REVIEW: Mother Mother - Body Of Years

Canadian crew Mother Mother have never been shy about combining unusual muses, and new single Body Of Years is apparently no different; lead-man Ryan Guldemond describes it as The Pixies’ Gouge Away meets Billie Jean. Though we don’t quite agree with his account - the song’s walking bass-line certainly pays homage to the former, though the influence of the latter doesn’t seem readily detectable – Body Of Years remains a great four and a half minutes of inventive indie rock and roll.

Striding forward at a determinedly unhurried pace, it supplements its aforementioned Pixies bass-line with chugging guitars, over which Guldemond’s vocals alternate between a taut, staccato delivery and a reverb-drenched falsetto (is this the Michael Jackson reference?). Just as things seems to be edging their way towards a climax we’re ambushed by a melancholy combination of keyboard and delicate vocal harmonies, only for the initial bass-line to creep back into frame and march the track to its close, this time joined by a rash of spiky guitars and a synth redolent of Hot Fuss-era Killers.