Mandolin, violin, cello and upright bass are instruments most rock groups will only bust out for a song or two as a novelty, but Brooklyn-based Miracles Of Modern Science is clearly not your average band. This quintet completely forgoes the typical guitar, bass and keys setup in favor of these under-utilized strings (along with drums) and manages to shape the old-timey symphonic sound into irresistible, stuck-in-your-head pop tunes. Debut LP Dog Year will be released December 6, but in the meantime, check out the below mix tape, made with the help of all five band members.
“Eating Me Alive” (download):
QQQ “Sister Sparrow”
Evan: A beautiful song inspired by Paul McCartney’s “Jenny Wren” (which is also great). Google “Hardanger fiddle” if you’re wondering what’s making that incredible drone sound. Audio
Bluejay “Shoot For The Toucan”
Josh: Bluejay’s album was recorded partly at the wonderful Spaceman Sound, where we recorded Dog Year. It’s full of punk energy, ’80s pop textures and completely over-the-top muppet-like vocals. It’s catchy, but the closer you listen, the more you notice the awesomely complex touches. Audio
Boy Without God “Of Cowboys And Other Beautiful Men”
Josh: Though the boy who leads Boy Without God grew up only one town over from my suburban Massachusetts hometown, to me his voice sounds as traveled and weathered as deep-voiced veterans Bill Callahan and Michael Gira. Audio
Gotye Featuring Kimbra “Somebody That I Used To Know”
Kieran: I finally saw Gotye a couple weeks ago after hearing a lot about him from my friends back in Australia. He gave one of the most compelling and memorable performances I’ve seen in a long time. This is his big hit featuring another Australian artist, Kimbra. Fantastic voice and some very interesting and spare instrumentation. Video
Bruce Springsteen “New York City Serenade”
Geoff: I’ve become obsessed with this song lately. It is the last track on Springsteen’s second album and one of the early incarnations of the E Street Band. It’s long and weird, its story is a mess (especially by the standards of New Jersey’s balladeer laureate), and it covers so much musical terrain that it seems schizo. Or at least ADD. But somehow it holds together. Or it doesn’t, and I still love it. Video
The Riot Professor “New Salt”
Tyler: My buddy’s group from my hometown in California who just released their first album. This song in particular has a dreamy, underwater quality to the sound that I find very compelling. Video
The Lounge Lizards “Voice Of Chunk”
Evan: This is what MOMS’ next album will sound like. Josh gets the credit for turning me on to this, but I love it more. Video
Miracles Of Modern Science “Eating Me Alive”
Josh: This is actually our oldest song. Evan and I began piecing it together in GarageBand months before Kieran, Geoff and Tyler had come on board. When we first started playing together, we didn’t have much of a clear direction or genre; we played country tunes, sea chanties and Disney ballads at our earliest shows. But “Eating Me Alive” set out an early framework for the MOMS sound. Since those early days, we’ve picked the song to pieces and put it together again, and that’s what you’ll hear on the album. Video
Darius Milhaud “Scaramouche”
Geoff: This addictive collection of three miniatures has been orchestrated in several ways, but I prefer it as a duet for two pianos. The opening is as goofy as anything MOMS has ever written—even stuff from practice that will never see the light of day—but is especially fascinating to me because it manages to be fun and while doing musically adventurous things like splitting into two keys at once (Milhaud, in the ’20s, was one of the first people to try that). If you can hear the last movement, “Brasiliera,” and not want to dance, you are a jerk. Video
mewithoutYou “The Dryness And The Rain”
Tyler: Emotional vocals that half-shout a lengthy story, yet the song is cohesive and rocks hard. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this album, even on first listen. Video
Charlotte Gainsbourg “Me And Jane Doe”
Josh: To me, this is what the Shaggs would have sounded like if they knew how to play their instruments. Video
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds “Red Right Hand”
Kieran: This song came to mind for a couple reasons (other than the fact that I love it). I was reminded of this song after listening to the new Tom Waits album (which is great!) a bit recently, and like “Somebody That I Used To Know,” the instrumentation of this one is interestingly spare. Cave’s voice and style really come through here in a great way, that spine-chilling chime strike marking the end of each apocalyptic “red right hand” is a favorite, and the organ part that comes across as something out of an old horror film is the icing on top. Video
