MUTEMATHPlay Dead

After 15 years of swerving around and sidestepping any alt-rock expectations, Mutemath have delivered an album that screams diversity and experimentation amidst an indie world of undying garage-rock faithfuls and recyclable dream pop filler. Play Dead is a testament to the band’s well crafted ability to write hook-laden indie rock tunes that are well informed by current trends, yet don’t deny the shine-through of their unique identity.

Play Dead is the type of album most current triple j bands wish they could deliver.

Opener Hit Parade, features glitchy synths and math-rock leaning guitar interludes reminiscent of Everything Everything, exuberating at its crux, sunshine-kissed, wide-eyed indie-rock jubilation. Stroll On and War are strong indicators of the band’s knack for eclectic pysch-pop with dizzying hybrids of festival-core electronica, groove-laden drums and nuanced vocal melodies drenching the tracks. Break The Fever is a New Wave worship hymn with staccato synth lines, quirky triad grooves and skillful hi-top work that’d have Vampire Weekend shaking in their boots/boat shoes.

The album is weakest in its most subdued, evident on the love-sick ballad Placed On Hold and closer, Marching to the End that begs for the energy and urgency the rest of the album provides.

Mutemath clearly have a career to be envied—Play Dead is the type of album most current triple j bands wish they could deliver.

STICK THIS NEXT TO: Tame Impala, New Order, The War On Drugs
STANDOUT TRACKS: War, Hit Parade, Break The Fever