After hearing a certain amount of buzz surrounding Mouthbreather and their album, Thank You For Your Patience, there seemed a certain pull for me to listen to this record, if only to check out what the band has to offer. My piquing interest aside, this Richmond, Virginia band continues to turn heads.
One aspect of Mouthbreather on Thank You For Your Patience that stands out immediately is the vocal delivery as John Martin sound like a broken down home that has been well lived in and possibly even overused. Recording wise, the vocals are way out front of the mix, which can at times drown out what is going on musically behind them. When the guitars do peak out from time to time, the angular leads add a little something extra to the passionate sounding tunes; and while listening to the band, I keep thinking of how the music on the album reminds me a bit of Swiz. The lyrics on the album certainly show glimpses of a wry wit and experienced individual pushing memories, slightly jaded disappointments, and intelligent musings into vocal arrangements that compliment the music well; and the background vocals which dot the album are mostly well placed and work well with the songs.
"Daily Bread" contains some poignant lyrics, "Your god is dead but we can still hang out/ Let's pretend I'm not saying, 'I'm better than this,' or 'you're better than that,' and instead we can all create and expand and all be involved." "When a Chemist Dies, Barium" is every bit as quirky sounding as the song the title suggests, and the weird rhythm and accompanying guitar lines are pretty damn good; the track easily stands out amongst the other songs on the album as being notable. Album closer, "Revolution Bummer" ends on a sarcastic note with the air of disappointment hanging from the words, "So let's pretend that the walls don't have eyes, and let's pretend that we're all here as equals," before closing out with a sense of personal defiance, "We'll take a stand against the pain of repetition, we'll hold our own against the same old story."
From a certain perspective, Thank You For Your Patience comes off as an exceedingly fun record with lots of rocking off of socks happening for people to shake their behinds to and run around like maniacs while the music just goes and goes. Mouthbreather seem like they would be a great live band to catch and this record translates some of that manic energy onto this album. In any case, Mouthbreather's Thank You For Your Patience is one hell of a punk rock record.
