mewithoutYou called it quits officially in 2022, but for over twenty years they were one of the more unique bands out there in whatever scene they were in. Rock? Post-hardcore? Indie? Their sound was sometimes heavy, sometimes quiet, and sometimes almost psychedelic, but always their own. They even have an album that some have described as “campfire songs”. With unique vocals and lyrics from frontman Aaron Weiss that run the gamut from struggles with faith, to the end of the world, to a deer on the side of the highway looking into your soul and handing out life lessons, mewithoutYou put out seven solid albums in their two decades as a band. So let’s take their creativity, art, and hard work and put a value and number to it, as is the American way.
7. [Untitled] (2018)
It can be hard to rank the albums of a band that’s never put out a bad one. Inevitably a good or even great album has to be ranked last. And that can feel harsh, because “[Untitled]” is a solid album. There’s nothing wrong with it, and given more time, it’ll probably move up this list a little further. It also would’ve been fascinating to see where the band would’ve gone after this. Like all mwY albums, it starts great. But the album’s high mark is the second track “Julia (or, ‘Holy to the LORD’ on the Bells of Horses).” A heavy, mid-tempo banger that features mostly singing, but hits an emotional peak at the end with Aaron’s signature scream. The song also had a great “Back to the Future”-themed music video, showing the band’s humorous side. And age. The rest of the album is still killer, but it never feels like it hits the high point of this track again.
Play it again: “Julia (or, ‘Holy to the LORD’ on the Bells of Horses),” “[dormouse sighs],” “9:27 a.m., 7/29”
Skip it: mwY doesn’t have a lot of skippable tracks, but “2,459 Miles” never really reaches the epic peak that it feels like it should, so just kinda drags.
6. Ten Stories (2012)
mewithoutYou’s triumphant (for some) return to their more classic tried and true style following a dabble with a lighter sound, “Ten Stories” is a concept album about a train of circus animals that crashes. You know, that old chestnut. Along the way, screamy Aaron shows up after a (sort of) absence on the previous “It’s All Crazy…” blending that album’s fable-like lyrics with more personal ones. Not to mention a few guest spots by Hayley Williams of Paramore. This album also marks the official entry of new guitarist Brandon Beaver of the immensely underrated Philly band Buried Beds, which seemed to breathe new life into the rock elements of mwY’s sound. A solid album, but when you’re a band that has no misses, this one falls behind a few of their stronger efforts.
Play it again: “Fox’s Dream of the Log Flume,” “Fiji Mermaid,” “All Circles”
Skip it: “Aubergine” has a poor placement in the track listing, and slows everything down, right as things are taking off, so often gets a skip.
5. Pale Horses (2015)
Albums about the apocalypse can kinda go either way. Thankfully this one fucks. Aaron certainly has some yelps and screams in their prior album “Ten Stories,” but nothing gets to the vocal cord-shredding level of “Red Cow.” This album sort of feels like “Brother Sister’s” grim sibling, as they are both best listened to in their entirety. Where “Brother Sister” seemed to find some semblance of hope in the waning Bush years, “Pale Horses” showed up during the rise of Trumpism, and essentially abandons all hope (at least as much as mwY is willing to). And like any album that should be experienced as a whole, this album ends on a hell of a song. “Rainbow Signs” starts slow and dreamy, but halfway it switches to a doomy fist-pumper about the world ending. Always fun to watch artists you love give up on humanity. And I defy any other band to make the lyrics “two pounds of barley, six pounds of buckwheat” seem as hopelessly grim as mewithoutYou.
Play it again: “Rainbow Signs,” “Red Cow,” “Magic Lantern Days”
Skip it: “Watermelon Ascot” just doesn’t hit the way other songs on this album do. Do better, “Watermelon Ascot.”
