No, he isn’t a “hologram,” Mister Heavenly is out there…well, at least as a band. The three-piece is made up of indie rock veterans, guitarist/vocalist Nick Thorburn (Islands/ Unicorns), keyboardist/vocalist Ryan Kattner a.k.a. Honus Honus (Man Man), and drummer Joe Plummer (Modest Mouse/The Shins). Mister Heavenly self-describe their sound as “doom wop”, a new genre that they are pioneering on their debut full-length Out of Love. The “doom” part comes from the record’s strange dark lyrical themes, such as a “bronx sniper” and the creepy correspondence between a 10 year old girl and former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega as well as the fascination with ill-fated romance as the album’s title suggests, whereas the “wop” derives from the poppy doo-wop based song structures and vocal harmonies between Kattner and Thorburn found over the LP’s 12 songs. The trio truly has a sound unique to themselves, although there are fragments of each member’s other groups dispersed throughout Out of Love’s sonic landscape. Another important factor into the album’s sound is the fact that the trio recorded and mixed the entire full-length in 12 days, the old-fashioned way on analog tape without the aid of modern recording technology, which gives the songs the warmth and familiarity of listening to your parent’s old vinyl records and creates an interesting duality between the new, but also vintage sounds of the LP.
The obvious standout tracks from the album are the previously leaked “Bronx Sniper” and “Pineapple Girl”. “Bronx Sniper” kicks off Out of Love with a bang. It’s the track that best represents each member’s other bands, as well as giving the listener an idea of who Mister Heavenly is. The off kilter drum rhythm is reminiscent of what you’d find from Modest Mouse, the strange synth patterns are straight from Man Man, and the guitar stylings add a taste of Thorburn’s Islands/Unicorn, while the dueling vocals, dark lyrical themes, and modern take on doo-wop song structures are uniquely Mister Heavenly. “Pineapple Girl” continues the peculiar duality between strange, dark lyrics and innocent, poppy music on Out of Love. The track tells the aforementioned story of a young girl from Michigan and the former Panamanian dictator, over lush doo-wop vocal harmonies that start off humorously with a bit of an Asian flare while a late Beach Boys-esque instrumental with organ and surf-y guitar licks comprise of the verse parts, but then the trio turns on the overdrive for its chorus sections. However, the track that stands out the most on the album for me is the outstanding “Charlyne”. This is probably the most straight forward doo-wop song on the album, with its driving piano rhythm and ‘50s surf rock guitar style, but what really makes the song special is the shift in dynamics around the minute and forty-five second mark, where the band turns it up a notch, and Kattner shouts the name of the song’s main character over Thorburn’s backing vocals until the song culminates with the line “and I always play the fool for Charlyne.” The album is full of loveable tracks like that one and “I Am a Hologram”, while other tunes can transport you to simpler times when sock hops and proms with underwater themes weren’t so passé compared to how we live now. But ignorance can be bliss.
Hopefully Out of Love is just the first in a long list of great albums from the talented creators of, and probably the only “doom wop” band out there (for now). The songs are classic sounding, well-crafted catchy pop tunes with phenomenal vocal harmonies and an edgy indie twist that make them worthy of your attention and repeated listening. Out of Love will be available on August 16 via Sub Pop. – Dan Brightcliffe