jhulud Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 MOURN's self-titled 2014 debut LP gave the world an interesting idea: Catalonian teenage wunderkinds making authentically great guitar-based music in an era where it's considered almost unfashionable. Since that period, the band has faced some very real issues, both personally and professionally, things that 17-to-20 year olds normally don't have to worry about. When dealing with such a youthful band, you worry about how they will live up to the early attention as it begins to dissipate. Upon hearing Ha, He, He! for the first time, it turns out, we never needed to look forward to MOURN growing into a great band; they already are one. As the opening bars of “Flee” gallop into “Evil Dead,” it’s instantly evident that MOURN will continue their speedy ascent from local curiosity into an international band on the rise. Ha, Ha, He! is sonically deep, heavy and manages to retain all the immediacy of their successful debut MOURN. It's one of those rare records where you watch a band's level of sophistication grow leaps and bounds without losing the foundation and simplicity of what made people take note in the first place. Ha, Ha, He! has all the twists and turns of Post-Rock from its Chicago heyday bolstered by the melodic quirkiness of a new influence for the band, Throwing Muses. On "Brother, Brother" and "Howard," we see MOURN through a pop lens: undeniably catchy, but intricately performed and still somehow "heavy." This is a band that can play around with the pop format in a way that doesn't degrade their songwriting talent to the lowest common denominator. Not an easy task. Further on, the track "Storyteller" goes on it's own trip through downtempo drudgery, into a melodic bridge, and concludes with anthemic sing-screaming. On the equally challenging-yet-beautiful "Second Sage," it becomes apparent that MOURN have begun to carve out their own niche and their songs are no longer fits of inspiration indebted to their heroes, but just the band being themselves. The penultimate “Irrational Friend” takes its chorus, “Ha. Ha. He!” from William Blake’s “The Laughing Song,” a poem from his Songs of Innocence and Experience. Much like the poem itself, the song is sort of a last gasp of screaming laughter on an album that's marked in real time. You can sense the band working through their experiences as a group of young and talented people entering their 20s. They face a future that can be equally rewarding and cruel, with respect to their career in music as well as life in general. https://www.omnianmusicgroup.com/collections/pre-orders/products/ha-ha-he Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhulud Posted March 17, 2016 Author Share Posted March 17, 2016 First single "Evil Dead" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhulud Posted March 17, 2016 Author Share Posted March 17, 2016 "Evil Dead" (Live In Studio Version) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NapalmBrain Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 I really loved that first track on the first album, I feel like the rest of the album didn't quite reach that level again. But I'm definitely interested to hear this one and see the growth from the first album Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youspinmeround Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 Will buy without hesitation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drewberinger Posted March 24, 2016 Share Posted March 24, 2016 this album is fucking amazing and you're dumb if you don't preorder the limited edition LP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeromium Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 I'm picky about female vocals but I liked the last album and this one sounds like it will be good too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yancey47 Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew_VB Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 this album is fucking amazing and you're dumb if you don't preorder the limited edition LP the special edition of the first lp is still available. no reason to rush into pre-ordering this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dantheriver Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 the special edition of the first lp is still available. no reason to rush into pre-ordering this one. Well you don't want to be dumb, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youspinmeround Posted May 31, 2016 Share Posted May 31, 2016 http://www.stereogum.com/1880108/stream-mourn-ha-ha-he/mp3s/ Stream up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhulud Posted February 5, 2017 Author Share Posted February 5, 2017 Finally got off my ass and ordered this. It's a amazing album. Mind-blowing even more so how young the band is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youspinmeround Posted February 5, 2017 Share Posted February 5, 2017 It's really sad the troubles they are going through with their Spanish label that is preventing them from doing alot of things Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youspinmeround Posted February 5, 2017 Share Posted February 5, 2017 Juan, Don't know if you have checked out, Hinds-leave me alone, but also from Spain and doing great things similar to Mourn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhulud Posted February 5, 2017 Author Share Posted February 5, 2017 Thanks for the tip! I'll check them out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatsNJazz Posted February 5, 2017 Share Posted February 5, 2017 6 hours ago, jhulud said: Finally got off my ass and ordered this. It's a amazing album. Mind-blowing even more so how young the band is. I still listen to this album all the time, love it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duckydan Posted February 5, 2017 Share Posted February 5, 2017 hoping to catch these guys live when they play barcelona in a few weeks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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