No. 44 of 2011: John Maus - We Must Become The Pitiless Censors Of Ourselves

The thin line between artifice and sincerity was never so much in evidence than when talking about the goth movement of the 80's, really not so much a movement as a style of singing and personality.  The purposefully emotive singers like Ian Curtis and Robert Smith, among many others, were always concerned about the emotional impact of their respective songs and so it is with John Maus, a creative descendent of those bands which were just as concerned with feeling as they were with the absolute structure of a song.  Maus has long been a fixture in the avant music scene with his past releases and slowly built but rabid fan base anxiously awaiting any new material. And despite his personal history with fellow avant popster Ariel Pink, John Maus has come at his craft in a slightly different manner than the lofi rocking of Pink.  Imbued with the ghosts of those 80's goth giants, Maus emotes more than sings over the ghostly wails of chiming synths and beats that carry the listener along in a surging ocean of sound, which makes the the lighthouse and temultuous sea cover art even more meaningful as it is a perfect visual representation of the music which lies within.

With the release of We Must Become The Pitiless Censors Of Ourselves, Maus makes a strong connection between the music of his formative years and the music which has come to personally represent him as an artist, that the link between our musical upbringing has a direct bearing on our musical preferences as an adult.  Much like musical peers Future Islands, Maus has managed to creatively reinvent the shimmering sun drenched synths of his youth into an abtract emotionally resonant outlet for his dread and hopefullness in equal measure. Songs like the thrumming, vocal chants of "Keep Pushing On" and the chiming, starkly enveloping synth lines of closer "Believer" pair his lowest register of a voice with the undeniable influence of bands like Joy Division and Bauhaus.  And like those bands, Maus knows that to allow the darker impulses of this music to run unchecked would lead to the disolving of what is ultimately a message of hopefulness.  By letting those influences have free reign over the creative process, but still retaining a strong sense of personal creative identity, he has wrung yet another layer of emotional vulnerablity from a typically misused set of musical tropes.  Maus knows that there comes a time when the darkness can threaten to overwhelm but like countless artists before, he also knows that there is always an anchor, a light, which we can hang on to in those desperate times. 
Tracklisting:

01. Streetlight
02. Quantum Leap
03. … And the Rain
04. Hey Moon
05. Keep Pushing On
06. The Crucifix
07. Head for the Country
08. Cop Killer
09. Matter of Fact
10. We Can Break Through
11. Believer (listen to the mp3 below)