The M's - Future Women

The members of The M’s gleefully dip their creative brushes into a palette of the past four decades. The array of shades is vast and bright; the colors are anything but uninviting. Future Women bears the results of said experiment, showcasing a band in the midst of full-bloom, as the Chicagoans pick, choose, rehash, and build upon a legacy that’s long been in place. Polyvinyl Records, as one of the most promising of all the indie labels in business today, continues to fatten and solidify its roster by picking up the band for its sophomore release. Some tracks are playful takes on 60s pop, packing fuzzy guitars, harmonized 'oohs' and 'ahhs' aligning themselves with Elephant 6-style revivalism (“Plan of the Man”), while others forge into Beck-traversed territory (“Shawnee Dupree”). Odessey & Oracle and The Village Green Preservation Society can be linked to the heart of Future Women, but occasionally the band gets sidetracked into shunning the British Invasion and tinkers around—“Light I Love” sounds like Neil Young sitting in on a session with the Velvet Underground circa 1969. The title track pulsates with various strings, bells, and psychedelic guitar stylings. Elsewhere, the band delivers bits and pieces of T. Rex and the more rocking side of Big Star’s debut. Offering much more in the way of variety than the average, throwaway bands attempting to restore a period of music long gone, The M’s are a cause to celebrate. Future Women vibrantly sets out to revitalize the bygone, not to recreate it. [www.wearethems.com]