Now I love me some Chicago-style mathrock, but too many sound-alike bands and not enough innovation have rendered the genre pretty stale. It's not enough to have a bunch of technically adept dudes jamming in your band: you need to bring something new to the table. This is where upstarts Maps And Atlases succeed: they've definitely got the techniques down to a science, but they're writing actual (and EXCELLENT) songs rather than fragments of songs. Amazingly, they are already outdoing the artists they claim as influences on their debut Tree, Swallows, Houses.

Guitarists Dave Davison and Erin Elders fuse Hella-style chaos to the precise, melodic noodling of David Knudson and conjure up some of the most kick-ass guitar parts I've ever heard. Period. The guitar interplay on this album is absolutely, mind-blowingly brilliant. Yeah, it's technical and crazy-sounding, but it's also readily apparent that the Davison/Elders team is in complete control of the melody and where it's going. It threatens to spin out of control but it never does, and that breathless, anxious rush fuels the entirety of the record.

But that's not all. Chris Hainey's percussion is spot-on, merging splashy technical élan with solid rhythmic pulse, never letting his awesome fills and tempo change-ups interfere with the drive of the music. But the real showstopper here may just be Shiraz Dada's bass work, which ranks among the most amazing ever committed to tape. He is quite possibly the perfect link between drums and guitar, creating lines that pop and growl and slither in between the spaces of the guitars, hitting all the notes of the melody and beats of the rhythm while leaving room for serious improvisational flair. Seriously, his bandmates should be praying to the gods daily for this dude. And Davison's unique, exotic-sounding squawk ties it all together. "Stories About Ourselves" is the standout track here; I've never wanted to drop my jaw, bang my head, and flail my limbs simultaneously until I heard this track. Holy. Fucking. Shit.

This band claims Hella as a big influence, but really, Hella should be so lucky to write and play this well. Maps And Atlases aren't just technical wizards: they're killer songwriters with expert command of melody and interplay between instruments. How this band could get so good after a mere year-and-a-half of existence leaves me baffled. My one and only complaint: the record's way too god damn short! This is THE band of the moment as far as I'm concerned. If you're playing in a mathrock band in 2006, here's some sage advice: give up. Maps And Atlases just slammed the door in your face.
www.mapsandatlases.org

Lucas Salg

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 Past Constructive Criticism

Jake posted the following Constructive Criticism: True, a very good band. But I hate that statement at the end. Seriously, it really negative and gives the whole article an elitist feel. Not diggin' that.

Patrick. posted the following Constructive Criticism: I used to be in a math rock band that used to play shows w/ maps and atlases, and "If you're playing in a mathrock band in 2006, here's some sage advice: give up. Maps And Atlases just slammed the door in your face" pretty much sums up my thoughts as well. we have since broken up.