Mute Math - Armistice

[murlough23]

I think this album warrants its own thread since it'll probably get a lot of discussion now that it's officially out. It's taken me several listens to digest it and to get over my expectations that the music will be as kinetic and "vertical" in focus as much of their previous album was. Armistice is much more about human themes and struggles between people - despite the peppy rhythm section, its mood borders on hopeless at times. it's still a beautiful and uplifting overall - I think the emotional low points are stops along a larger journey, so it's not a criticism when I point those out. But it's different approach for a band whose music I would previously put on to either supplement a good mood, or to help get me out of a rotten one.

Artistically, I don't feel that the band has evolved a whole lot. I hear some innovations here and there - little bits of instrumentation that they hadn't previously messed with, or the drawn-out coda of the last track, "Burden". But for the most part, these are pop songs that fit within the confines of your usual pop song length. They're very good pop songs, I think (especially "Spotlight", "Goodbye", and bonus track "Clockwork", any of which would have been right at home on the band's self-titled disc), packed with Mute Math's usual rhythmic wallop and futuristic sound effects, etc. But due to the more downbeat and chill nature of several tracks, it's not as solid of a "rock album" as their first disc. I don't want to restrict Mute Math to any one definition, but this band impresses me most when they're at their most energetic (especially in concert) and when they have room to do their electronically-assisted jams. I don't see how many of these tracks are going to lend themselves to that approach in a live setting.

At the same time, I'd never mistake Mute Math for another band. Their sound is unapologetically melodic and emotional despite the high amount of sampling and programming that could render a lot of other bands cold and unfeeling. And I still love that sound. So, for continuing to do what I liked them for in some places, and trying things that worked well in a few other places (New tracks like "The Nerve" and "Backfire" that focus more on a rhythmic groove than on melody work reasonably well, and then you have your mid-tempo or down-tempo experiments like "Clipping" and "Pins and Needles" that are intriguing without retreading old ground), I've got to give them a good grade. For the lack of space left for improvisation, and for a few tracks that feel a bit lackluster ("Odds", "Electrify", "Lost Year"), I can't quite manage an "A" grade for this one. I'm going with a "B". Maybe a "B+" as some of it grows on me more. But I gave their last one a "B+" and I can't see myself ranking this one higher.

[Ian]

Actually I enjoy this band when they're a bit more chilled out.  Progress and Without It are two of my favorite MM songs, and Pins & Needles and Lost Year are definitely a couple of the better things here, even if the latter does feel a bit stale where ballads are concerned.

No Response and Burden are easily the low spots for me.  No Response is just dull, but for some reason Noticed is considered a stand out track on the s/t, so maybe people will like this too.  Burden just feels really artificial compared to the rest of the disc (which feels artificial compared to the s/t... I'm not a fan of the new producer), and although the ambient middle section was nice, the entire thing felt very tacked on, almost as if they suddenly remembered they're a band that can do long, untradionally structured tracks, and just slapped some drun effects on the back of the disc at the last minute.

Clipping is fantastic, one of their best songs.  Odds is a very understated song, but a definite hilight after a few listens.  Backfire is a lot of fun, and Goodbye is very catchy.  There's really no bad songs on here, but there were definitely fewer moments that made me take attention than there were on the s/t.

If anything, Armistice is a testament to Mute Math's overall worth; they've taken another small step down (Reset > s/t > Armistice), and still have a great album on their hands.

[dgp11776]

I'm kind of surprised nobody has mentioned the song "Armistice," which could be my favorite on the album.  Completely different than anything they've ever done, complete with more of a New Orleans vibe to it.

[Josh]

DGP, I agree about "Armistice." I also really like "Pins and Needles."

The rest of the album, though, is a step down from their debut, I think. This band is good at a couple of things: At creating surging, arena-ready hooks (a la U2) and brooding, hazy electronica (a la Radiohead), and both of those things are in full effect here. Unfortunately, that's actually a bit of a problem for me: It just feels like overkill. Every song just feels like TOO MUCH to me-- too busy, and with choruses that are all so anthemic, they all start to sound the same.

What there's NOT much of is texture, variety, and sonic depth... which is why the two songs I mentioned above stand out to me.

[dgp11776]

My favorites would be "Armistice," "Pins and Needles," "Burden," and "Spotlight."  And, yeah, I agree with everyone else that this is a step down from their debut, which is more than a little disappointing.

[ajyouthguy]

I am having trouble processing exactly how i feel about it after 3 listens or so.  I like it, a lot, don't get me wrong, but nothing has just absolutely jumped at me (in fact, I just zoned now out for a couple of songs while working and then all of a sudden remembered what I was listening to), and yet nothing has made me go 'that song sucks' either.  it's gonna take some time...but a lot of stuff this year seems to be that way for me.

