MISTER HEAVENLY – Out of Love (Pts 1-4+)

Senior contributor, Chris Mollica, and newest AudioVoler, Jennifer Lao, dissect Out of Love, the debut album from Mister Heavenly, a threesome comprised of Unicorns/Islands frontman, Nick Thorburn, Man Man’s Ryan Kattner (aka Honus Honus), and Modest Mouse drummer, Joe Plummer. Then Brandon, who can’t keep his mouth shut, jumps into the fray. The full conversation after the jump.
Buy Out of Love here!

Mister Heavenly – “Pineapple Girl”

Download Mister Heavenly – “Pineapple Girl” (mp3)

From: Chris Mollica
To: Jennifer Lao

I found Islands’ Return to the Sea at a weird time. It was my first year in Los Angeles, and, as most people dropping into this city solo find, life is a little bit lonely at first. I was “doing this thing,” focused as all get out. I was scared, rigid and sad. Then some family members died. Things kinda, really sucked. So, I go to this concert…

It was one of those LA crowds, stoic-hands-in-pockets type, and quite thin in the capacity area. My friends and I were being “good concert goers.”  Watching, shuffling but never quite enjoying.  That would be socially unacceptable.  A man named Randall, who I’d come with, started the funk festivities when Islands hit the stage. He didn’t know the band or their music but something in their playing told him, “DANCE.” Randall listened, let go and slid into the sauce that is Islands. Arms flailed. Legs kicked. It was infectious. Soon, a small haven formed and a few random strangers grooved and funked their ever-loving, white asses off. Pairs. Solo. It wasn’t attractive, rhythmic or even justifiable. It was powerful though. This feeling started in the music and flowed right through us, making us complete, blissful idiots.

Then it was over.

That’s where I know Islands from. They are a funky, experimental rock band. Nick Thorburn, one of Islands’ two driving forces, is one third of the triumvirate that forms Mister Heavenly. There’s also Ryan Kattner of Man Man, an indie, experimental rock band I only know from a badass mix, and drummer Joe Plummer of Modest Mouse, who has had their share of pop masterpieces. Individually, they’ve all done something with music that has transcended the average malarky and achieved bliss. Together, who knows what they could do.

Jenn, I’m confused. I find that’s how I feel about Out of Love. I keep putting this dang album on, enjoying the heck out of it and then I’m left with…silence. Until I put it back on and…happy again. A complete, blissful idiot. I like it, for it’s 36 minute running time. Even the songs I don’t necessary love (“Reggae Pie” should learn when to leave a party), I don’t mind enough to skip. Something I do like will be here in another second anyway. Is this enough? I’ve heard songs like this before. They Might Be Giants (“Mister Heavenly”), Queens of the Stone Age (“Bronx Spider”) and M. Ward (“Hold My Hand”) come to mind.  Do I need to listen to Mister Heavenly? This is a band formed for the apparent reason to, according to Thorburn, “…just…make each other laugh and enjoy each other’s company creatively.” How many times do I have to watch Ocean’s Twelve before I realize it doesn’t care if I’m there?  If Ocean’s Twelve plays in the woods and no ones around, it still makes a sound.

Here’s the query, Jenn: Is this an album for people to buy or a fun jam between friends? Is that enough for an album? Am I thinking too much about it? Should I stop and just enjoy? Then how do I effectively talk about it? We infamously disagree on what I call the album of the year thus far (Bon Iver’s Bon Iver), so where do you fall on what is essentially a non-album-album?

“In the Bronx when the guns go off, we like it,”
Chris

Mister Heavenly – “Mister Heavenly”

From: Brandon Hall
To: Chris Mollica and Jennifer Lao

Chris and Jenn. Sorry. I just feel compelled to jump in here. I know I’m a third party and should mind my own business but a “non-album album?” What does that even mean? Are you implying that the songs have no coherence? Are you upset that members from other bands have joined forces? Do you have the same problem with The New Pornographers? Broken Social Scene? Wu-Tang Clan?

Listen, Islands I can take in small chunks. Your first experience with them sounds euphoric and amazing, though I suspect that was an aberration. I’ve also seen Islands live. Head-bobbing cohorts there were, dancers not so much. The show just didn’t compel that kind of audience participation.

But dude. Why the hell are you not listening to Man Man? Seriously, dude. Listen to Man Man. It’s time. Go. Put it in. “Van Helsing’s Boombox” is only one of the more glorious drunken sing-a-long inducing songs to come along in the past 20 years. Furthermore, I don’t know that it’s accurate to say Man Man are an “experimental” band. They experiment with some stuff, sure, but their structures and melodies are pretty standard indie-rock fare. Okay. Some stuff is pretty experimental. But some. Not most.

People – I’m jumping in here to demand that you all go listen to Man Man. That’s basically what I’m here for.

But also to say that this album is a fun fucking 36 minutes. You really don’t find yourself humming the tune to “Mister Heavenly” while you’re in the shower? Earlier today, I couldn’t get a certain melody out of my head as I was exploring my new neighborhood of Park Slope. It took me most of the day until I realized it was “Pineapple Girl.”

My two cents: Islands are fine and harmless. Man Man is fucking awesome and occasionally harmful. Together, Thorburn and Kattner level each other out. Or maybe Joe Plummer’s doing the leveling. I never in a million years would have put these guys together but they manage to compliment each other to an astounding degree. Thorburn gets Kattner’s edge, Kattner gets Thorburn’s gift for melody and Plummer pumps everything up with that good ol’ Modest Mouse-ian drive.

