Mobius Band

Heaven

www.mobiusband.com

www.myspace.com/mobiusband

Even now, decades in to the personal computer’s infiltration of the recording studio, the majority of rock bands have a hard time successfully incorporating technology into their mix. For every New Order and Halloween, Alaska there are a hundred other rock groups whose laughable attempts at grafting “modern technology” onto their songs are limited to appending rinky-dink drum machine samples to songs that would have been better served without them. Then along comes a group like Brooklyn’s Mobius Band, a trio of dudes clearly just at ease behind their guitar straps as a mixing board, and the results – as heard on their recently released sophomore album Heaven - are often wondrous enough that I scrap my luddite tendencies altogether. Mobius Band has forced me to readily acknowledge that great pop can indeed come out of the marriage of man, machine and melody.

The proceedings kick off with the percolating synth-pop of “Hallie” a song whose choral overload of buzzing ambient keyboard sounds and jittery electro-rhythms is perfectly balanced out by a spare verse section that confidently glides by on lock-step bass rhythms, gentle washes of synthesized strings and singer Peter Sax’s confident croon (he splits lead vocal duties roughly down the middle with Ben Sterling). It’s a striking sound, and one in which the electric guitar’s insidiously catchy riffs are incorporated into the mix by stealth. The follow-up number, “Secret Language,” brings the guitar to the fore, the electric guitar aping the vocal melody during the verses before eventually veering off into a massive fuzzed out choral hook, surrounded on all sides by oohs and ahhs and all manner of electronic percussive sounds. These two songs represent the strongest 1-2 opening punch I’ve heard on a record in quite some time and impressively the following eight songs manage to be nearly as brash and compelling, alternating between brisk electro-pop and slower and more traditional modern rock structures, the spotlight shared evenly by crystalline guitar figures, tech geek Noam Schutz’s inventive keyboard blips (supplied courtesy of an army of 15 “circuit bent” flea market Casios) and the suave, slightly detached vocals of Sax and Sterling.

It’s the group’s attention to little sonic details (rarely is the same keyboard texture used twice) which elevates it beyond the realm of mere tech-pop fan boys to something truly special. It helps that whenever one does focus in on the lyrics they’re usually cryptically menacing (sample: “I’m the one who tied you up in ribbons/ Filled you up with Freon / And shook your mind awake”). Heaven, isn’t a perfect album, there are a couple misfires during the second half (“Black Spot” in particular goes nowhere fast), but overall the group’s commitment to constantly pushing the limits of their sound is laudable and one that others should look to for inspiration the next time they haul their Casio to band practice.

Listen to "Hallie" by Mobius Band