After ten years of not being a band,
Masters of the Hemisphere regrouped in 2010 for a reunion show and to record a new album. Fans of the band’s witty style of indie pop need not fear that
Maybe These Are the Breaks holds any surprises; judging from the sounds and songs the album could have been the follow-up to 2002’s excellent Protest a Dark Anniversary. The band hasn’t lost anything during the long layoff and the songs and performances are reminiscent of the warmly intimate feel of the turn of the century indie pop style it once exemplified. The band has a loose-limbed musical style that draws you into the album, the guitars and drums are never overpowering, and the joint vocals of Sean Rawls and Bren Mead have a winsome, everyguy quality that is completely endearing. They also aren’t content to play it straight, and veer all over the place stylistically; along with the jangling guitar pop they’ve mastered (check “In the Volcano” for proof of this mastery), they take cracks at gently rollicking country rock (“Half a Fool”), loping fake reggae (“One More Time”), smoothly crafted yacht rock (“Slaughterhouse Island”), and achingly melancholy synth pop (“Down for the Pound”), and make them all sound natural and good. Along with the wonderfully subtle and diverse music, there’s a low-key wit that bubbles through all the songs that gives
Breaks some legs. There aren’t any moon-June romantic tunes here; instead, they sing intelligently about the realities of life and love, while also taking time to work in references to Jim Belushi and generally not take things too seriously. It’s a welcome return for an underrated band, standing on equal footing with anything they did the first time around, and also sure to make any fan of smart, super catchy, indie pop very happy. ~ Tim Sendra