[spacebrat311]

So far the only song that makes me come back to it for any reason other than deliberately letting the album sink in is "Backfire."

[murlough23]

Actually I enjoy this band when they're a bit more chilled out.  Progress and Without It are two of my favorite MM songs, and Pins & Needles and Lost Year are definitely a couple of the better things here, even if the latter does feel a bit stale where ballads are concerned.

I like "Progress" quite a bit, actually. It's chill but it's also "busy". I like "busy" music. I'm even a fan of the ambient "Interlude" that follows it (I see the two as one continuous piece), and as most folks know, I normally don't go for that sort of thing.

I forgot to mention "Pins & Needles", but that is also one of my favorites on the new album. Love the percussion on that track. It's light, but it's fast-paced.

No Response and Burden are easily the low spots for me.  No Response is just dull, but for some reason Noticed is considered a stand out track on the s/t, so maybe people will like this too.

I would never think to compare "Noticed" and "No Response". I love "Noticed". It starts as bouncy retro pop and explodes into something highly energetic by song's end. "No Response" is more chill. I like the melody, but the song doesn't wow me.

Burden just feels really artificial compared to the rest of the disc (which feels artificial compared to the s/t... I'm not a fan of the new producer), and although the ambient middle section was nice, the entire thing felt very tacked on, almost as if they suddenly remembered they're a band that can do long, untradionally structured tracks, and just slapped some drun effects on the back of the disc at the last minute.

I like "Burden", but it would have worked better if there was one or two other tracks on the album that were similarly drawn out and/or experimental. That way it wouldn't be the odd man out at the butt end of the album.

Clipping is fantastic, one of their best songs.

I was just listening to that one yesterday, and I was a bit miffed when I realized they'd used that slick string section to distract me from the fact that they couldn't be bothered to write a second verse. So lyrically, the song is just verse, chorus, chorus, chorus. (And the chorus is borderline "vague emo angst" at that.) I still love the song (the beat is killer, and it's one of the few times in more recent memory that I'd compare a song to Linkin Park on a musical level and intend that as a compliment - see "The Little Things Give You Away"), but it could be improved upon in terms of its content.

If anything, Armistice is a testament to Mute Math's overall worth; they've taken another small step down (Reset > s/t > Armistice), and still have a great album on their hands.

I don't know where to rank Reset 'cause it's an EP. Hard to say that's better than a full album that took more effort and thought to bring it all together. Reset is definitely their most consistent disc, but it's easier to be consistent with a shorter runtime. In any event, yeah, it's still solid, enjoyable music, so I'm still planning to buy it and listen to it a lot in the coming months, even if I am slightly disappointed given all the buzz leading up to it. (Like that's anything new.)

I'm kind of surprised nobody has mentioned the song "Armistice," which could be my favorite on the album.  Completely different than anything they've ever done, complete with more of a New Orleans vibe to it.

I should have mentioned it. I agree with everything you said about it. the New Orleans vibe is especially dominant on the remix, since it features the Rebirth Brass Band, which I believe is from New Orleans. I like it when bands can give their music a little bit of local flavor, and I wouldn't mind if Mute Math decided to explore that influence a little more in the future.

When I pay attention to the lyrics, I can't help but think of Vienna Teng's song "Antebellum", which is a world away musically, but also uses the word "armistice" to describe a truce between lovers who were quarreling. (That's how I learned the meaning of the word, actually. Literate songwriters inspire me to hit up Wikipedia.)

It just feels like overkill. Every song just feels like TOO MUCH to me-- too busy, and with choruses that are all so anthemic, they all start to sound the same.

I like my music "busy". I like having enough things going on that I don't notice 'em all the first time around. When I look back at some of the "busy" albums in my collection that threw so many sounds at me that I didn't know how to process it all on first listen, I'm amazed at what I once claimed "all sounded the same" at first. When there are more layers like that, sometimes the ear focuses on the expected things first - the beat, the melody, etc., and the differences can take longer to pop out.

[bloop]

I think there's a difference between "busy" and "cluttered", and Armistice may tend too much toward the latter.

[murlough23]

I think there's a difference between "busy" and "cluttered", and Armistice may tend too much toward the latter.

That's a matter of individual perception, I think. I have much higher tolerance for that sort of thing. I'm the one who gets accused of having a short attention span when I complain about things being too sparse, so from my viewpoint, this looks like the other side of the coin.

NP: "Savior", Skillet

[bloop]

I like a fair amount layered music as well as sparse music.  I just find there is a such thing as too much in either direction.  I haven't listened to Armistice enough to give anything but very tentative thoughts on it, though.

