Math And Science
Math And Science
Brick Red
Math and Science is John Wolf, a one-man band musician with a regular gig as drummer for P.J. Olsson, who named this side project for the two subjects he had the most trouble with in school. Here he surrounds himself with effects pedals, drum machines, and samplers to create a surprisingly homegrown sound for his sensitive guy pop songs.
The cheesy computerized beats and synths on the opening “Disguise” do little to undermine a repeated chorus that will dig into your brain and not let go. Nor do the weird sound effects and vocal enhancements mar tracks like “Words,” on which Wolf sings: “Words are slow and complicated/Words are everything we’re not.”
Wolf comes off as a much-less jaded version of The Eels with the same knack for creating great melodies. Indeed, Wolf’s lyrics on tracks like “In Your Movie,” while nothing terribly profound, seem touchingly innocent, unpretentious, and sincere in our cynical age. Wolf sings about wanting to be fifteen again on “Fifteen”: “Don’t know what it’s like when you have to say goodbye/To the things you cannot find/To the things you never got right.”
This is a consistently winning debut record that is much less difficult than either math or science.
