The Mighty Fine – In Revival

I’m of two minds when listening to In Revival, The Mighty Fine’s debut album. It’s a record that’s couched firmly between a newer era of pop punk and a kind of nuanced, highly stylized post-punk that manages to be both complex and reasonably catchy. I’m sure there are plenty of other bands that play this kind of stuff, but it’s mostly a rarity to me – the intro the “Flow” reminds me, if only fleetingly, of Young Livers material, but as far as references go, once the vocals come in, that whole idea goes out the window. There are also brief nods in the guitar lines to, say, Iron Chic, but again, that’s just me reaching for reference points. Brook Thompson’s vocals are possibly the biggest surprise on the record – the man sings here, and similar to Tom Gabel of Against Me, it borders on nearly operatic at times. Surprisingly, it works, and it’s a fresh reminder that the punk template can always be fucked with a bit, oftentimes to great success. In a nutshell, In Revival’s an album of delicate guitar lines and clear vocals layered over a rich and constantly weaving rhythm section.

Taken as a whole, it’s a record that’s hard to pin down, which is actually my biggest issue with it. Part of the problem with music like this is that the songs can frequently become substitutes for each other. They often become hard to differentiate. Eschewing the traditional formula of verse/chorus/verse for songwriting more varied, bands also run the risk of losing hooks and momentum. While that isn’t always the case here, there are certainly moments where these songs became almost too expansive and could have been reined in a notch, for their own sake. But then they pen a song like “Ambassadors”, with its quiet guitar, rollicking drums and slightly buried ukulele, and I’m entirely sold. There’s a beautiful solemnity to that song, particularly in the guitar lead, that just blows me away. More songs like that – or at least with that level of focus and brevity – and I’ll be singing their praises to anyone who’ll listen.

All told, In Revival’s a convincing debut with some definite power behind it. I can see the monstrous potential here, and the band can absolutely play their instruments. The downside to that, and to some moments to In Revival, is that there’s something just short of truly memorable about it. Many of the songs seem to meander, rather than forge ahead. I don’t know if The Mighty Fine’s ambition entirely got the best of them, or if it’s just a matter of personal taste; I’m sure these songs are jawdroppers when played live. But I can’t wait to hear their next outing, where perhaps their scope will have narrowed a bit.