Mellowscape are an underground alternative rock outfit hailing from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and, two years after their debut 'Basements', have self-released their sophomore record 'Killer Mode' which shows the band further honing their sound around their blend of alternative rock, indie, and funk.
Killer Mode is a 55 minute flurry of these genre blends which results in a versatile display of efficient songwriting and tight musicality. The album opens with a bass driven, funk influenced cut with passages of psychedelic guitar floating on top. The track sees the band flirting with ideas of post hardcore and ska punk, especially within the guitar work and its use of off beat upstrokes.
'Green Room' also displays a similar genre fusion as the opener with it's funkier aesthetics and John Frusciante inspired guitar lines. The track is well written and performed impressively, yet much like some of the tracks on the album, tends to wear its influences on its sleeves.
Pulling from the playbooks of Red Hot Chilli Peppers and 70s rock, the band displays an intimacy with their roots and influences down to the intricacies of the styles. From the rhythm of the vocals, the popping baselines, and locked in drum lines reminiscent of 90s funk rock, to the chord progressions and laid back performances on 'Got No Friends' that bring to mind the aesthetics of Weezer.
This track in particular plays on a deconstruction of these tropes to a potential pastiche of the genre lyrically. The bitter and lonely lyrics capture the comedy of the slacker rock genre rather effectively even when the song doesn’t push the boat out into experimental territory.
The band utilises some post hardcore songwriting, an area which some of the album’s strongest material lies. For example, 'Breaking Quiet' utilises heavier post hardcore aesthetics with reverberated verses. The effective simplicity of these verses builds and layers nicely into loud, distorted walls of guitars and guttural vocals. The last section locks into a complex bass groove with classic post hardcore vocals and a tight guitar groove right out of the 70s funk golden era.
It is on songs like this, and the final three tracks in particular, where the band truly excels at pushing their influences to find a unique and exciting version of their sound; one which carves their own style as songwriters whilst staying true to their influences.
These more experimental leanings show themselves on 'Mellowbright', a personal favourite in the album, where the band effortlessly shifts through time signatures in an impressive fashion. Phased out and panned guitars blare out left and right as the track builds organically, one such successful attempt to make interesting use of space within the recording.
This, along with the looser rubato playing on the closer and the particularly tight and riffy 'The Long Walk' gives us a taste of this diverse and exciting form of songwriting in comparison to the tracks which play on these influences heavily.
This potential for more complex and boundary pushing songwriting is on full display here and gives us the most fruitful and exciting music on the album. This definitely makes Mellowscape a band to look out for in the future for those interested in this style of genre fusion.
Mellowscape:
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