The Mobius Band
Two EP
(Prescription Rails)
The last time I heard from The Mobius Band was just over a year ago, when I was surprised by their ultra-DIY debut EP simply entitled One. It was an excellent little debut that mixed electronic, rock, funk, country, and a couple other styles into a nice little batch of music, and it had me excited about what they'd follow up with. Not content to rest for too long, the group quickly recorded this follow-up simply titled Two. After selling 500 copies of another handpressed bunch of Two, the group then repressed and repackaged the EP, which is now being offered on the label Prescription Rails. In addition to Two, the group has also churned out 6 more songs and fittingly released them as Three, but I'll get to that in another review.
Two picks up right where One left off, and that's definitely a good thing. Whereas their first EP was a little bit jumpy in terms of style changes and sequencing, this new release already finds them locking into a defined sound more and going with it. "Taxicab" opens the disc with quiet acoustic guitar melodies and soulful vocals over a subdued, but funky beat. The track gradually builds with a walking bassline, and eventually busts into a flailing finale with fast drumming and layered keyboards. "2 Kinds Of Light" finds them working more of a funky instrumental groove with some loose bass/guitar combo before the track breaks off into a gurgling electronic midsection and finally breaking down and eventually pulling elements from both sections of the track together for a nice ending.
"Epitaph" layers swelling synth strings and vocals over a thick, filtered beat for a more reflective track just before they crank things up again with "The Lights Are Always On." The drums churn away as minimal keyboards add another layer while Micah Silver adds cornet to the track to give it a bit of a jazzy feel. The only place where the album sags a bit is on the long closing instrumental "Themesong," which find the group stripping things down to a slower combination of bass, guitar and drums with an occassional keyboard hum.
I can live with a slightly meandering closing track, though, and as mentioned above, this release finds the group locking into their sound and rolling with it. With influences that are all over the map, it's hard to find groups to compare them to, but with so many derivative artists out there, it's something that's welcome. Electronic post funk? Sure. Something like that.
Rating: 7.25
