Mirrored is truly unlike anything I've heard. Most experimental rock you hear out there is very bizarre, and this is no exception, but what this album has that I haven't seen much with experimental is an incredible sense of playfulness. The majority of these songs are very upbeat and will have you bouncing in your seat. It's refreshing to hear a very friendly sounding album in a genre mostly filled with dark and creepy vibes all around. If Mirrored was a person it would be a ceaselessly hyperactive child. Not the one that gets on your nerves within the first five minutes, but the one that keeps you amused for an entire evening while enjoying the attention.
Now Battles is a "super-group," composed entirely of musicians who've already been made famous through other work. But since I've heard very little of this band's related projects, I'm not going to go into detail on that. But it is very apparent that every single person in this group is incredibly talented. The vocalist has a very bizarre way of doing things, in one song sounding just like those videos you find on youtube of songs being sped up so that the singer sounds like he just sucked a bunch of helium. If you can understand anything that he's saying without reading the lyrics at the same time, then I applaud you because I sure couldn't. But it works so well with the tone of the album that you'll be loving it before long. However the vocals aren't the biggest part, they aren't even featured on all of the songs. Some songs even have some elements of progressive rock, with long breaks and odd song structures that you wouldn't expect.
Now, it's hard for me to specify what kind of person I'd recommend this album to. I can see how a lot of people would just find this stuff way too weird and would dismiss it after a few songs, if that, but I think the majority of people who would read this blog would at least find some enjoyment in it, so I just say give it a listen and judge for yourself.
Highlights: Atlas, Tonto, Snare Hanger
Download here.
