I always forget to thank my local college radio station for all the great music they introduce to me even before there is an actual album or before anyone even knows who that band is. I remember them playing Lily Allen’s “Smile” before her name was even uttered in the States. I had already become familiar with We Are Scientists through MTV2’s Subterranean, but KSYM 90.1 was playing “It’s A Hit” and that was exciting to hear since I was still trying to get to know them. And I love them for introducing me to Pacha Massive during their Spanish Alternative hour. I need to berate them for giving up Sunday night Reggae hour (bring it back!) but overall they’ve done good by me.

And this includes hearing MUTEMATH’s “Chaos” one cold fall evening several years ago. It was a live version KSYM had played and I loved the song so much I immediately looked up the band. They had this really awful-looking website at the time with 5 songs streaming (which I would later learn was their EP). There was no album to buy, there were no songs to download. A YouTube search didn’t amount to a lot of videos of them. Some were live but the sound quality was pretty bad. So I did what any sane person would do: I waited. I waited and waited and waited to hear if this band would produce anything else. I waited to see if they were to become anything. Honestly, I didn’t know what google alerts were back then so I would just get on the computer weekly and see if anything by MM had arrived yet. In 2006 an album was finally released and I snatched it up as soon as possible.

I then went to Bonnaroo in ‘07, saw them live and had decided that they go into that list of favorite bands ever. And this can’t be judged by album alone. You have to see them live! I was introduced to MM that way; it is an even stronger point that it is necessary to see them on a stage. It will be the most exciting, thrilling and creative experiences you will ever see. They are a very technical band, which usually drives me crazy. It’s like, yeah you sound on point but you ain’t got no soul. But MM is technical with the soul. It makes sense being that they are from New Orleans. Jazz music is very technical but you must have that element of music improvisation to make it your own. Though MM has never sounded like a jazz act, there is no denying that where they come from has made its way into their post-rock sound.

So here comes Odd Soul, which has been compared to everything from The Black Keys to Stevie Wonder. It seems a little on the short side, even though most of their albums clock in around 50 minutes. I guess seeing them live so many times makes listening to them in album form more constricting. It feels a little slower at times and not as cohesive in parts. They do the whole blues rock, loud-tambourine-gospel thing that works really well but then they’ll want to remind you that they have always had a very Electronica sound. Those songs on that end are still good but don’t seem to go well with the other sound they want introduced. It’s a playlist, not an album. And even though I don’t mind when bands get big (I love telling everyone about my favorite musical artists. Can’t keep ‘em to myself!), I see MM as vulnerable. They are still this band from New Orleans, still escaping their past incarnation as a “Christian band” so they can just be a band anyone can listen to. Just touring small clubs, not a whole lot of interviews going around, and being low-key. So a song featured on the Twilight soundtrack (yuck! No worries, Muse was on it too) and being on late night talk shows, which takes their grand performances and makes them small, has irked me quite a bit. But I’m giving Odd Soul all the chances I can give it. And they’re coming to San Antonio on October 9th so hopefully I’ll catch them. Truth is, I haven’t been as psyched as I usually am when I’m about to see them. I hate falling out of love with bands. It’s a sign that I’m getting too old or am becoming less understanding of change. But I want MM to always be that band to me. I’ve traveled for them, I introduced my best friend to them and we’ve seen them live together thrice, and I even saw them all by my lonesome when I moved to Denver and hardly knew anyone yet. No matter how many times I’ve been moshing in the pit, almost died of dehydration at Warped Tour (TWICE BY THE WAY), driven up to Austin for a show (can’t even count), cried my eyes out when shows were sold out, some of the most memorable experiences have been with MM. I don’t want to give that up.

I wish them all the success with this new album, and as bad as my grammar is, I hope other music fans can understand where I’m coming from whether they’re familiar with this band or not. How do people successfully keep the music alive in their hearts? I don’t want to get jaded about this band or anything else. MM still have the passion after all these years and I admire that most about musicians who can continually put out albums and do shows with the same “family” for months at a time. I need to be that excited about things and people. I guess that’s why music comes first in the sort-of-superficial-things-to-love list. Music is everything I want to be.