Search - Mystery of Two :: Arrows Are All You Know

Though the members of Mystery of Two would never admit it, theirs is more a mission than a band - and maybe that s a hint to their name, which confounds so many people: How do you relate? Start here: Mystery of Two is a forward-thinking, rockin trio from Cleveland, Ohio, and as such, have already endured the comparisons to Pere Ubu, Cleveland s famous avant-gardists. (Okay, it may not help that Mystery guitarist/vocalist Ryan Weitzel and bassist Lonn Schubert also happen to play with Home and Garden, the band begun by original Ubu members Scott Krauss, Tony Maimone, and Jim Jones, but that s mostly incidental. ) The comparison is fine with them, by the way; the members of Mystery of Two all recognize their motivation in playing in this band: Make what you need to hear out of what you have. Or maybe it s making what you have to hear out of what you need, though ... after all, Weitzel and drummer Nick Riley both help run performing arts spaces of their own, in addition to attending to their day jobs and this band. But must they also deal with the stigma of hailing from the Rust Belt that dogs so many groups from a handful of Midwestern cities? Well, don t believe the half of it ... on Arrows Are All You Know, the band s debut longplayer now available on Exit Stencil Recordings, this conflagrant trio presents an unholy fusion of the Talking Heads and fIREHOSE, of Television (the band) and psychedelia (the sound), anchored by Nick and Lonn s nimble rhythm section and painted over with the howl of barely expressive anguish projected by one Mr. Weitzel ... Don t get it wrong, however: despite the touchstones, the hipper-than-thou buzzwords we re throwing around, this music is more feeling than treatise, more expression than meaning. It is unapologetically itself, unbounded by pretense or arch intent. It s a hippie-cum-art ideal, spun out precisely by gifted players. It is free, though their influences are clear. (Hell, we ve mentioned em!) But let s face it, here s what we re confronted with in this era of the aughts : regurgitations, restylings, repetitions. Right? Wrong! The Mystery of Two is a synthesis. It is synergy. It is Now. And it might be looking askance at you as you sit there. Because maybe it s just the integrity behind the invention that drives good new rock music. And maybe it s up to you to decipher it. - Matt Kuchna