Mi Ami, Watersports
Featured Album
San Francisco band finds a knife-edge groove in line with the best of Gang Gang Dance
Granted, the Internet compresses timeframes, but isn't it too soon to have bands inspired by Gang Gang Dance's 2008 effort Saint Dymphna? In the case of San Francisco's Mi Ami, thankfully not. Sure, they have the upper-register shrieks, ever-mutating guitar lines, and Ginsu'd world beat moves down pat, just like Brooklyn's stalwart ethno-wave practitioners. But Mi Ami strike out on their own path, obliterating even the pedigree of singer/ guitarist Daniel Martin-McCormick and bassist Jacob Long's previous band, Dischord's Black Eyes. And, woah, wait a second, that's a guy singing?! I think I need a Ricola. How Martin-McCormick hits and holds such throat-shredding highs here beggars belief.
On opener "Echononecho" he takes cues from Gang Gang's Lizzi Bougatsos, but infuses them with more post-punk timbres (detractors might also cite Gonzo as an influence). But the groove the band builds up around him is like a sandstorm, widening to the point of devastation before reverting back to a granular sort of dub. "The Man in Your Eyes" rides trickles of guitar and a steady tom from drummer Damon Palermo before the caterwauling of Martin-McCormick rises to the point of catharsis. "White Wife" slowly roils to the point of mesmerism, while epic closer "Peace Talks/ Downer" unzips time completely.
