PureVolume

"Let this be a lesson to those who were wondering what happens when three NYU jazz students team with a few scene-seasoned musicians, all of whom seem to possess an overwhelming pop sensibility. The result is complex yet straightforward, with little treats for music nerds packed behind naked radio hits, like someone stole a tween's ipod and mixed it with Animal Collective."
- Knocks From the Underground

MEM is about taking the bitter with the sweet.
It's here to get you over the hump, to reassure you that you're not alone and remind you that nothing is gained from complacency.
MEM has arrived to help see you through.

Lead vocalist and keyboard player Grayson Sanders insists the Brooklyn quintet's name was merely a better choice than Walrusphere, but we think he's lying. Not about Walrusphere... why would anyone lie about that?

Maybe buried somewhere amidst the smoke and rubble of Sanders' colorful subconscious, 'MEM' is shorthand for 'memory.' Just as the title of the Brooklyn quintet's debut, "Archaea" implies an excavation or unearthing, the word MEM seems to describe something spinning through time rather than frozen in it, the shortened cadence playing on memory's inherently fleeting nature...memory in motion.

To match that bright idea, nothing remains still on "Archaea," one of the most invigorating hybrid albums in recent memory. Recorded over a year's time with producer Christian Levis, the eleven-song cycle is a volcanic melding of lush pop, electronic and classical elements delivered with the honed precision of 70's prog masters. "A Match" fades in like static floating by, momentarily made tangible through a willing conduit (that'd be you). The song then bursts open a wellspring of frenetic energy that stays for the duration as MEM repeatedly opens a can of creative whoop-ass on the electro-organic template. At journey's end, "Animals Indeed" brims with acceptance and tranquility, drifting down with a feather's freedom... the big payoff.

Between the bookends, "Archaea" feels like a fitful dream state, moving listeners past a series of tough hurdles, often swelling with high seas of emotional tension that get tempered with carefully placed pockets of melodic pleasure. It's the best of both worlds - an astonishing balancing act that sticks with you well after the music's over. MEM has managed the impervious task of squeezing epic tunes into tidy conceptual boxes that most of us call 'pop songs.' It's a stunning magic trick, but don't strain too hard trying to decipher the mechanics or you’re liable to disturb the illusion. Bassist Jay Goodman describes MEM's mission: "We aim to use the power of music to send listeners down a sonic rabbit hole into a Tolkien-esque fantasy world, rich with nuance and color. The listener leaves the experience with the souvenier of hummable melodies that easily stick in their head." Guitarist/keyboard player Scott Selig adds, "Our goal is not to 'hide a pill in the food,' but rather to turn that pill itself into something tasty... like a Flintstones vitamin."

The miracle of MEM's music is only intensified by the band's serendipitous formation - chance pairings in NYU jazz ensembles, an off-the-cuff meeting during a battle of the bands at Greenwich Village mainstay The Bitter End and a pair of anonymous Craigslist ads fused the innovatory collective. With Sanders' electronic wizardry and impassioned vocalizing up top, the sprightly sum of Austin Mendenhall and Selig's guitar work cobbling the rich center, MEM's melodic prowess far exceeds what one might expect from a debut. But then add the thick, rhythmic chemistry of Goodman's bass and Alex Beckmann's drumming to drive the bottom end and MEM becomes a well-oiled musical machine, simultaneously taut and flexible... slick without seeming over-calculated.

Bound by a musical idealism that anything's possible, a disdain for prevailing mediocrity and a penchant for perfectionism that's both a blessing and a curse, the men of MEM have come to rock and roll through the back doors of jazz, classical and electronic idioms. If it seems like an unlikely musical intersection at which to find a rock band, that's because it is - in essence, MEM is an anti-rock band, born of everything but black leather, eyeliner and the verse-chorus 'four-chords-to-the-bar' formula. And yet "Archaea" is so listenable, so enchanting to the ear that it's lack of conformity only becomes apparent in retrospect.

Then again, finding a penetrating voice in todays oversaturated music market is all about the unexpected. So, go digging down the rabbit-hole; put your memories in motion and enjoy the trip through rock's back door (and beyond) with MEM's "Archaea."