{"id":6729,"date":"2013-04-14T17:01:14","date_gmt":"2013-04-14T21:01:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?p=6729"},"modified":"2015-10-16T11:35:39","modified_gmt":"2015-10-16T15:35:39","slug":"album-review-mfmb-colossus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?p=6729","title":{"rendered":"Album review: MF\/MB\/ – Colossus"},"content":{"rendered":"

by\u00a0Matt Juniper<\/a><\/p>\n

Artist:<\/strong> MF\/MB\/
\nRelease:<\/strong> Colossus (2013)
\nLabel:<\/strong> Adrian Recordings
\nRating:<\/strong> 3.5 \/ 5<\/p>\n

\"MFMB-colossus<\/a>It has gotten to the point where simply stating a band is from Sweden is enough to get my attention. For a country of its size, Sweden seems to pump out an unusually large amount of music stars that often do music better than any of their peers. Robyn has not once, but twice become an international pop superstar. The Knife consistently alter the course of electronic music. Jens Lekman continues to write some of the best chamber pop out there. And let\u2019s not forget the one-upping coming out of Sweden \u2013 MGMT couldn\u2019t even escape 2007 with the best indie electronic tune (the awesome Time to Pretend<\/i>) without Tough Alliance topping them with \u2018Something Special<\/i>\u2019. And The Tallest Man on Earth is writing freakin\u2019 americana and folk as well as Bob Dylan these days.<\/p>\n

So when the first thing I read about MF\/MB\/ was that they were Swedish and that their lead single off their sophomore album, Casualties<\/em> was as good as Arcade Fire, I had little doubt. And the track is quite the statement. It is Arcade Fire-esque in its grandeur but also shares the American rock sensibility of a band like the Gaslight Anthem. Along with the Worst Dreams<\/em>, this is perhaps the most powerful one-two punch on any album yet this year. Further exploration of the album reveals similar comparisons to a wide variety of established artists from Titus Andronicus to The Big Pink to the edgier artists in the DFA roster. Hell, they even sound like Ian Curtis playing electronic punk rock on I Am An Entity<\/i>.<\/p>\n

[youtube_sc url=”http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=gygsnNEOp_0″ theme=”light”]<\/p>\n

But the most important thing is that despite all these comparisons and shape shifting MF\/MB\/ never sound derivative. The band describes ‘Colossus’ as \u2018both self-examination and therapy\u2019 and this sort of introspectiveness comes across as deeply authentic. Colossus is not an album made for anyone else but MF\/MB\/. In case this was not apparent enough from the music the band spells it out on the chorus of Casualties; \u201cGet with it, this our<\/b> song baby\u201d. If you\u2019re feeling it, you\u2019re more than welcome to come along for the ride but this album isn\u2019t about you.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s all very unapologetically dark music, a rock and roll album from an electronic group that sound like they\u2019ve been through their fair share of pain. Not every track is going to work for everyone. I could personally do without Cocktail Kid<\/em> or The Chant<\/em> but I think there is something to appreciate from the way the album works as a whole. Another win for the Swedish music scene, but I am not going to act surprised.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by\u00a0Matt Juniper Artist: MF\/MB\/ Release: Colossus (2013) Label: Adrian Recordings Rating: 3.5 \/ 5 It has gotten to the point where simply stating a band […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15811,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[28,30,33],"tags":[73,1840,1839],"class_list":["post-6729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","category-new-release","category-review","tag-album","tag-colossus","tag-mfmb"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/mfmb1.png?fit=1600%2C1123&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2B2TV-1Kx","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6166,"url":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?p=6166","url_meta":{"origin":6729,"position":0},"title":"MF\/MB\/ release sophomore album ‘Colossus’","author":"cultureaddicts","date":"February 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"MF\/MB\/ will release their second album 'Colossus' on\u00a0CD \/ vinyl \/ digitally via Adrian Recordings on\u00a0February 20, 2013 (Sweden) and\u00a0March 1, 2013 (everywhere else). The album\u00a0was recorded live during a few intense spring days in 2012, at Christoffer Lundquist\u2019s isolated, rural recording studio together with Mathias Old\u00e9n from Logh. It\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "indie"","block_context":{"text":"indie","link":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?cat=23"},"img":{"alt_text":"MF\/MB Jens Nordstrom","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/MFMB-ghost-Photo-Jens_Nordstrom-web.160041.jpg?fit=580%2C812&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/MFMB-ghost-Photo-Jens_Nordstrom-web.160041.jpg?fit=580%2C812&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/MFMB-ghost-Photo-Jens_Nordstrom-web.160041.jpg?fit=580%2C812&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":29339,"url":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?p=29339","url_meta":{"origin":6729,"position":1},"title":"IDLES release new track ‘Colossus’","author":"cultureaddicts","date":"June 3, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Bristol\u2019s IDLES have shared a new song and video - Colossus is a blistering two-part takedown of toxic masculinity, and the video (directed by Will Hooper) features cameos from Stone Cold Steve Austin, Fred Astaire, Evel Knievel, Jesus Christ + more.\u00a0Watch the video for\u00a0Colossus via YouTube below. https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=VODKZxsRa_E IDLES self-released\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "guitar rock"","block_context":{"text":"guitar rock","link":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?cat=22"},"img":{"alt_text":"IDLES","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/IDLES_Colossus_Still.jpg?fit=900%2C668&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/IDLES_Colossus_Still.jpg?fit=900%2C668&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/IDLES_Colossus_Still.jpg?fit=900%2C668&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/IDLES_Colossus_Still.jpg?fit=900%2C668&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":32958,"url":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?p=32958","url_meta":{"origin":6729,"position":2},"title":"Danger Mouse shares \u2018Ninjarous\u2019 featuring Sparklehorse and MF Doom","author":"cultureaddicts","date":"December 1, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Danger Mouse\u2019s\u00a030th Century Records\u00a0has shared\u00a0Ninjarous,\u00a0an unreleased song by\u00a0Danger Mouse\u00a0and\u00a0Sparklehorse\u00a0featuring\u00a0MF Doom. 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