I do a lot of local album reviews. I've tackled genres ranging from melodic punk, to lo-fi folk, to instrumental surf... and pretty much everything in between. I'm also going to throw it out there that I've been slinging a guitar and singing sad poetry for the last seven or eight years in a few Buffalo-area bands. I guess what I am trying to say is I've been a part of the Buffalo music scene for long enough to feel comfortable making the following claim: there hasn't ever been another band to come out of Buffalo that sounds quite like Mosaics.
Mosaics is about to release their debut EP, a five-song offering entitled Since Before, Always After. Frontman Zach DuPuis, guitarists Steve Karpik and Austin Dorr, bassist Andy Wesner, and drummer Jeff Trehy have followed the route of many an impressionable teenage musician. It's a common story, really. Like any veteran musician, these men have come from bands that have fallen. Bands from genres that they've all grown out of. I'm not gonna single anyone out, but there are some ex-pop-punkers and some ex-hardcore kids that make up the ranks of Mosaics. It's not that any of them should be embarrassed about that, or even that these genres aren't relevant or important. It's just that after four or five years of opening for New Found Glory wannabes and hocking tickets to kids that somehow manage to stay the same age while you grow into an old creepy twenty-something with a shitty beard, something snaps inside of you. All of a sudden you have an apartment and bills and a girlfriend. Somehow you're not so angsty, but you still feel passionate about making music. So you say to yourself, "Wait a minute, I want to sit down with my guitar, have a beer, and make noises that sound like baby whales." If I had to guess, that's where Mosaics derives all of their passion from - not so much the baby whale noises, but finding that deep rooted rhythm where those droning guitar lines give them shivers.
"Since Before" starts off with one of the most epic moments on the EP. Four measures full of washy cymbal hits and huge guitars on one slightly bent chord. But Mosaics quickly dives into a territory that is more telling of their overall style. It's that particular blend of indie rock full of clean guitars with riffy leads. It's full of deep thumping bass with nimble flourishes. And it's full of borderline ridiculous drumbeats. They will probably get this comparison until the day they dissolve, but it sounds like Explosions in the Sky with a vocalist. DuPuis is always dueling with a twangy lead guitar, but at the end of the song, he's joined by the rest of his bandmates in some sort of sing-along group-shout. It's an interesting addition to a band where you would be expecting strings in place of gang-vocals, but it definitely works. It must just be the inner pop punk/hardcore in these guys that hasn't quite died yet.
"By Sea" is a definite contender for best song on the album. Oftentimes you'll find Mosaics layering their songs with riff-laden verses that control the melody just as much as DuPuis' vocals. But here they fall into a relaxed groove (in more than one section, I might add), taking a delicate riff and making sure it never enters that abrasive or obnoxious territory. A highlight of this track is around 1:36 where DuPuis sings, "I traded everything I knew to delve into the open blue" while Karpik/Dorr lays down a riff that is somehow reminiscent of a small wave. The album is full of riffs like this, but this is one of the few that really stuck out to me.
Next is "Always After," the wildcard of the album. Mosaics usually taps into the "epic" or "urgent" spectrum of atmospheric melodic indie-rock (or whatever we're calling them at this point), but "Always After" takes a groovy strummed guitar and emphasizes it with what is probably the coolest bass part on the album. Eventually they burst into a chorus that is musically, quite bright and happy. We find DuPuis singing, "there's no place for me here," which contrasts with the otherwise upbeat mood, but this doesn't hold the instrumentalists in the band back, because eventually, DuPuis is echoed by a chorus of ahhhs. I am chuckling to myself as I write this, because again, the part is absolutely complimentary to the music and not at all inappropriate, but I just have to say it - there are those gang vocals again. I guess what they say is true, "you can take the hXc kid out of the band, but you can't take the hXc out of the kid."
"Wake" showcases some of the most nimble vocals on Since Before, Always After. The entire song is quite impressive, albeit darker than it's predecessors. But from 2:20 onwards is where it really starts to shine, especially vocally. DuPuis continues with a vaguely nautical theme, singing, "You left me to sink, you left me to go alone" before launching into what is probably the coolest drum part on the album. For what it's worth, Trehys hands are equally as nimble as DuPuis' vocal range - whipping out a blistering cymbal/snare drum buildup before the band screams (I'm sure I don't need to mention that expression about hXc kids again) in unison: "Tell me I'm right!" What follows are DuPuis' catchiest moments on the album. When I first listened to him sing, "Followed blindly, let me show you something, let me go," it was stuck in my head for days. He follows this up with the highest vocal note on the album, and it all ends up feeling powerful and emotional. These are the moments when Mosaics lets their unbridled energy out. Except in this case, it's more tangible emotionally as opposed to something more straightforward like a pogo or head bang.
Mosaics wraps up Since Before, Always After with another best-song contender, "Antiquated." Following in "Wake's" footsteps, "Antiquated" takes a more urgent vibe and runs with it, and boy does it work. This is Mosaics at their most succinct, taking the best aspects of all the aforementioned songs and running with it. What we're able to enjoy is a bunch of part-appropriate riffs, epic drum outros, tasteful gang vocals (wink, wink), and a strong delivery from DuPuis. What we can only hope for is that these guys will continue to hone their craft so that they can become the unofficial Sigur Ros of Buffalo. I don't know about you, but I'm excited to have been able to label a new Buffalo band on a spectrum other than dad-rock.
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