mewithoutYou

mewithoutYou are a five-piece indie rock/post-hardcore band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They started in 2000, and have been active ever since. They have been constantly evolving throughout their years, and have consistently created some amazing pieces of work. Whether they are letting out blood-curling screams of agony and loss to the orchestra of distorted, dissonant guitars, or singing folks songs about foxes and poorly knit sweaters, these guys are flawless. As I'm sure many of you already know, since they are a very noteworthy band in the style of music usually covered on here, and they get a ton of requests. As they should, because everything this band has done needs to be heard. 

The band is fronted by brothers Aaron and Michael Weiss (vocals and guitar respectively, among other instruments). They, along with drummer Rickie Mazzotta and numerous other musicians with varying tenures have defined the band's sound. Vocally they are very distinct. Aaron Weiss' spoken-word style emulates bands such as Moss Icon and Slint that came before them, and that is now popular because of bands like La Dispute and Listener (both of which take considerable influence from mewithoutYou). Aaron's vocals are tortured, whether he be speaking, singing, or screaming. His lyrics are very literate, detailed, and poetic,  heavily utilizing metaphors, imagery, and symbolism. They often make reference to literary and musical sources, as well as focus heavily on religion. A lot of mewithoutYou's work (lyrics, song titles, album names, artwork) are of religious nature, though the band aren't what you could call a "religious" band. They incorporate Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, etc. into their work, usually religion as an all-encompassing concept to convey their ideologies. It is very artful, and even people of no religion can understand and relate to. 

Their sound is very experimental, from early on to very recently. They use a lot of effects, try out different instrumentation, incorporate elements from different genres, all while making songs that sound like them. Keeping that in mind, their earlier material is much more electric guitar-based, with much more intensity and bite to their sound. Around the Brother, Sister and It's All Crazy!... era is when they really began switching from the post-hardcore of their early career and the introduction of their new, acoustic/folk driven sound. Their last album, Ten Stories, featured a nice mixture of both. Personally, I tend to gravitate towards their first two albums as favourites, but everything they have done is extraordinary and worth listening to. This is maybe with the exception of their earlier EP's, which are good and insanely angry and intense, but have subpar production work that could deter some. Still try them out though, especially if their first album really resonates with you. Enjoy!

Blood Enough For Us All (2000)

1. The Comfort You Give Is Only Torment

2. Flamethrower

3. Working In A Factory

4. I Dare You To Pick Someone To Fight Me

5. There Is Hope For A Tree Cut Down

6. Song For A Rapist

I Never Said That I Was Brave (2001)

1. I Never Said That I Was Brave

2. Flamethrower

3. Dying Is Strange

4. We Know Who Our Enemies Are

5. Four Word Letter

Norma Jean/mewithoutYou (2002)

1. Norma Jean - I Used To Hate Cellphones

2. Norma Jean - The Shotgun Message

3. mewithoutYou - Bullet To Binary

4. mewithoutYou - Gentlemen

[A-B] Life (2002)

1. Bullet To Binary

2. The Ghost

3. Nice And Blue

4. Everything Was Beautiful And Nothing Hurt

5. A

6. Gentlemen

7. Be Still Child

8. We Know Who Our Enemies Are

9. I Never Said That I Was Brave

10. B

11. Silencer

12. The Cure For Pain

Catch For Us The Foxes (2004)

1. Torches Together

2. January 1979

3. Tie Me Up! Untie Me!

4. Linear

5. Disaster Tourism

6. Seven Sisters

7. The Soviet

8. Paper Hanger

9. My Exit, Unfair

10. Four Word Letter (Part 2)

11. Carousels

12. Son Of A Widow

Brother, Sister (2006)

1. Messes Of Men

2. The Dryness Of Men

3. Wolf Am I! (And Shadow)

4. Yellow Spider

5. A Glass Can Only Spill What It Contains

6. Nice And Blue (Pt. II)

7. The Sun And The Moon

8. Orange Spider

9. C-Minor

10. In A Market Dimly Lit

11. O, Porcupine

12. Brownish Spider

13. In A Sweater Poorly Knit

It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All A Dream! It's Alright (2009)

1. Every Thought A Thought Of You

2. The Fox, The Crow And The Cookie

3. The Angel Of Death Came To David's Room

4. Goodbye, I!

5. A Stick, A Carrot & String

6. Bullet To Binary (Pt. 2)

7. Timothy Hay

8. Fig With A Bellyache

9. Cattail Down

10.The King Beetle On A Coconut Estate

11. Allah, Allah, Allah

Come As You Are: A 20th Anniversary Tribute To Nirvana's 'Nevermind' (2011)

2. In Bloom (Nirvana cover)

Ten Stories (2012)

1. February, 1878

2. Grist For The Malady Mill

3. East Enders Wives

4. Cardiff Giant

5. Elephant In The Dock

6. Aubergine

7. Fox's Dream Of The Log Flume

8. Nine Stories

9. Fiji Mermaid

10. Bear's Vision Of St. Agnes

11. All Circles

Pale Horses (2015)

1. Pale Horse

2. Watermelon Ascot

3. D-Minor

4. Mexican War Streets

5. Red Cow

6. Dorothy

7. Blue Hen

8. Lilac Queen

9. Magic Lantern Days

10. Birnam Wood

11. Rainbow Signs

[untitled] e.p. (2018)

1. Bethlehem, WV

2. Winter Solstice (alt. version)

3. Dirty Air

4. Cities of the Plain

5. Existential Dread, Six Hours' Time

6. August 6th

7. Kristy w/The Sparkling Teeth

[Untitled] (2018)

1. 9:27am, 7/29

2. Julia (or, 'Holy to the LORD' on the Bells of Horses)

3. Another Head for Hydra

4. [Dormouse Sighs]

5. Winter Solstice

6. Flee, Thou Matadors!

7. Tortoises All the Way Down

8. 2,459 Miles

9. Wendy & Betsy

10. New Wine, New Skins

11. Michael, Row Your Boat Ashore

12. Break on Through (To the Other Side) [Pt. 2]