Montt Mardie
Science
Hybris
The Montt Mardie full-length that crossed the Atlantic and arrived in my stereo earlier this year received a Scandinavian springtime reception from me: pleasant, but still a little chilly. Surprisingly, this four-song stop-gap EP fares much better than its predecessor. Two of the discs tracks come from the Drama follow-up double album Valentine/Chameleon. Mardie’s auteur David Pagmar seems to have done his pop homework much more thoroughly this time around. Beginning with the orchestral pop gem “1969” which rides high on its soaring horn section, Pagmar laments being born into the wrong era, but making peace with his place in life and his unfulfilled childhood dreams of the Apollo astronauts. It even goes so far as to pay homage to The Cure’s great emotionally tumultuous affirmation, “Boys Don’t Cry” by copping its guitar melody in the song’s final seconds. “My Girlfriend is in the Grand Prix Finals” explodes with infectious euro-disco right off the mark, keeping a glorious beat for a surprisingly sweet tale of a girlfriend’s high speed dream. Bringing things back to the cusp of the ’80s, “The Pilot” has more than enough John Taylor-isms for a Duran Duran comparison. The closer “The Memoirs of a Never Doubting Scientist” is another achingly beautiful nerdy lament of longing and isolation, though this time it’s set against minor chords and an acoustic guitar. Science is Swedish pop at its pinnacle, baroque, brooding, absurdly funny and moving.
Hyrbis: http://www.hybrism.com
