Just before I bought this record, I'd forgotten about MewithoutYou for some time. Years ago Hugh had put Torches Together on a mixtape for me, I bought their first two albums and thought they were pretty cool. I enjoyed the spoken-word/shouting take on singing and the heavy tunes. Somehow then, I forgot about them for three or four years; I still played the albums I had but didn't seek out any new music or news in general. In September however, I rediscovered them when flicking through the LPs in Banquet Records.
The description they'd put in with the sleeve caught my eye and, having just been paid, I decided to chance £16 on a band I'd pretty much forgotten about. They had compared the album to Neutral Milk Hotel. I stood there for a minute trying to figure out in my mind how it would sound, and eventually decided it could work. I liked both bands and, despite their wildly different sounds, figured it had potential.
It's All Crazy... is MewithoutYou's fourth album, and somehow their style shifted considerably in the years between their second album and this. Listening to It's All Crazy... you'd never believe that they were a post-hardcore band - gone are the guitars and shouting, replaced by upbeat folk and singing. Still, for the most part it works, and you could easily believe they've never played any other music. The comparison to NMH holds too, because there's an edge and a style to the songs, not too dissimilar to the way Jeff made In the Aeroplane Over the Sea stand out. The highlights are definitely Bullet to Binary (Pt. Two), The Fox, The Crow and the Cookie and The King Beetle on a Coconut Estate (the outro to Bullet to Binary often refuses to leave my head). Unfortunately the first song, Every Thought a Thought of You, is the worst and made me immediately doubt my choice to by the album. Luckily my "what I have I bought?" thoughts were knocked aside on song two and the other ten songs are much better.
A few words need to be said about the package, because it's pretty lovely too. The artwork is excellent (and fits nicely with the themes of the album) and the record colours are great. The etching on side 4 was a very nice surprise too. It's hard to see in the picture beneath, but it's a crow in a tree with a cookie in it's mouth, and a fox sat at the base, relating to the song The Fox, The Crow and the Cookie.
Overall, I'm pretty glad I bought this album; it reminded how much I enjoyed the band and it works well on it's own.
Format: Double 12", gatefold sleeve, 20"x16" poster
Tracks: 11
Cost: £16 new
Bought: Banquet Records
When: 11/09/12
Colour: One orange, one green
Etching: Sides 1, 2 & 3: "MewithoutYou It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All a Dream! It's Alright", Etching on side 4
mp3s: no
