The Mondegreens, a five-piece who moved to Seattle from NoCal after their first release, Kid Tell Time, are, as they describe themselves, “harmony-driven indie/rock.” But, their new album is more complex than that. If All Our Neighborhoods were a food, it’d be dark chocolate with sea salt — deep, rich, and smooth, with a punch of rough flavor; if it were an animal, it’d be a swan — beautiful, but not afraid to peck your face in; if it were a book, it would be a Ray Bradbury or Neil Gaiman novel — provoking, heartfelt, but filled with science fiction and the supernatural.
The nine-track album is the first to incorporate the band’s full sound, including guitarist Joe Davis and keyboardist Noah Kapioski. The band’s first album, 2015’s Kid Tell Time, is very folk-y, with a much more acoustic-based sound, resembling that of Fleet Foxes, Gregory Alan Isakov, or Caamp. The 2016 EP, A Passing Phrase, still retains the folk-like quality found in Kid Tell Time, but the group goes edgier and fuller, morphing more into a sound akin to The Decemberists.
Throughout All Our Neighborhoods, the band shifts focus between songs, alternating between the two lead singers, David Friedlander and Russell Rabut. Friedlander embodies more of a rough quality with a lot of belting vocals — think a more soulful version of modern pop-alternative singers like Imagine Dragons’ Dan Reynolds or a less husky version of American Authors’s Zac Barnett. Rabut’s vocals are closer to a darker version of Fleet Foxes’s Robin Pecknold or Lord Huron’s Ben Schneider — smooth and echoey. Or, as Donny and Marie Osmond might say: Rabut is a little bit indie, Friedlander’s a little bit rock ‘n’ roll, and the result is just hit-you-over-the-head, knock-you-on-your-butt fantastic.
The first track, “Bridges,” explores the breaking of relationships and filtering out the toxic people in your life. It’s echoey and dissonant, with a velvety timbre and astoundingly poetic vocals: “should’ve known that you’d drown / cause only you’d try swimming through / my very bridge that you just burned down.”
The opening track establishes very clearly that The Mondegreens are no longer just the laid-back, mellow, coffee-shop sound heard in Kid Tell Time. Drummer Scott Jenkins’s driving, steady beat and the dissonant harmonies of Rabut’s molasses-sweet, smooth lead vocals contrast with the background “oohs” to set a tone from the beginning that these boys aren’t here to soothe you into a daze — they’re here to dump a bucket of cold water over your head.
Second track “Boogeyman” pushes into a faster tempo and starts in a 3 ⁄4 meter only to sit back into a steady 4/4 beat after the first 30 seconds of the track. Instead of Rabut’s indie-smooth vocals, Friedlander’s soulful rock ‘n’ roll comes out with a punch. He thoroughly utilizes dynamics to give the track a real sense of fluctuation — the same fluctuation you feel in the changing of the background meter and rhythms. It’s not jarring or uncomfortable, but intriguing and momentum-driving. Kapioski shines on “Boogeyman,” contributing an ‘80s rock reminiscence to the tone of the track. The guitar stylings of Davis and Rabut take the track from steady and predictable to a take-your-hair-down-and-start-head-banging kind of great. Friedlander’s bass is a splendor, introducing Davis’s guitar solo in the bridge and adding to the overall dynamic energy that makes this the perfect track to drive into the rest of the album.
The third track, “Magnolia,” is my personal favorite. Tying together the best elements of each of the prior tracks, “Magnolia” brings back the poetic, sultry lyrics and vocals of Rabut but has the more classic-rock flavor felt in “Boogeyman.” On first listen, “Magnolia” seems to pose as some type of romantic, heartbreak rock ballad, but, when you sink into it, it reveals this dark, supernatural depth that gives you goosebumps: “come heaven or high water / well I’ll be crawling around on your skin / when I finally came a knocking you should’ve let me in.”
After “Magnolia,” the album takes a minute long layover into a blissful interlude, making Kapioski’s talent the focus for a brief moment before moving into the single “Belltown” and “Mineshaft Eyes,” which both draw on elements from the earlier tracks on the album: Friedlander and Rabut’s contrasting but complementary vocals; the duo’s eloquently mesmerizing lyrics; and the skilled instrumental contributions evident from each band member. The middle section of the album finishes out with “Keys and Locks,” a what-wasn’t-meant-to-be ballad that breaks your heart with its stoic, unapologetic apology. It’s beautiful and complicated and teeming with emotion and abnegation all at the same time.
The penultimate track, “Sharpen Your Claws,” draws out the longing emotion found in “Keys and Locks.” The tune builds into Friedlander’s iconic belting vocals, and Jenkins’s drum-backing pushes the listener into a volcanic whirlwind of hard-hitting, all-encompassing, slow-but-dramatic aching bliss accompanied by another disgustingly great Davis guitar solo.
The album closes out with “A Passing Phrase.” Rabut’s vocals, Kapioski’s rad keyboard highlights, the marvelous background harmonic “shoop-shoo-bops” that we heard back in “Belltown,” rippling shifts between consonance and dissonance, and tempo shifts close out All Our Neighborhoods in a heightened state of ecstatic euphoria.
All Our Neighborhoods throws its listener through a storm of emotions, with insanely good musicianship, versatility, and creativity, while somehow maintaining a sense of cohesiveness. The Mondegreens have no doubt veered off the path they were walking along with their previous works, but they have undoubtedly located their niche. The group has found a way to incorporate harmony, dissonance, bluesy molasses, and indie echoes all in a way that still sounds like one single band. The Mondegreens created something unique with All Our Neighborhoods that is rare — an abstractly meaningful album that is still able to highlight their musical intellect and each band member’s talents.
All Our Neighborhoods
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