Oh fuck yeah. Mates of State are still the business, as far as happy edgy pushy loud-and-fun-as-fuck indie pop is concerned. Bashy clashy hard-hitting high-energy rockin' blasts from a married couple that know how to have a good time. Pitchfork calls their tracks "romps", which is appropriate. Every so often they ease up and strike heartstring gold. Their covers record (released last year) was one of my fave albums of 2010. This band makes me break my face. Exclamation. Point.

try: 2, 3, 4, 6
FCC: 7

1. (4:55) ~2 sec to start, gets loud at 20. triumphant indie 'ooh's (better than 'phantom limb'!), padded drum machine, hard hitting snare. exuberant doesn't even begin to cover it. ~30 drum outro cuts off abruptly.
*2. (3:22) fucking weird pushy alien funk synth with an oddly catchy beat, slide whistle effects, bangin' piano and unexpected falsetto. do a silly dance to this.
*3. (3:35) midtempo and pompy fanfare riff. heavy drum hits. cute poppy harmonies. essentially a funky disneyana march.
*4. (5:21) mellow, slowish balladry ("you'll learn to live without me"). deep pattery hand drums, plinky "doo"s and windswept washy harmonies. could have fallen off the lion king soundtrack.
5. (3:40) hand-snapping cabaret fast saloon piano. clearly a kanga line was in mind. adorable girly girl pre-chorus and slurry moving & melodic chours. sweet and melancholy vox + piano outro.
*6. (3:33) boppy sticky vibes. harsh rapid-fire rainbow 8-bit synth. i can't even place what 80s pop song this reminds me of. it's better. "let's make a cold idea warm in the back of the basement"? oh my.
7. (3:34) FCC "fucking" melancholy piano-drive high school era reachy heart-squeezer. rapid 'la la's and that old-l.a. garage guitar the raveonettes and the kills like to use. the first verse is about leaving a party to drive around and listen to music in your car. et cetera.
8. (2:47) plinky spoons percussion. lone note-at-a-time sweet electric, strings, rocking chair esque. country cabin mourner.
9. (2:38) downbeat and deliberate, crushing vox overlay, melodramatic swell. repeated lyrics: "change is gonna come".
10. (4:01) easy midtempo, syncopated piano a la the charlie brown play. cool twined male + female vox. unexpectedly sweet arching midsection, horn. darling, actually.