shattering the cup into a hundred pieces and spilling coffee everywhere. I got up, threw my sunglasses on and walked out the door. After that, it was a bad-ass day, so much so that I didn’t sleep.

Yes, the album is fun. Memorable? Not so much. And shower hum-worthy? Not yet in my shower. I agree with Chris, when it’s on, it’s good but I don’t crave it like Chris craves Bon Iver’s, Bon Iver, and like you crave Man Man. Isn’t that the invisible pull we want from a song? Chris, finally, we agree on an album. Might this be our path towards reconciliation?

So steering us back to Mister Heavenly’s album, Out of Love achieves what the band strived for: two guys who really wanted to make an album together and needed a drummer. They have so much fun that they even coin a new term, “doom wop.” Doom what? Think, Of Montreal meets Modest Mouse and they get stuck in the 50’s, doo wop era. But only for half of the album, and interspersedly. Were they successful in creating this new genre? No. But did they stumble upon potential for greatness? Possibly.

The dichotomy of Nick Thorburn’s soft, angelic voice paired with Ryan Kattner’s (Honus Honus) deep, gruff voice are a perfect balance. Kattner’s voice just sounds like it has a mustache. Thorburn’s voice is largely why the band has the ability to play the oldies card so well. But I don’t think I can take an entire album of Thorburn’s voice, and that’s where Kattner saves the day, though I feel he should have had a bigger, louder part in this album.

Though their songs are enjoyable, I didn’t see the coherence (i.e. Brandon, I am implying that the songs have no coherence). They go off on tangents as if they forgot what kind of sound they were aiming for and, oh, remembered 2 songs later. Dis-c-onn-ec-ted. “Bronx Sniper” is how I wanted the ENTIRE album to sound like. Then we get to “I Am A Hologram” and I am left feeling like I was led on, used if you must. If they make it to another record, I think they’ll get there. Otherwise, consider them gonzos. “Hold My Hand” is the most reminiscent of a doo wop oldie, all that is missing is a woman’s voice, so it leaves me a little incomplete. “Pineapple Girl” is probably the catchiest song on the album and has an air of Of Montreal to it. But is it too catchy?

Sorry Chris, I invited “Reggae Pie” back into the party and gave it a beer. I don’t skip songs. If I commit to an album, I’m going to listen to every goddamn song. Otherwise the album goes into the sell pile. If you skip songs on an album, you might as well buy the individual song(s) instead of wasting space on your shelf/hard drive on the whole album. I realize this would introduce chaos into your tidy music library since you don’t believe in buying orphan songs.

Ultimately, Mister Heavenly, like Ocean’s Twelve and my mom, doesn’t care if you’re there or not. I’m pretty sure they don’t care if anyone is there. They’re having fun with or without you. OK, I’m going to go listen to Man Man now since I like harmful songs with mustaches. We’ll see if it makes it into the shower with me or not.

“No one gets out of here alive.”

Jenn

From: Brandon Hall
To: Chris Mollica and Jennifer Lao

So wait. Does this mean you guys don’t like the album? Not every album has to be “Best Album of the Year,” right?

(This post doesn’t come with a lyrical valediction),

Brandon

Buy Mister Heavenly Out of Love here!