It's safe to say that had mewithoutYou vocalist Aaron Weiss been born earlier in time, his prose would be spoken of in the same breath with C.S. Lewis, James Joyce and Lewis Carroll.
It's that good.
The band's second release on Tooth and Nail Records, "Catch For Us the Foxes" is another lesson in intensity and dancing from the Philadelphia-based group. 2002's "[A->B]=Life," was the best hard indie rock offering of the year, highlighted by Weiss' stories of dealing with a painful divorce and coming to terms with God's plan for him in an unorthodox manner.
Orthodoxy does not creep into "Catch For Us the Foxes," though it is a little less distortion-dense than it's predecessor. MewithoutYou was never a post-hardcore band, but any trace of hardcore influence has all but vanished in favor of a dance sensibility similar to Cursive's "Domestica."
Comparisons don't do justice to Weiss, however. The man is undoubtedly Christian, but struggles with upholding and understanding its ideals in the manner which great theologians do. He knows what he's supposed to do. His writing just attends to his tendency to stray.
"As the nighttime shined like day it saw my sorry face/Hair a mess but it liked me best that way/(besides, how else could I confess? /When I looked down like if to pray/ well I was looking down her dress)" he sings on "The Soviet."
This is where the focus of mewithoutYou lies. Weiss' words and delivery are always stunning and often chilling. Not a word or phrase is filler. Not a scream or croon mailed in. Listening to Weiss sing his lyrics is like observing fine art: both thinking and feeling co-exist as a primary concern.
His expressions can be full of resolve or weakness, faith or despair. On "Leaf" he sings, "as we crept like thieves along your bedroom hall/ I'd come down and touch your eyelids/ but if you stay up too late/ I'll throw you back into the cupboard with the chipped and dirty plates/ like the carnival game with the bottleneck and rubber ring/ even if you win/ even then you don't win."
This breathlessness of both style and technique often lends itself to greatness, and that's what "Catch For Us the Foxes" is; one of those works of art that begs to be observed by anyone, regardless of their musical taste or principal beliefs.
