I always feel we need to balance up a Folk Pop introduction by offering something slightly heavier, and in MAUER we have the perfect band to offer something slightly different. It also brings me back to my youth, where my musical diet was very heavily biased towards the Sonic Youth, Husker Du and Sub Pop style of bands, and MAUER with their single 'Ease the Pain' (one of my favourite tracks is Dinosaur Jnr's 'Feel the Pain') have delivered a sprawling beast of a track, which has become an instant favourite.
This is a band with some pedigree in the Swedish music scene, with members having played in bands as diverse as Sambassadeur and Astroqueen, along with the particularly excellent Douglas Heart. 'Ease the Pain' begins with a tantalising opening theme before it inevitably explodes into life with an intensity of guitars and drum noise, but with vocals that still deliver an almost catchy melody. I love the chunky instrumental middle section, and this is a band that can clearly deliver hugely listenable but waywardly noisy guitar music.
Watch the video to 'Ease the Pain' here, filmed and directed by Edvina Berg and Karina Cubilla, it's pretty good too:
Released through the Gothenburg label Welfare Sound & Records, MAUER will follow up the 'Ease the Pain' single with an EP release later this year. We look forward to hearing it.