We arrived at the El Rey Theater just in the nick of time to catch Mute Math at 10pm, or so we thought. We were quite startled when the opener took the stage instead. We had accidentally gotten there a bit early and Mute Math wasn’t slated to go on for another hour. Instead we sat back and watched the unintentionally comical foibles of Under the Influence of Giants, whose influences seem to be a bit askew. The lead singer looks like a bad Rod Stewart impersonator, dressed in a tank top and tight white pants, complete with a long flowing white scarf and gloves. On stage he dances like he is doing karate and kung-fu moves combined, which makes for an interesting performance, but unfortunately doesn’t fit their musical style at all. If this band sounded like 70s garage rock, or old school punk, ala Iggy and the Stooges, then these antics and costuming would make sense, but instead they sound like squealing white-boy rock, which just doesn’t match. They’re rumored to have been signed to Island Def Jam by none other than L.A. Reid who was responsible for the likes of TLC, Outkast and Avril Lavigne. Let’s just hope that A & R can step in and do something before it’s too late.
With all that said, Jeremiah and I were only too happy to see Mute Math take the stage at around 11 p.m. to a very expectant audience. Mute Math play very catchy commercial sounding pop-tinged rock, with infectious guitar hooks and melodies. They have the aesthetics to back it up as well, and all seem to fit the part of attractive rockstars. However, their blend of alternative rock (if that’s even a genre anymore) incorporates more elements and layers than most bands like them, which makes them slightly refreshing. Their single “Chaos” sounds like it should be coming out of KROQ’s speakers right now. All this is very interesting considering that they have previously been billed as a Christian band, but now they are trying to shirk that title as their popularity grows so as to not alienate potential fans. Regardless of what genre Mute Math falls into, they seem to play into it effortlessly.
Lead singer, Paul Meany (great name!) is a truly dynamic front man, and has rockstar leaps and posturing to prove it. He jumped off his keyboard and bounded around the stage, giving it his all for the duration of the set. He seemed to eat up the audience’s attention, but it also looked as if he genuinely wanted to entertain his fans. And fans Mute Math has. Their MySpace page boasts over 64,000 friends, which seems to be a modern day indicator of popularity. Most of these fans that I saw at the show seem like they would be O.C. fans (the TV show), and may even hail from the region by the looks of them. Mute Math might just be the next Death Cab For Cutie!
The rest of the band is equally fan worthy. The drummer is quite energetic and got prime positioning at the front of the stage right next to Meany who alternated between keyboards and guitar. This was a unique stage setup, but was a nice way to showcase the entire band’s playing because all members were right up front. The bassist at times would pound on an upright bass drum situated behind the drum kit. This was yet another interesting and different element that Mute Math added to their set. Overall Mute Math turned out a great set to the young denizens out on a Tuesday night to see them.
