One Track Mind

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Miami’s Modernage sound very much of their time, which is to say that instead of sounding like the usual press release influences (e.g. Joy Division), the band’s sound is far more reminiscent of contemporaries like Bloc Party and Interpol. On “Creatures,” this means that Modernage’s sound can be read in one of two ways: either as somewhat creatively deficient or, conversely, as familiar and instantly enjoyable.

For my money, the case is more the latter than the former. Sure, “Creatures” isn’t taking a jackhammer to sonic convention, but what it does, it does nicely. It’s damned hard to fault the music here. Guitars ring out in twinkling, contrapuntal melodies over a skittering drum beat, the whole thing packaged with taut precision. Mario Giancarlo’s vocals were a tough sell for me on first listen–I felt as though he were striving too hard at an affected warble–but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that his voice had won me over after two or three takes.

My favorite part about “Creatures” is how deftly everything comes together. It’s an easy song to enjoy and has a lot of crossover appeal (admit it, you can easily imagine those guitar riffs playing out in a transitional scene on some CW teen drama). Modernage may not make the whole world take notice but they seem destined to find many fans.