More From The Mary Onettes

I’m a sucker for certain genres.  If anything remotely smacks of shoegazer pop—if there’s even the slightest hint of a wall of guitars or the barest hint of wispy, ethereal vocals—my ears perk up.

Ranking only slightly behind that particular fetish is the one I have for anything that remotely resembles mid/early 80’s post-punk/synth-pop/whatever.  You know what I’m talking about, bands such as The Smiths, The Cure, New Order, Echo & The Bunnymen, and so on.  I hear some jangly, shimmery guitars, some glassy synths, or an over-expressive voice emoting lyrics of gloom and melancholy, and I become putty in the hands.

Granted, this means that I sometimes expose myself to some horribly derivative and downright awful stuff.  But then along comes a band like The Mary Onettes, and my weakness is completely justified.

I wrote about the Swedish band’s Void EP earlier, and how it’s free for the listening.  But the popsters are apparently of the very generous sort and their other EP, entitled Lost, is also available, in its entirety, from Last.fm.

As with Void, the band makes no effort to hide their influences.  There are bits and pieces of New Order and Echo & The Bunnymen, as well as a nice bit of Jesus & Mary Chain thrown in for good measure.  The band revels in these influences completely, and the music becomes absolutely gorgeous as a result.  There are moments, such as when the vocals soar effortlessly above the title track’s closing moments in a manner that would give Thom Yorke chills, that are nothing short of revelatory.