Make Believe is Joan of Arc's rowdy kid brother with ADHD. As the story goes, last year the members of Joan of Arc got sick of being pretty and had the itch to rock out, so they started this band. First they laid down a few rules...
#1 - they would be a live band - all songs written as a band playing live.
#2 - they would maintain a consistent line-up
#3 - practice everyday - well over 40 hours a week.
#4 - no effect pedals.
#5 - no over-dubs.
#6 - songs would have to speak for the collective, not the individual singer.
#7 - sound palette would be limited to a classic rock band lineup to force new approaches to cliched shapes.
Then they toured for three months and recorded this EP. The result -- a chaotic, but melodically focused math rock gem. It's like listening to Joan of Arc play anxiously from a stage of burning coals. Their sound is very reminiscent of The Owls and Don Caballero, but just a hair more lo-fi than even them. The songs seem a little messy and incoherent at first, but their intricately charming melodies float to the surface soon enough.
The only problem with this album is the fact that it's fifteen minutes and fifty-four seconds long, thus these five short tracks will undoubtedly leave the average math rock connoisseur drooling for more. Nevertheless, this promising EP serves as the best and most logical introduction to Make Believe's music (considering this is their first and only release). It should be interesting to see where they take it from here.
3/4