[murlough23]

I like a fair amount layered music as well as sparse music.  I just find there is a such thing as too much in either direction.  I haven't listened to Armistice enough to give anything but very tentative thoughts on it, though.

I think both heavily layered music and unusually sparse music, because they fall outside of the normal range of "things we like to hear all happening at once", will take more listens to sort out how we feel about everything. I can think of songs that I thought were either too cluttered or too empty at first, and that grew on me quite a bit later. So definitely give it a few more tries.

For me, I'll usually consider something "too cluttered" if there are elements of the music that get so buried amidst everything else that you can't really make them out all that well despite getting the feeling that they're supposed to be important. This is usually the fault of a producer not knowing what they're doing - vocals get buried in a rock song that has too much going on, you can't hear the bass at all, there's a guest vocalist or player who barely registers due to everything they have to compete with, etc.

NP: "A Little More", Skillet

[Ian]

So lyrically, the song is just verse, chorus, chorus, chorus.

What does that have to do with how good of a song it is?

[murlough23]

What does that have to do with how good of a song it is?

A lot. If a song runs out of lyrics that quickly, it makes me feel like the writer didn't have all that much to say or couldn't figure out how to say it. Barring a non-traditional song structure where you can't pick out verse/chorus so easily to begin with, or a song with a chorus that changes pretty radically upon each iteration (or perhaps even an instrumental that only has little bits of lyrics here and there), I feel like a song should have two verses, minimum. So it's missing something. Still a good song, but not one that says much of anything.

[plvarona]

Now that I've listened to this CD a few times, I'm pretty much with the prevailing opinion here: a step down from their self-titled CD, but still quite good overall.  I did note this CD's overall more subdued feel, but I don't necessarily have a problem with that, since the music is still done well.  It's just that this CD doesn't stand out to me as much as the self-titled CD did.  However, at the same time, there isn't any single song I dislike either.  I intend to listen to it a few more times before I officially rate it.

[Ian]

A lot. If a song runs out of lyrics that quickly, it makes me feel like the writer didn't have all that much to say or couldn't figure out how to say it. Barring a non-traditional song structure where you can't pick out verse/chorus so easily to begin with, or a song with a chorus that changes pretty radically upon each iteration (or perhaps even an instrumental that only has little bits of lyrics here and there), I feel like a song should have two verses, minimum. So it's missing something. Still a good song, but not one that says much of anything.

C'mon, it's not like Meany couldn't figure out how to write a second verse.  The song just didn't call for one.  Besides, you yourself said you didn't notice the lack of a second verse at first (neither did I, actually), so it obviously wasn't this glaring omission.  They chose to use an instrumetal section rather than a second verse, and the song is much, much more interesting and engaging because of it.

[murlough23]

C'mon, it's not like Meany couldn't figure out how to write a second verse.

He's a pretty minimal writer, actually. It's not the first time this has bugged me. I know from his work with Earthsuit that he's capable of saying more and phrasing it more interestingly, so when I doesn't, I feel like he's punting a bit.

The song just didn't call for one.

I think it did. The crux of the song is not knowing how to feel any more, what is real any more, all those sorts of stock existential emo things. He really needs some more detail to flesh that out in the verses if the song is going to mean anything more than generic angst.

But then, when I like Mute Math's lyrics, it's because I relate, or because I want to feel the feeling being expressed, and not really because I think it's amazing songwriting. I realize I'm more hard on songwriters in general than a lot of folks - it's because I took a songwriting class in college and I have a reasonably good sense of what helps a song to really communicate the thing that the author is trying to communicate. Barring your more experimental artists where the texture and mood of the music is intended to communicate as much as the words if not more, I think a good song should still read as a good song even when stripped down to only its lyrics. (I find Mute math to be somewhat experimental, but for the most part, they're still making pop music. I wouldn't get "existential angst" even from this particularly experimental song if it had no lyrics. I'd just get "badass rhythm and sweet string section".)

Besides, you yourself said you didn't notice the lack of a second verse at first (neither did I, actually), so it obviously wasn't this glaring omission.

It's not so glaring that I don't enjoy the song. It's still one of my favorites on the album. I'm just saying there's a chink in the armor. It brings down my opinion of the song a little bit.

They chose to use an instrumetal section rather than a second verse, and the song is much, much more interesting and engaging because of it.

Instrumental breaks are for bridges. I don't want them to lose the instrumental break - that might be my favorite part of the song. I'd just have preferred Verse 1, Chorus, Verse 2, Chorus, then the instrumental break. Verse 1, Chorus, instrumental break, Verse 2, Chorus would have also been an excellent way to do it.

[Aaron]

Thankfully Mute Math refuses to operate in the regularly-assumed pop song writing format. 

