I'm just going to be honest here and let you all in on a little secret of mine. The thing is there aren't really any bands that have come down the pike in the last five years that I have actually really liked. Oh sure, there's been a heap of albums that have graced my ears in the half decade that I thoroughly enjoyed. However, more than not nothing has really made a lasting impression on me in the long run. I know this has more to do with that I hear way too much new music that my brain couldn't possibly sort it out year after year. It takes repeated listens to a certain release to make it finally sink in as something really good or just something I liked at the moment.
Make Do and Mend is one of those bands I liked from the get go. Even though they had a few kinks to work out with their first EP, We're All Just Living, I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Here was this rather young Connecticut playing melodic soulful post-hardcore in the vein of bands I like to call, "Oh that stuff Jason likes and no one else gives two hoots about." Bands like Ex Number Five, Thirty-Two Frames, Shades Apart, and King for a Day. Yeah maybe besides Shades Apart, these bands aren't exactly household names, but man I just loved them to death. And what know what? I love Make Do and Mend to death too. They surely don't need to be as unheard of as Ex Number Five or King for a Day were. So here's your chance and you'd be stupid not to pick up Bodies of Water from your favorite record store or online distro.
Bodies of Water takes everything great from We're All Just Living and makes it so much better. The songs themselves are a testament to good writing from the hooks, head bobbing choruses, and the gruff "sick day" vocals. I've seen other reviews saying this bands sounds like Hot Water Music, but I am not hearing it here at all. Just because someone sounds like they can go through a pack of Lucky Strikes every day doesn't mean they are automatically from the swamps of Gainesville, Florida. What we do have hear is a catchy band that writes from the heart without forgetting to rock as well as being down to earth.
I need more than these five songs. I surely need more bands like Make Do and Mend in my life. I need more music that actually sticks around in my head. I need to be more appreciative of good bands that are putting good music in the here and now. If more bands sounded like Make Do and Mend I don't see any reason why this couldn't happen. Great songs, great release.
