Mild Mannered: Believeland

mild mannered, believelandMild Mannered: Believeland
All press releases have one goal: to make you care about a band. So when reading Mild Mannered‘s press release, I was thinking “why should I care?” The press release’s argued I should care because the band features Tim Parnin from J. Mascis‘ side project, Sweet Apple. I figured if that’s the best reason to listen to Mild Manner’s new album, Believeland than I was in trouble.
The truth is there is no need to play six degrees of separation to try and make Mild Mannered seem interesting. The band is a dynamic female-fronted group comparable to Bettie Serveert.
The opening track “Back Home” is essentially a pop punk song. I could not help but listen to it and think of bands like Amazing Transparent Man.
But pop punk is only one genre showcased on Believeland. “Applehead” blurs the line between indie pop and children’s song. The track sounds like it was co-written by They Might Be Giants and Beulah. It stands out on the album not only because of the style but it is also one of only two songs on the album to feature a horn section.
The other horn track is “Did You Ever?” The track mixes hard acoustic guitar strumming with Toni Basil-worthy keyboards. The horns end up being under-utilized in the song, basically mirroring the keyboard line.
Rating: 6.3/10
MP3: Mild Mannered “Back Home”
Buy: Mild Mannered HQ

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