Now Listening: The Mowgli's

One of the things that has happened, since I've opened this site up a bit, is that I feel free to write about things that I might not otherwise have targeted. I really like the Mowgli's, and I feel like they would be worthy of the site's full length review treatment (if I ever do that again) except there's half a chance that the charm of their frothy, high-energy pop rock approach might wear off this jaded old 20something by then.

This is probably going to appeal most to teens, people who have seen enough to know what they like but still able to be impressed by something novel. It's unrelentingly peppy and positive (even in the acoustic or intimate numbers) and a lot of the songs feel like giant communal singalongs. There are hooks, pounding drums, playful synths... this is music that hasn't been tainted by cynicism or irony. It's also not bland or shrill in its earnestness. It's easy to keep listening as they play through their tricks one at a time, then layer them over each other in different ways. It's sometimes grandiose, sometimes intimate, sometimes tightly assembled and sometimes loose. It's explorational.

This is just really fun to listen to, youthful and vibrant. I can see people who have been around longer than the intended audience, or me, being quite unimpressed, but I think that "been there done that" attitude is death for music criticism because every time is someone's first. There will be people who hear this CD - 15, 16 year olds - and it's the first "good" thing they heard. Nobody is born a Bowie fan, you know?

Buy this now: iTunes Canada // iTunes USA // Amazon.ca // Amazon.com