“Non-album album” my ass.

“Wise men don’t no nothing about the way I feel,”
Brandon

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!

From: Chris Mollica
To: Jennifer Lao and Brandon Hall

I’m going to do a little impression:

“How can you like/not like this album?!?! Listen to this second album, that is better, and tell me what you think now?” Well done, Brandon. You’ve Woods’d Mister Heavenly.

In the sake of full disclosure, that one Man Man song I knew is from a mix Brandon gave me. I loved that song, sang along, and the other day, whilst working on my first Mister Heavenly letter to Jenn, put on a newly obtained Rabbit Habits by Man Man…AND preferred it! A letter doesn’t have room for everything so I stuck to my ancient guns, not the somewhat unfamiliar ones. I thought it would be unfair to include an album I knew only in passing with one I was about to engage in an absurdly serious discussion…but screw that! You said it Brandon, albeit vaguely: Man Man is better than Mister Heavenly. Actually, a lot of things are better than Mister Heavenly. That is what I started thinking about when Brandon interjected, “Not every album has to be “Best Album of the Year,” right?”

No. It doesn’t, but I’ve got 24 hours in a day. I like music. A lot of music. Records, great ones included, fight ferociously for precious minutes of my time that isn’t consumed by my recent addiction to X-Men: The Animated Series on Netflix. Better ways to spend 36 minutes? Let’s see: Chutes Too Narrow by the Shins (who Joe Plummer now plays for), C’mom Miracle by Mirah and, just this year, Go Tell Fire to the Mountain by wu lyf, which at forty seven minutes, provides ten additional minutes of fun. This isn’t merely me being a jerk or demonstrating how fast I can scan through my iTunes and find 36 minute albums. These albums are cohesive, fun and memorable. Jenn, we do agree (and would be on a temporary truce if you hadn’t attacked my catalog’s fidelity). There is a potential for greatness here, but at its current state, Mister Heavenly inspires no humming, singing or dancing from this spontaneous-dance-prone-individual with the exception of “Harm You.”

That chorus gets me every time. 

Out of Love isn’t bad. It’s good. I like it, and I’ll stop there. Maybe I’ll pass by one day and ask it for a spin. Other than that, I can find its brand of good-timery elsewhere, better and without the skip inducing “Reggae Pie.” Broken Social Scene’s albums are all double that length and have no such misfires.

“So you think I could ever hurt you now?”
Chris

From: Brandon Hall
To: Chris Mollica and Jennifer Lao

Since I’m now in this:

A.) That was a pretty accurate impression.
B.) I wasn’t trying to say Man Man was better than Mister Heavenly. They’re quite different. I think I was just saying that Ryan Kattner aka Honus Honus rocks my fucking socks off and Man Man was a band you and everyone else needed to know.
C.) Now go listen to Six Demon Bag.
D.) WU LYF is pretty damn awesome, you’re right.
E.) Broken Social Scene’s albums are 85% hubristic, self-aggrandizing misfires. And at their interminable length…ugh.
F.) OK. Man Man is better. We can blame Nick Thorburn.

Reggae Pie in your face,
Brandon

From: Jennifer Lao
To: Chris Mollica and Brandon Hall

True statement: not every album has to be “best album of the year,” that’s why I own Kanye’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy album. I own the albums I do because, in some way, they resonate with me. They are, essentially, a catalog of my thoughts and emotions. Those in which I can and can’t describe, thus I take my collection seriously and I choose my music wisely. This is the soundtrack to your life, so who wants shitty music in their mix?

Fortunately I’m not addicted to any animated cartoon series, so I can afford a little more time to let mediocre albums grow on me. Out of Love did remind me of just how awesome the music from the 50’s and 60’s were; bands like the Shirelles, the Tymes, the Fleetwoods. Classic. Mister Heavenly has created a few noteworthy songs, but you’re better off buying those individual songs rather than the entire album; which liberates me from listening to every single song on the album.

Since when does an album’s play time factor into the likelihood of listening to it? Unless you take 36 minute showers every day, (in which case, by all means employ Chris’s adept skills to find you more albums) it’s irrelevant, not to mention wasteful. Now we’re grasping at straws to sell the album. Like any ho on the street, an album’s gotta sell itself. And the album, in its entirety, is a hard sell.

“I’ll throw caution to the wind”
Jenn

From: Chris Mollica
To:  Jennifer Lao and Brandon Hall

You ruined it, Jenn. Really? Of all the albums in the world you choose to say are not a “Best Album of the Year” and you choose My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, which was, in fact, the BEST ALBUM OF LAST YEAR!!

I’ve found my nemesis. Thy name is Jenn.

“I can tell you’re going through hell because you got those…”
Chris

From: Jennifer Lao
To: Chris Mollica and Brandon Hall

Kanye’s album had some good songs, but it was stocky at times. I like it; it’s good on car rides, but I do NOT pull over to dance to any of those tracks. It was pretty similar to Nicki Minaj’s album. Some good songs. Not genius.

Mister Heavenly may stand to be the only album we agree on…thanks for the opportunity Brandon!

From: Brandon Hall
To: Jennifer Lao and Chris Mollica

I’m with Jenn on this one.

Also, you both are sourpusses. Mister Heavenly is awesome.

Buy Mister Heavenly Out of Love here!