4. [A-B] Life (2002)
Sometimes debut albums are an embarrassing glimpse at the past. Other times they are an early high water mark that is impossible to reach again. Luckily “[A-B] Life” is neither. It’s a solid post-hardcore record with raw energy, emotional (albeit sometimes too emotional) lyrics, and a sound that, at the time, felt both unique and familiar. This album came out the same year as Norma Jean’s “Bless the Martyr, Kiss the Child,” and for many, their introduction to Aaron Weiss was his guest part at the end of “Memphis Will Be Laid to Waste” otherwise known as “the cool part at the end of that one Norma Jean song (it really is the best part). So much of this album could come off as pretentious. But it just doesn’t. Instead, it’s a genuinely emotional album by an (at the time) young band, who seemingly didn’t even know they’d struck gold.
Play it again: “Silencer,” “Gentlemen,” “The Ghost”
Skip it: As far as interludes go, both “(A)” and “(B)” are interesting. But they’re still just interludes. And we don’t have time for that.
3. It’s All Crazy! It’s All False! It’s All a Dream! It’s Alright (2009)
From what we can tell most punks have some sort of hippy phase. Whether you rebrand it as living in a vegan commune, taking part in environmental direct action, or dabbling in “folk-punk,” it’s really just a hippie phase, and there’s nothing wrong with it. mewithoutYou’s hippy phase was “It’s All Crazy.” And like a genuinely good hippy phase, it was both a surprise and also not at all a surprise. Folky jams with lyrics filled with symbolic lyrics about vegetables and gardens, along with Aaron’s typical questioning of.. everything. At the time some fans were not very stoked about the somewhat quieter and sing-songier version of the band. But as time has passed, much of this album became indispensable to the live show, and this album is now looked back upon as a successful dabble in new directions.
Play it again: “Cattail Down,” “The Fox, The Crow and The Cookie,” “Allah, Allah, Allah”
Skip it: People love it, but “The King Beetle on A Coconut Estate” really drags until the last minute or so. And we got shit to do.
2. Catch For Us the Foxes (2004)
For those of us who saw the brilliance in “[A-B] Life,” this album was vindication. This album put them on the map, and it totally makes sense. Taking the raw energy of their first album, mwY brought an arguably new element to their sound: an undeniable rhythm section. While the drum and bass were hugely important on their first effort, they are what makes this album. And that’s saying something because this album has a vocal performance that made anyone skeptical of Aaron’s styling an instant fan. The instrumentation on the album threads all the needles perfectly. There’s what’s essentially a 16th note breakdown at the end of “Paper Hanger” and it is so simple, that it shouldn’t work. But it goes harder than any pig-squeal, downtuned, deathcore breakdown you’ve ever heard. It’s kinda messed up how good this album is. Nobody sounds like mewithoutYou. And this is the album that solidified that sound.
Play it again: “The Soviet,” “Paper Hanger,” “Torches Together,” “January 1979”
Skip it: none
1. Brother, Sister (2006)
Many would say “Catch For Us the Foxes” is the band’s best album. But we’re feeling sassy today, so it’s “Brother, Sister” for us. There are a few songs on this album, that on their own, don’t necessarily deliver. And yet, as a complete album, this is the high point for the band. Front to back this album is an experience. Taking the instrumentation and musicality to the next level, the band expanded on the rhythmic buildup of “Catch For Us the Foxes” by adding more melody and overall catchiness to their formula without sacrificing any of the power of their earlier work. Much of this is due to Ricky Mazzotta, the band’s drummer. He had been integral to the band’s sound on their first two full-length albums, but on “Brother, Sister” his simple but engaging drumming is a feature that makes you return again and again to songs. And a couple of very well-placed guest spots from Sunny Day Real Estate’s Jeremy Enigk bring two of the album’s strongest songs to a legendary level. The vibe is just right for this album. It isn’t necessarily hopeful per se, but it has elements of hope. But there’s also anger, fear, sadness. All the things. If you don’t “get” mewithoutYou after listening to this album, you never will.
Play it again: “Messes of Men,” “The Dryness and the Rain,” “A Glass Can Only Spill What it Contains,” “O Porcupine”
Skip it: Listening all the way through? No skips. But the “Spider” songs don’t do much on their own.
