Mates of State – Re-Arrange Us

retroDan — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 19:52:14 +0000

Fans of Mates of State can be heard across the blogosphere griping about how Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel have turned away from their signature organ & drum-based sound from their early days. But it seems to me their latest album Re-Arrange Us is simply a natural maturation of a husband-wife duo that have been making music together for nearly a decade. You really can’t realistically expect a songwriting duo to continually crank out the same sounding stuff over and over again. Change is inevitable over time and so has the sound of Mates of State. And to my ears, it’s for the better. Essentially Gardner and Hammel have realized the limiting factor of cheesy keyboard sounds and the carnival-esque vibe. So, their musical arrangements have become more conventional with piano, bass and drums at the core of each track. What hasn’t gone away thankfully are their sing-along melodies and tenacious hooks. The album, Re-Arrange Us, is full of them including their solid album opener “Get Better”, “Lullaby Haze” and what’s most likely their strongest tune to date, “The Re-Arranger”. The one thing that does weigh the album down a bit are the lightweight lyrics. The words seem to be secondary to the music. When you hear lots of “da-da-da-da-da” and “now, now, now. Ho! Ho! Ho!” sung over parts of choruses, it’s pretty telling. Even so, the album is very enjoyable and will probably end up being one of my favorites of the year.

Tracklist:
1 Get Better 3:27
2 Now 2:39
3 My Only Offer 2:58
4 The Re-Arranger 4:28
5 Jigsaw 3:14
6 Blue and Gold Print 4:22
7 Help Help 3:44
8 You Are Free 3:19
9 Great Dane 3:04
10 Lullaby Haze 4:25

catch Mates of State Live:
Aug 1 2008 Lollapalooza-Grant Park Chicago, Illinois
Aug 1 2008 Double Door (Lollapalooza aftershow) Chicago, Illinois
Aug 3 2008 Grog Shop w/ Judgment Day Cleveland Heights, Ohio
Aug 4 2008 Lee’s Palace w/ Judgment Day Toronto, Ontario
Aug 5 2008 La Sala Rossa w/ Judgment Day Montreal, Quebec
Aug 6 2008 The Tralf w/ Judgment Day Buffalo, New York
Aug 7 2008 Highline Ballroom New York, New York
Aug 8 2008 All Points West Festival Liberty State Park, New Jersey
Aug 11 2008 Paradise Rock Club w/ Judgment Day Boston, Massachusetts
Aug 20 2008 NPR – World Cafe www.npr.org
Sep 12 2008 Culture Room Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Sep 13 2008 Real Big Deal Festival Gainesville, Florida
Sep 14 2008 FSU-Club Down Under Tallahassee, Florida
Sep 26 2008 Austin City Limits Festival Austin, Texas
Sep 27 2008 Midpoint Music Festival Newport, Kentucky
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Mates of State – Re-Arrange Us