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Mates of State

All Day EP

Label: Polyvinyl Release Date: 24/01/2005

7480
carrotrope by Jesus Chigley January 26th, 2005

Somewhere in the not too distant future, every division of our psychiatric artillery will turn to the ever-sunny outlook of Mates Of State to offer respite to us poor, be-scarfed indie kids as our jeans soak up too much rainwater and our fringes grow ever more unmanageable in the harsh winter months. 'Head colds!', we cry. 'Seasonal Affective Disorder!', we moan.

Consider this your prescription, then. For the uninitiated, here are a married couple who tour relentlessly to joyous audiences. Kori Gardner takes the majority of keyboard duties with husband Jason providing the drums while both offer vocal harmonies, the sweetness of which could force citrus fruits to explode from several miles away. The All Day EP features four tracks which compound their indie-pop sensibilities but also expand on the songs found on 2003's Team Boo LP.

'Drop & Anchor' strays from the fractured song structures of Team Boo and builds a wonderfully cyclic form around a simple piano line which swells gradually, while 'Goods (All In Your Head)' attacks with a liberal sprinkling of whoa-oh!s and stuttering keyboards straight from the word go. The minimal instrumentation of the EP makes little difference, the songs appearing as pre-packaged pop gems which only improve with age. The final track, a cover of 'Starman', neatly punctuates proceedings with a suitably bombastic chorus complete with handclaps.

Ditch your military strength cough syrups and get this down your throat instead.

  • 8
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