Mr. Bateman can call himself many things—an investment banker, a music lover, an unbridled psychopath—but one thing he has no business calling himself is a chef. His preparation of human flesh is amateurish at best, and he knows it, saying only of his brief fore into cannibalism “I tried to cook a little.” One look at his refrigerator tells you everything you need to know. Note the severed human head on the upper rack. It should be on the bottom shelf to prevent dripping and cross-contamination. No cook so careless has any business serving human flesh.
The food of the cannibalistic humanoid underground dwelling people is extremely minimalist and relies entirely on the freshness of the ingredients. That being said, it’s not to be missed by anyone who considers themself a true human foodie. Instead of chasing flavor-of-the-month trends like brain toast or red wine intestine reductions, C.H.U.D cuisine invites you to indulge in the simple pleasure of biting right into a live human throat, warm and beating. An acquired taste to be sure, but once you’ve developed a palate for it, nothing else will do.
The Cutman Cafe may be a vegetarian diner, but its use of human flesh is more or less an open secret. Head chef Anwar Namtut knows that a chef’s primary job is to delegate, and even though he’s a severed brain in a jar, his dishes, prepared by his nephews, all contain his personal touch. If you find yourself in the area on a Tuesday, the weekly special is not to be missed, but anytime you find yourself at Cutman’s you’ll enjoy quality human flesh in an unpretentious setting and rest assured knowing your patronage will help resurrect the ancient Lumerian goddess Sheetar.
Combining the comfort of traditional Chinese dim sum with the restorative potential of stem cells, Aunt Mei’s humble dumpling eatery is a must-stop spot for foodies and seekers of eternal youth alike. Whichever camp you fall in, you’ll find yourself coming back to Aunt Mei’s again and again. For those of the veggie/vegan persuasion her scallion pancakes are above competent, but know that when people talk about Aunt Mei’s dim sum they are talking about the fetus dumplings.
It’s old hat to insult the inferiority of British cooking, but there’s just nothing quite like a British meat pie. How did a shop once heralded as having “The worst pies in London” go on to become the most popular meat pie/barber shop/escape rooms of all time? It’s all thanks to the intervention of chef Sweeney Todd. Todd is a man on the path of revenge for an unspeakable wrong committed upon him. When you eat one of his pies, you are both figuratively and literally tasting that revenge.
The sheer variety of prepared human flesh on the Laemie’s kitchen table is bombastic. Steaks, chops, burgers, roasts, hot dogs, and sausages of all varieties, a cornucopia of cuts and styles all coming from the forbidden and versatile long-pig. The offerings are prepared in a traditional, nonpretentious home-meal style, complete with that most special ingredient of all, love. If you’re lucky enough to get an invite to one of their diners you won’t just taste the family you’re eating, you’ll taste family.
These husband and wife restauranteurs are passionate about what they do, and will go to extreme lengths to ensure you have a meal you will never forget. It’s not a great place to take a date, the Blands respond to horniness very strangely, but if you’re looking for a wholesome place to take your family and never ask yourself how the sausage gets made, Paul and Mary’s Country Kitchen is the place to be.
This family-owned hole-in-the-wall gas station/BBQ restaurant tastes like the beating heart of rural America itself. It should. It’s made of real rural Americans. Brothers Chop-Top and Leatherface work tirelessly scouting and butchering only the finest humans that have gotten lost or stranded in the area. Their father, an expert pitmaster, assures every morsel is slow-cooked and charred to perfection, smothered in his infamous secret BBQ sauce. If you have the misfortune to hear the terrifying slam of Leatherface’s steal door, you can at least die knowing that you’re about to become part of something very special in the world of classic American cuisine.
There is an extremely guilty pleasure involved with eating Farmer Vincent’s legendary meat. It’s an open secret that his product is unethically sourced, even by cannibal standards. His methods of getting his human livestock just right for slaughter make veal pens look like 5-star hotels. Still, one can’t argue with the mouth-watering results. His meat is so good it makes fried songbirds taste like Flaming Hot Cheetos by comparison.