[murlough23]

Thankfully Mute Math refuses to operate in the regularly-assumed pop song writing format.  

Really? Most of their stuff seems pretty standard from that standpoint (instrumental notwithstanding).

Also, let's not blow this out of proportion. I've been trying to indicate that it's a minor issue.

[murlough23]

Something I just noticed - the outro to "Pins & Needles" totally sounds like they sampled Andrew Bird.

[spacebrat311]

I'm joining the majority in that I think it's a small step down from the self-titled, but also breaking from the majority in that if I had first heard the self-titled  recently, with the amount my tastes have changed since, I don't think it would have impressed me a whole lot. As such, I'd probably rate the new one a C or C+

[Ian]

Something I just noticed - the outro to "Pins & Needles" totally sounds like they sampled Andrew Bird.

That's the first thing I thought of when I heard it too.

[Aaron]

B- at best. 

[Aaron]

Paste Magazine gave it a rating of 46.  That's definitely extreme.  Even Josh's 5.5/10 is more realistic than a 46.

[ajyouthguy]

Paste Magazine gave it a rating of 46.  That's definitely extreme.  Even Josh's 5.5/10 is more realistic than a 46.

for the undereducated on such things, what is Paste's scale?

[Aaron]

for the undereducated on such things, what is Paste's scale?

Out of 100.   It said 46 - Forgettable.

[Ian]

Unfortunately if this were my first time hearing the band, I'm not sure how much I would disagree.  This album wears out really fast.

[Aaron]

Unfortunately if this were my first time hearing the band, I'm not sure how much I would disagree.  This album wears out really fast.

Sounds like me when I first listened to Copeland! haha.

[spacebrat311]

Forgettable sounds like about the right adjective to me. It's not that it's particularly bad per se, as there's just nothing that makes me want to come back to it.

[Ian]

Sounds like me when I first listened to Copeland! haha.

Yeah, I definitely would not be into their newer albums so much if "Coffee" and "Walking Downtown" hadn't been my first exposure to them.  Mute Math is even moreso: they're the band that got me away from CCM-only listening habbits (I've come a long way in 3 years ), so it's not surprising that I came into Armistice with both a lot of expectations and a lot of bias... but I think the expectations are winning out over bias right now, and while those expectations haven't been dashed by any means, they certainly haven't been met either.  I still consider myself a big Mute Math fan, but Armistice has rendered me far from the crazed fanboy that the s/t turned me into.

I think perhaps one of the problems is the new producer.  He came into the studio declaring that the s/t was flawed, which I suppose it was to a small degree, but from the sound of the interviews it feels like Mute Math put far too much faith in him, and came out with some minor corrections, but with a few new major flaws.

[murlough23]

Copeland doesn't seem to make the kind of music that is easy to like the first time around. Everything I love by them now, I found pretty boring at first.

Mute Math, on the other hand, is instantly catchy most of the time. Composing intricate and massively catchy beats is their bread and butter, and I'm a big fan of inventive percussion, so even when they fail on both lyrics and melody (which they don't really do, but sometimes they squeak by as average), it's usually still pretty enjoyable for me.

[NinjaRob17]

Yay for sophomore slumps.

I'm with the rest of you on this. I wouldn't call it a bad album, but I was pretty underwhelmed upon first listen. I agree with Murlough on the inventive percussion, which isn't really as prevalent on Armistice as it was on their debut, so I was disappointed by that.

[murlough23]

I'm with the rest of you on this. I wouldn't call it a bad album, but I was pretty underwhelmed upon first listen. I agree with Murlough on the inventive percussion, which isn't really as prevalent on Armistice as it was on their debut, so I was disappointed by that.

I still hear it a lot here, though. The songs that it supports just aren't always as strong.

[Aaron]

Copeland doesn't seem to make the kind of music that is easy to like the first time around. Everything I love by them now, I found pretty boring at first.

Mute Math, on the other hand, is instantly catchy most of the time. Composing intricate and massively catchy beats is their bread and butter, and I'm a big fan of inventive percussion, so even when they fail on both lyrics and melody (which they don't really do, but sometimes they squeak by as average), it's usually still pretty enjoyable for me.

Oh I still find Copeland to be boring and not worth any hype.

[murlough23]

Oh I still find Copeland to be boring and not worth any hype.

Thanks; I didn't catch that the first time around.

[Aaron]

Thanks; I didn't catch that the first time around.

Well, I didn't say it the first time around.   

[murlough23]

Well, I didn't say it the first time around.   

Guess I just knew where you were going with that one.

[murlough23]

My review.

http://www.epinions.com/content_483357855364

[Ian]

And here's my review.  Looks like me and murlough arrived at the same final score.  I think I would agree with you on most of the songs, except I like Odds a lot and don't like Burden.