Send "The Mary Onettes " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 When we last left the Mary Onettes, the Swedish quartet was diligently channeling the sounds of the 1980s without a lick of the irony that often imbues such revivalism. Their retro moves seemed less about building upon the decade's musical legacy as encapsulating its finer points for consumption by a new generation. Which, hey, was a perfectly cool way to go about things. At their best, the band positively nailed the bruised romanticism and exquisite melancholy that marked a certain strain of that decade's best pop, and besides, most of the signature propagators of said pop were by then long gone or, worse yet, distant shadows of their former selves. Plus it's not like you'll catch any of the old guard in the tiny-ish clubs and early-afternoon festival slots the Mary Onettes are used to playing, so for those seeking stadium-sized grandeur in parlor-intimate spaces, the band has something relatively unique to offer. The self-titled The Mary Onettes from 2007, in fact, turned out not unlike many records from the era it emulated: several excellent singles or would-be singles ("Lost", "Slow", "Void", "Under the Guillotine"), the token slow jam ("The Laughter"), an effective opener and closer ("Pleasure Songs" and "Still", respectively), and, well, some not terribly memorable stuff in between. All of which makes Islands, the Mary Onettes' follow-up, an at once enchanting and frustrating listen. Yes, the high points of the previous record are duplicated here-- but so too are the same problems that occasionally bogged down that record.Opener "Puzzles" actually betters The Mary Onettes' lead track, the great-tune-with-questionable-lyrics "Pleasure Songs", galloping along on a spritely keyboard riff and setting an appropriate tone for the nine tracks to follow. "Let's talk about what feels strange on the inside," vocalist Philip Ekström offers, an apt enough invitation to the scores of disaffected youngsters with which this sort of music has always resonated best. "Dare", "Symmetry", and "The Disappearance of My Youth", then, are the hot singlez here, and each has the band showing off a few new tricks. "Symmetry" gets extra sentimental with the strings, "Dare" soars near the heights of "Lost" on the strength of plenty of "ooohs" and "ahhhs", and "Disappearance" features-- what else?-- a children's choir joining in to sing the title line. Their brief major label dalliance a half decade behind them, it's clear the Mary Onettes' ambitions haven't wavered in the least. Elsewhere, a few numbers-- notably the slow jam ("Cry for Love") and the closer ("Bricks")-- fall short of their counterparts on LP1. The former lacks the poise and grace of "The Laughter", while the latter generally sounds like a limp rehash of several earlier tracks on Islands, very much in want of a distinguishing feature. At least "Still" settled on a strident march beat that evoked a spirited departure off into the sunset (or, better yet, the rain); "Bricks" just kind of meanders off in a mid-tempo haze....full text |
| 411mania |
| 1. Puzzles 2. Dare 3. Once I Was Pretty 4. Cry For Love 5. The Disappearance of My Youth 6. God Knows I Had Plans 7. Symmetry 8. Century 9. Whatever Saves Me 10. Bricks They say what’s old is new again, and the second album by Swedish “dream poppers” The Mary Onettes is no exception. After a few listens to their second Labrador Records release Islands, I fully expected that I’d been transported back in time, to a dingy basement frequented by faceless, nameless imitators of The Cure. Thankfully I wasn’t, because I was all out of pancake makeup. From their vocals to their instrumentation, The Mary Onettes come off as a carefully curated nostalgia act which can be quite off-putting at first. The jangly synths and overly-enunciated, layered vocals of the album opening “Puzzles” sounds like a Cutting Crew B-side. Perhaps the strangest part of the group’s 80s fixation is that they have apparently come to it over time- I listened to a few songs from their debut album which have a much more modern feel. Yet on Islands’ tracks like the first single “Dare,” even when guitars are featured, they are quickly overwhelmed by synthesized strings. Unfortunately, the pitch of frontman Philip Ekstrom on the chorus is way too similar to the tone of those synths and, as a result, “Dare” is a tough listen. The majority of the songs on Islands were written in the wake of the deaths of several Ekstrom’s friends and family members. The scarring impact of those losses weighs heavy on the album, particularly on mournful songs like “The Disappearance of My Youth,” which find The Mary Onettes contemplating life, death, aging, and everything in between. And while the use of children to sing background vocals on a song about lost youth is a little obvious, the result is undeniably poignant. With song titles like “Once I was Pretty”, some of The Mary Onettes’ work seems self-consciously precious and fragile. On the brooding “Cry for Love”, Ekstrom sings “Because of your father/You have a hole in your trust/and when I see you hide it/I wish I could remove it from your heart.” While this might be music to the ears of a 15 year old girl convinced that “no one understands me,” they made me feel guilty, like I was reading someone’s therapy notes. Despite the occasional cloying nature of the lyrics, Islands is an enjoyable listen once you embrace your inner Lloyd Dobler and immerse yourself the time capsule sound. The distinct styling of the vocals gives a cathartic and triumphant feel to more upbeat tracks like “Symmetry.” “Century” has a slightly more modern feel, as the guitars and drums are more prominently featured. As a result, the heavy echo effects on Ekstrom’s vocal are more reminiscent of Band of Horses then Alphaville. Islands ends on a high note with the epic “Bricks,” which could easily have been soundtracked the final scene of a lost 80s movie....full text |
| Austintownhal |
| A few years back I walked into this band, unintentionally, and they’re melodic popscapes have since been part of my valued collection. Really, it’s hard not to love a good band from Sweden. Alas, The Mary Onettes return with their latest album Islands. It’s still got that sweeping emotional grab to it, though listeners familiar with their older work will be able to see that the band sounds much larger than they ever sounded in the past. “Puzzles” just steps up the band’s reputation from the get go. You’ll find that shrouded wall of noise opening the album, but the electronic bounce that brings the song full circle will catch you in its grandiosity. It bares the mark of Ekstrom’s delightful vocals, warm and dark one minute, then pushing for the upper limits of catchy melody. This is all followed by “Dare,” which was issued on the Dare EP earlier this year. Two for two from the opening moments. One of the interesting steps aside for the group comes on “Cry of Love.” It’s full of negative space, almost a dark void, but filled with Ekstrom’s brooding vocals. And in the middle of the song, level drumming comes in, almost as if it’s meant to just move the song along until the end. This is one of the band’s moments where they show restraint, scaling back the melodic attack on your ears, quietly sitting in the middle of the album....full text |
The Mary Onettes lyrics
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