MEW

One of the coolest moments at a good Popscene—San Francisco’s place-to-be, 18-and-up weekly indie rock dance club—is when the band has to peel through the crowd to reach the stage. “Pardon me,” I imagined Jonas Bjerre, Mew’s feather-haired singer, saying as he slid between scenesters still echoing the first of this evening’s requisite five Cure songs. The crowd reaction for Mew was only a little less atomic than for Hot Hot Heat, who I saw take the Popscene stage last year. HHH came on from the right, so all the girls and girly guys in front totally lost it for Steve Bay’s Elevator-era Sideshow Bob perm. Mew get bonus points for just coming straight through the crowd like their management didn’t know any better. They looked bewildered and excited.

As far as I can tell (and with the exception of Legoland) Mew are Denmark’s finest export. Obviously enormous throughout the rest of the First World, the quintet rolled up to Popscene in an alley-slimming tour bus. They have a bunch of albums, two of which are now available in the colonies. The American marketing team (Sony/BMG?) trying to make Mew viral this side of the Atlantic is doing a confusing job. This summer we encountered a stack of Mew stickers and promotional CD’s at a Guitar Center in Tempe, AZ. While I hoped the “Smoke On The Water” crowd was ready to learn the chords to a track like "Saviours of Jazz Ballet (Fear Me, December)," the promotion seemed a little Dada. Still, it was cool to spot any promotion for a band that’s been a Masonic mystery in my iPod for the last year. Until recently, I’ve been jamming to the band’s 2003 release: Frengers. This last summer I picked up And The Glass Handed Kites, which came out in Europe in September of 2005. Mew’s Danish merch guy told Nave that the band has a bunch of albums recorded. Wikipedia lists 21 B-sides. It will be interesting to see if the powers that be ever allow Mew to release an album worldwide on the same day.

As far as I’m concerned, Mew couldn’t possibly release enough material. Not at this quality, at least. The 300 or 400 fans at Popscene would probably agree. The crowd treated the band like Metallica, calling out obscure songs every chance it got. That was appropo of the band sounding like Metallica, guitars and drums crunching jugulars like sissy oyster crackers. Mew sounded colossal on the Popscene sound system. The drum triggers helped. The best bass tone ever helped (Nave wrote down the pedal settings). Bjerre’s princely falsetto and weird posture helped. The whole band sounded phenomenal. They played a perfect mix of material from Frengers and Glass Handed Kites. Certain highlights included “She Spider” and “156” (from Frengers, I’m posting the latter below as an MP3), as well as medieval anthem “The Zookeeper’s Boy” (Here’s the goofy-ass music video) and every other song they played from Glass Handed Kites.

Mew pulls off hi-fidelity experimentation in league with Yoshimi-era Flaming Lips, Bends-era Radiohead, or Melancholy-era Smashing Pumpkins. It’s beautiful and loud; it’s beautiful because it is loud. Experimental bands can be roller coasters, but Mew is a theme park; they make me feel six-years-old inside Mr. Toad’s Wild
Ride. It’s a very Technicolor experience. Mew’s childhooded-ness almost intrudes on the experimental maturity. I think this dichotomy is what makes the songs so cinematic. They justify and actualize musical escapism. For example, Coldplay’s great songs are visual enough so that it’s easy to imagine watching the music played out onscreen. Mew’s songs (they are all pretty great) come to life in many of the same ways. If a Coldplay scene might be imagined as a genuine moment
between Braff and Portman, Mew’s scene conjures any situation ever animated by the “Japanese Walt Disney,” Hayao Miyazaki. I didn’t really know how to justify this until Youtube presented me with the answer. Watch these back to back and, even though they don’t look the same, see if they feel the same (the fact that they sort of sound is all bonus):





That’s all I got. Check this band out. They told us they’d be back to America in February. I told them to have locals open up for them in every city. Here’s the promised MP3 for “156,” as well as “Apocalypto” from Glass Handed Kites.

Click to download “156” by Mew.
Click to download “Apocalypso” by Mew.

Visit Mew’s WEBSITE.
Visit Mew on MYSPACE.
Visit Mew on LAST.FM.
Visit Mew at ALL MUSIC.
Visit Mew at WIKIPEDIA.
Read about And The Glass Handed Kites at PITCHFORK.
Buy And The Glass Handed Kites from AMAZON.