The M's: The M's : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

On their debut, Chicago quartet the M's create a grab bag of psychedelic pop nuggets. Mining the Kinks' late Sixties triumph Something Else, they find Vox-tastic guitar and organ riffs and street-corner shuffling beats and fills. But the tunes tend to be inward-looking and brief, with a dreamy perspective and no attempts at Ray Davies' wry social critiques. The M's grandiose side, however, conjures bubblegum pomp on the idyllic "Riverside," "Break Our Bones" shoots for end-of-the-party anthem, while "Maggie" and "There is Work" rave-it up. Every tune is tailored to a stylist's specs and put forth with ease. The M's might be guilty of using a pre-existing template here and there, but they deftly trim out fitted patterns with more vintage paisleys than American denims. Durability isn't everything.