Album Details

• Artist: Mewithoutyou
• Album: Catch For Us The Foxes
• Label: Tooth & Nail Records
• Year of Release: 2004
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: kev_stev on 2007-06-30

Following an impressive first album, mewithoutYou return with Catch for Us the Foxes: a noticeably less aggressive release that emphasizes lead singer Aaron Weiss' truest passion: spirituality.  Whereas on [A->B] Life Weiss screamed with resentment, here he yearns for forgiveness and growth.  The departure from Weiss' shrill screams allows Foxes to center around Weiss' brooding prose, which he speaks/yells/chants in an always-captivating way

MewithoutYou expand upon their biblical allusions on their Foxes, writing songs based upon scriptures--sometimes directly quoting the Bible. On "The Soviet," Weiss quotes John 4:16 when he sings, "God is love [and love is real]" and also bases the opening song, "Torches Together" around Matthew 11:17, which states "We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn."  This is not just the band flaunting their A+s in Bible Studies; the effect of the album's imagery and allusions make Foxes feel like a religious experience in itself.

The best example mewithoutYou offers from a transition between [A->B] Life and Catch for Us the Foxes is "Paper Hanger," as it vacillates in dynamics, delievering  clashing guitars over a shrilling yelp from Weiss (immediately followed by subtly spoken words).  Following "Paper Hanger" begins "My Exit, Unfair" where the album rages forward; the ominous sound heard on mewithoutYou's first album returns and the guitars become more intense as the drums get progressively harder.

Foxes is an exceptional release from a band that understands why they make music--to create passionate albums that conveys their faith.

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