Pitchfork

Times were hard for noise-rockers the Mae Shi in 2006, as they saw the departure of lead singer Ezra Buchla, and found themselves a casualty of the 5RC label's closure. But steadfast as ever, the remaining members auditioned new singers through their website, eventually bringing on Jonathan Grey. That's not the only change. Even though the band doesn't know when they'll release their next album, nor what label it'll be on, it sounds like they've been working hard to reinvent their sound. On "Run to Your Grave", from their upcoming album (to be called 7XX7 or PWND, according to the band's website), they eschew schizophrenic, two-minute assaults for a shockingly pop-friendly sound.

"Run to Your Grave" is a great surprise for anyone that's liked-- or even been turned off by-- the Mae Shi's jagged, fragmented albums. There are still unrestrained, crazy-ass drums, and tiny keyboard riffs that dip in and out of the mix, but this is, at its heart, a big, whistle-ready, catchy-as-shit indie rock track-- a great one. In fact, the feel-good sing-along vibe almost makes you forget it's a song about the inevitability of death, decay, and final judgment. Conveying a sense of joyful abandonment in the face of doom, it's prime end-credit fodder for a high school zombie romance. If you're gonna abandon self-referential schizo-prog for pop structures and consonance, this is the way to go.

MP3: > The Mae Shi: "Run to Your Grave"
[from their as-yet-untitled forthcoming album; release date and label TBD]