Album of the Week #15: Mew - Frengers
This is Album of the Week #15 ~ This week's album is Mew - Frengers
Year of Release: 2003
Genre(s): Dream Pop
Country: Denmark
Length: 48 minutes
RYM | Listen! (Album.Link)
Excerpt from Drowned In Sound:
On the cherub face of it this album is a soaring, triangle tapping, kitten cuddling, debut; Mew have playground innocence down - lunchbox in hand, toothpaste on tie and scabby knees, all set for a day of holding hands with the pigtailed girl. Mew could market this to my 6-year old cousin to dance around to whilst munching her Sugar Puffs, and they'd sell a billion. Pop is Universal... aaaaaaah, that's the cookie, that's what everyone has forgotten!
Discussion points:
Have you heard this artist/album before? Is this your first time hearing?
Do you enjoy this genre? Is this an album you would have chosen?
Does this album remind you of something you've heard before?
What were the album's strengths or weaknesses?
Was there a standout track for you?
How did you hear the album? Where were you? What was your setup?
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I don't have this album but this post has prompted me to put on And The Glass Handed Kites for the first time in probably 15 years. Nothing against Mew, I enjoy the music but they've definitely slipped through the cracks for me. My go-to for dreampop is usually Asobi Seksu. So much music, so little time...
I enjoy this record but I will say it constantly has come in second compared to The Glass Handed Kites which is my favorite Mew release. So over time I've become a bit less familiar with it.
Hearing these takes me back to the days when I was just discovering Mew. I find these albums to be great for winter season for some reason. There's something icy and glistening about the production and instrumentation.
Love the high-pitched vocals they're known for.
Fave tracks are probably Snow Brigade and Behind the Drapes, though that is subject to change given that I haven't heard it in quite some time.
I really enjoyed this one - it helps that I broadly enjoy the genre, but this was good. The guitar and drum work were fantastic, I love the spacy but sometimes heavy instrumentation underneath the vocals.
I like the comparison with Asobi Seksu, I was also reminded of the Depreciation Guild in parts (minus the chiptune kind of influence that band had) whereas the lyrics and vocals reminded me of something like the Radio Dept.
I am also a sucker for the soft to loud to soft to loud again song structure you get in a song like She Came Home For Christmas which is something you get a lot in post-rock but it's a little different in pop songs. It hits me right.
Thanks for the album of the week post - I'm glad the posts are back and I had missed having some new albums to listen to. I hope everyone reading has a nice day :)
This album is a personal nostalgic favorite of mine. A friend who I share a lot of musical interests with, introduced me to this album when it came out. He hooked me by playing Behind the Drapes which is still my favorite track on the album.
I've been a fan of everything else of theirs since. They're an incredible band live and suggest you see them if they play near you. As someone else said, it is second only to The Glass Handed Kites, which is just a stronger album from start to finish. However as an introduction to the band, this is a great starting point.
It has the catchiness of pop 80s groups such as The Outfield at times, yet also has the layered lush sounds of shoegaze bands of the 80s as well.
I discovered Mew back when this album came out from posters on the Absolute Punk forums. This album is my favorite from them!