hi,
one new mico track up now on myspace, + a few older tracks for " our living langauge",(2006)

thx
mico

2003: PUNKNEWS REVIEW: OUTSIDE THE UNBEARABLE GROWS





What makes Mico such a fascinating band to listen to is that they manage to use what's becoming a fairly standard set of tools to make something that sounds truly special. If you dissected Mico's songs into individual elements and listened to them out of context, you'd hear lots of the same features you hear in the burgeoning post-hardcore / emo scene. However Mico comes off sounding far, far more mature than their contemporaries. Despite the trend and potential financial rewards, they seem to have little interest in trying to appeal to that crowd.

Mico shares a quality with their neighbours the Weakerthans in that their lyrics walk a fine line between personal and political. While songs like "Your Everyday Apocalypse" and "The Great Achievement" are overtly political in their lyrics, they avoid sounding preachy. There's a sobering quality to them. For a band with a somewhat low profile and at times underwhelming presence in your stereo, it's amazing how inspiring some of these tracks really are.

Especially given the types of singing we get from other post-hardcore acts, John Stewart's vocals must be commended. They never drop their mature tone or break into clichéd lyrical gimmicks (shrieking, faux-vulnerability, etc). It says something about this genre when I'm proud to comment that Stewart can actually hold a tune. Instrumentally the band is very tight and more concerned with layered song compositions then letting any one musician break into a solo. I wouldn't be surprised if Mico's wrote collectively and didn't have a principle songwriter.

Quiet moments make the title track truly interesting as the band's three guitarists create an atmosphere that effortlessly shifts from dense to minimalist. To their credit the only comparison's I see to Mico's sound is in bands I greatly respect: "The Great Achievement" is on the same plane as Red Animal War. The spacey "Roads Travelled by Everyone" brings to mind Sparta. "Lina Tres" has shades of Hot Water Music.

Yet for all these similarities, Mico never sounds derivative. "Outside The Unbearable Grows" is an incredibly consistent and well-paced record. The track ordering creates a very effective flow between their rock songs and slower material. As Mico makes no obvious attempt to write pop-hooks into their songs, "Outside…" works far better as a complete album than it does in small doses. Throw on a pair of headphones and you can lose yourself in it.

Standing Inside A Shadow 2001
Does Everyone Stare?
For the forty minute duration of Mico's Standing Inside a Shadow, the seige is lifted and my hatred for emo is suspended. Spinning out a solemn soundtrack to the still city nights pictured in the CD booklet, Mico strike not a single false note, make not a single wrong turn, or turn out a single processed emotion. Do I stutter? This is understated, subtle music; Mico displays the understanding of punk, pop, and emo for which Casket Lottery has toiled, Rainer Maria has conquered, and Third Eye Blind should ever forget about apprehending.

First order of business are the guitarists which another reviewer has cleverly called a "guitarmy" (wish I'd thought of it.) Mico is a quintet and three of them play guitar. Here's the rub: the playing is pretty basic. While they could, I'm sure, kick out some testosterone-fuelled triple-guitar solos a la Leatherwolf, the net effect here instead is a style of lush, flowing sound that ceaselessly washes the listener in a range of delicate power-pop instrumental dynamics and a rather straight forward melodic style of punk. The music lacks the sanguine hooks of the very similar sounding Gin Blossoms (who were much smarter than anyone was willing to admit, it seemed), but it is also edgier, more melancholic, and relies less on a verse-chorus-verse format. If Rainer Maria and Gin Blossoms occupy the open spaces of pop rock, Mico stalk the shadows (ah, the romance, don't you love it?).

Standing Inside a Shadow is a magnificent debut album. It is careful, intelligent, and comes away with the thorny emo sythesis of quiet, indignant rage balanced with heartfelt emotion (wipe the smirk off your face.) Intense, strangely gentle, and thoughtful music for murky introspection.

Review by Lee Steadham

Review date: 07/2001

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1. Section One
2. Motion
3. Bad Idea
4. Hallyon Day
5. Casual Handshake
6. 18.12.79
7. Everywhere
8. Found In Your Possession
9. A Timpani Of Failure And Defeat
10. Six Stages Of Illusion
11. Horizon