I stopped by the Exit Stencil Studios in North Collinwood late last week to check out the new Mystery of Two album. The disc won’t come out until late July, and the guys just announced a July 31 CD-release show at the Beachland. But the album is pretty much finished, and singer-guitarist Ryan Weitzel let me listen to it.
It starts with Weitzel bellowing “gravity is getting me down” on the opening track, “Gravity,” which keeps with the Talking Heads/Brian Eno approach the group took on its first album. “This album is more representative of what we sound like now,” says Weitzel, while sipping a beer and sitting at the studio console. “It sounds more like a band working together. We toured with these songs before we recorded them, and the basic tracks were actually done live.”
Other highlights include “Strange Town” — a tune about Cleveland in which Weitzel sings, “Our town is strange, but it’s OK” — and “Reprise It,” a track that features Calexico-like horns on its intro. The album wraps up with “Gravity Interlude,” which takes the opening cut's riff, speeds it up a bit, and adds some violin to the mix.
“The whole record weaves in and out of itself,” says Weitzel. “I don’t know if it really has a central theme. It’s not like we wrote it all in one sitting.” Tentatively titled Live, Love, Listen, Repeat, the record will also be available on vinyl.
The group plans to embark on a short tour in mid-July, shortly before the album is issued through Weitzel’s own Exit Stencil Records. The band’s next local gig is on May 8 at the Happy Dog. —Jeff Niesel
