Optimists is the debut LP from Washington D.C. emo/indie-rock outfit Mittenfields. The band’s influences are immediately recognizable: Singer Dave Mann obviously listens to Modest Mouse and Arcade Fire, while the band’s three guitarists draw heavily from 1990s indie and emo classics like Mineral, Built To Spill, and Pavement. If you like those bands and want to hear the same sound again, great; but you won’t get much else when listening to Optimists. However, there are brief moments where the band actually builds on these influences and doesn’t just imitate them, and these saving-grace moments are signs that Mittenfields might be more than just another emo/indie band (but not quite yet).
The band was founded in 2008, the only other thing Mittenfields put out was an EP back in 2011, and their Facebook page describes themselves as “grown man noise pop,” so I can only imagine these are five dudes having fun and just playing these classic influences on the side. And hey, I respect that, because they at least do a good job embracing those influences. I mean, if Mann’s goal was to sound like Arcade Fire’s Win Butler, I’d say he nailed it. The vocals are most interesting, though, when Mann goes away from his Butler blueprint. We hear Mann nearly howl during the second-half of “Birth to Broken Hearts,” which makes him sound like a higher-pitched Paul Banks; and Mann really becomes his own in the final track, “Surprise Me,” singing with a real percussive rhythm and anger rather than just going through the motions of a Butler imitation.
And man, “Surprise Me” really is fantastic. At nine minutes long, it starts off as a pretty tame Modest-Mouse-vocals-and-Pavement-guitars recipe, but the song slowly evolves into a huge rocker. The final three-minute instrumental is an expansive guitar tapestry until settling down into a gentle, ringing closer that makes sense for an emo/indie album. That instrumental leaves me wanting more, and you can find more on Optimists, but only in one-minute bursts here and there.
Like on the opening and title track: This is probably the song that most takes advantage of the three guitarists and really rocks out for the last 20 seconds - it’s epic and makes me think of Titus Andronicus or Diarrhea Planet. But it’s only 20 seconds! Mittenfields, why did you suddenly cut that jam off at 20 seconds? The cut-off is so sudden that it’s almost like the ensuing disappointment was intentional.
The rest of these almost-epic-but-not-quite instrumentals can usually be found at the end of tracks, which makes the songs sound a bit formulaic. The end of “Telepathic Windows” really builds, like the middle of a Brighten the Corners song; the end of “Doctor! Doctor! This Heart Isn’t Beating” sounds like just the beginning of another Titus-Andronicus-like jam; and the end of “Mr Hope” has a nice balance of rhythm and lead guitar. The songs that probably best glue the vocals and guitars together are “Goldmine” - where both the vocals and guitars stay energetic throughout, rather than taking turns - and “Birth to Broken Hearts” - where the Interpol-like minimalist guitar work goes well with Mann’s Paul Banks imitation.
I feel like I’ve referenced a ton of bands in this album review, and that’s because you can’t help but hear them all when you listen to Optimists. Maybe Mittenfields are still trying to discover themselves with this first LP, but they’re simply too weighted in the past to be much more than, well, the past. But to be optimistic, I’m looking forward to the future: Optimists has enough potential that on their next record we might see more of Mittenfields and less of Modest Mouse et. al.; I’ll keep my ears peeled.
