Album Review :
The Myriad - With Arrows, with Poise

Artist: The Myriad
Album: With Arrows, with Poise
Label: Koch Records
Release Date: May 13, 2008
Review by: Eric Pettersson

Tracklist:
1. You Waste Time Like a Grandfather Clock
2. “Get on the Plane”
3. Forget What You Came For
4. A Clean Shot
5. The Accident
6. Holiest of Thieves
7. A THoseand Winters Melting
8. Polar Bears and Shark Fins
9. Throwing Punches
10. “Don’t Let Them See You!”
11. Braver than the Rest
12. Stuck in a Glass Elevator

The arrows, of course, are these twelve songs. And the poise is to take over the world. Or at least the current music world. Yeah, it’s that good. And I don’t think I’ve said this in at least two years, but what really sets this record apart in my mind is the bass. It may not stand out as immediately as Jeremy Edwardson’s soft, smooth, crisp voice or the intricate drum rhythms supplied by NAME, but it is indeed the bass guitar that completes this album. The bass lines are thick and solid, molding everything together with power and control, adding a darker edge to an otherwise poppy band. The rock and roll exits on With Arrows, with Poise in a very jazzy, crooning sort of way, as opposed to a blazing, crunching guitar-driven kind of way. But even though these roots are more easily traced to The Animals or The Doors than to Guns N’ Roses or Nirvana doesn’t mean The Myriad can’t rock. “The Accident” could fit very easily on the next release from Lovedrug or MuteMath. But important that how rocking a record can be is how original it is, and this is where this band really shines. “The Holiest of Thieves” stands out for this reason, with one of the most creative blends of mellow and intense sounds I’ve heard in a while. The flow is perfect, and the bridge is fantastic. The whole disc maintains a consistency that helps keep things easy on the ears, but the creative juices behind it know how to still create a grand variety within that consistent sound. A much more up-beat, happy sound is heard on “A Thousand Winters,” whereas “Get on the Plane” is more spacious and epic. The piano helps broaden the sound, along with some electronic additions here and there, including a drum machine. As I sit here now listening to the album again, “Polar Bears and Shark Fins” reminds me a lot of something from the Water disc of Thrice’s Alchemy Index. It has the same, well, watery feeling, and Jeremy’s vocal approach even sounds similar to Dustin Kensrue’s on that EP. I have no doubt in my mind that With Arrows, with Poise will be featured in multiple magazines and websites at the end of this year as one of the top albums of 2008. The songwriting and production are both incredible and work together wonderfully, and artwork is pretty sweet too. A great blend of melody and energy, of pop and rock.

9/10

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