There’s a reason Dr. Lecter is kept secure, but accessible. When he’s not playing psychological cat and mouse with FBI agents desperate for his insights, he’s teaching Gordon Ramsey how to perfectly braise beef, or Giada De Laurentiis which wines to pair with Arroz de pato. The man knows just as much about cooking as he does about psychology and murder, and when he’s on the loose combining all three the results are transcendent. He could force you to eat your own severed leg at gunpoint and after the first bite, he can just put the gun down because dammit all if that wasn’t the tastiest thing you’ve ever had.
After a quick “This is the future liberals want!” he’s storming out to the bar. That might be for the best.
Our dad has never been big on children, a message Mom was kind enough to dictate into every birthday card growing up. He did say he likes the first 20 minutes of the movie and then it “Turns to absolute dick” after that.
He lost interest once he read the words “A dedicated father” in the streaming service description.
He gave up once he realized there was a female Terminator. “They expect us to believe a girl could be a Terminator?!” He actually said that before leaving the room, and I’ve been unpacking how stupid that sentence is for hours.
To be fair we couldn’t make it all the way through this one either, but I made it further than Dad who walked off after his joke “There’s a dark fate for ya, women drivers!” didn’t get a laugh.
This movie was kind of a bomb, sure, but since it centers around a kid desperate for approval from a father figure, Dad wouldn’t even give it a chance.
Best nap we’ve ever shared, that’s something.
Anytime John Leguizamo was on-screen Dad would say “I bet he did it, he looks like an MS13 guy.” I tried explaining that it wasn’t a mystery, and they showed who “did it” at the beginning of the movie, and he got mad at me and left the room.
Dad thinks Brigitte Nielsen’s career was part of a government psyop to make men “confused.” He refuses to elaborate.
Did you know that the Terminator’s mildly paternal demeanor in this film was “part of the liberal war on straight white masculine alphas?” Dad didn’t teach me to ride a bike, drive, or shave but it was super important to him that I learned this.
Another one dad bailed on due to a major plothole: “A guy with a body like that would just get a new wife.”
Dad was never big on Christmas. Every year when we would open gifts in the morning he would stay in bed, coming downstairs only once or twice to tell us all to keep it down. He just doesn’t do well with expectations like gift shopping or decorating or showing the slightest shade of warmth toward children he made. He is on record saying Sinbad is “One of the good ones,” but he’s not sitting through “Jingle All The Way.”
My dad is highly critical of anyone with a neck tattoo unless they’re a cop. Then they’re “real men.” Why do I want to connect with this guy again?
I actually have no memory of this movie. No one does. If you have ever watched this movie please let us know.
James Cameron’s hit action/rom-com was a miss for Dad because “Women shouldn’t have their hair all short like that.”
I thought this movie went a little off the rails but in a fun way. My dad thought all those hippies needed haircuts and then went out and stood on the back porch looking towards the treeline for what seemed like four hours.
Yeah, weirdly Dad went all in on the mediocre apocalyptic action film “End of Days.” To this day he still wears a WWJD bracelet, which he thinks stands for “What would Jericho do?”
Honestly, these movies are pretty unwatchable, but for some reason Dad likes them, and if sitting through them is my only shot at having at least one meaningful conversation with him in my adult life then I’m just going to have to suck it up.
As soon as the credits started to roll on “Expendables” he threw on “Expendables 2” without a word. At first, I thought he was just that desperate not to talk to me but he is glued to this thing. I actually heard him say “It’s even better than the first one.” Not to me, obviously, but to himself.
This is brutal, but he spoke to me! He turned his head, looked me in the eye, and said right to my face “They’re old, but they can still get the job done.” I have no idea what “The job” is, these movies are so bad your brain deletes them as you watch, but I’m starting to see why my 65-year-old hard-ass of a father loves them so much.
