The Muggabears - Night Choreography

It's a rare thing for a young band to pursue making a record that appears to shift the direction of their sound away from that which their growing fan base has started falling in love with, but that's precisely what The Muggabears have done with their brand new seven song EP Night Choreography. Recorded in 7 days (starting New Years Day) at Headgear Recording by Dan Long (the same guy who recorded their previous EP Teenage Cop), Night Choreography is a glimpse into the dark side of what makes The Muggabears tick. It's a glorious twenty four and a half minutes of guitar rock madness, sadness, paranoia, and joy that calls out to early '90s indie-rock influences while somehow sounding exactly like January 2007.

Night Choreography begins with a splash. The tight wham bam thank you Mugga of "We Were Priests" almost belies what you're going to hear in the remaining six songs. Almost. It's at once the kind of song I'd expect from The Muggabears but then also is a song that hints at something new and different beneath the surface. An invitation. With swirling guitars begging you downward "We Were Priests" stands as a signpost marking the start of the descent into the night. A point of no return. By the time the vocals kick in on track two (the outstanding "The Goth Tarts") it's far too late. You're in The Muggabears' world now.

"Automatic Others" revisits familiar Sonic Youth territory and, with its tribal fills and guitar rocking, is a song I could see many people liking a lot. In fact, I'd not be surprised if it later turns out to be a favorite of mine from this record but for now it's merely a bridge to the revival twang of track four, "Dead Kid Kicks". With a bit of a Cinerama/Wedding Present sound to the song, and with the continued Bonham fills and the building and collapsing riffs, it should come as no surprise that "Dead Kid Kicks" is the first song from Night Choreography that really grabbed me. It's the heart of Night Choreography and is a song that should win the band even more new fans.

The second half of the EP features three more tracks of the darker Muggabear variety. From the Bizarro Bacharach moments of "Rings" to the climactic haunting thrash of "Now I've Got A Sword", Night Choreography finds The Muggabears constructing a sonic world imminently ready for the dissonant slow collapse of "She-Bears". It's a rather choice* ending to the record and the EP should make a rather choice addition to your music collection when it comes out in late March/early April. Until then you're going to have no choice but to see The Muggabears live** if you'd like to hear these new songs.

Listen:
"We Were Priests"
"Dead Kid Kicks"

Visit The Muggabears on MySpace.

The Muggabears Live:
27 January @ Mercury Lounge
16 February @ Union Hall
17 February @ The Delancey
2 March @ Sin-é

*choice: a slang word almost made very popular in the '80s by Ferris Bueller. almost. I think it's time to give the word a second chance. yeah? choice.
**you should NOT miss the chance to see The Muggabears this Saturday night at Mercury Lounge. it's going to be SO choice.