Mute Math — Teleprompt

Mute Math are an arena rock band who claim a smorgasbord of musical genres as influences, from experimental and electronic to beat boxes and Bjork. But at their core, they sound just like any old alternative radio anthem-peddler. Their sound is the musical equivalent of a self-help manual for teenage living. Although most of the songs are less than five minutes long, they are "epic" in scope, occasionally employing subtle ambient noise and percussion before droning guitars inevitably swell into upbeat power-chords full of impassioned optimism. By pandering to teenage feelings of powerlessness, frontman Paul Meany follows a mantra that's served so many starry-eyed, angsty, in-love alt.vocalists so well: I was one of you once, but I've grown up and survived to tell the tale. As such, Mute Math's debut is chock full of useless singalong platitudes such as, "Everyone's invincible, but we just pretend," "I know there's got to be another level/Somewhere closer to the other side" and "Such a beautiful surrender."