The Mysterines Revel in Their Maturing Sound on Afraid of Tomorrows

Labeling The Mysterines a “grunge” band not only does them a disservice, it pigeonholes the band in a niche that really doesn’t do their sound justice. Calling their spectacularly voiced lead singer Lia Metcalf “the love-child of Courtney Love and Karen O” is just as injudicious. While Metcalf definitely has the presence and poise that Karen O radiates, her voice is utterly unique when compared to both frontwomen. Exhibiting an influence born more of Grace Slick than Courtney Love, Metcalf can glide stealthily from hushed and husky vocals to stentorian wails in a single break. Her vocal delivery interplays with the band’s loud/quiet dynamic effortlessly (which does betray at least a similarity between The Mysterines’ sound and grunge), creating a powerful, at times bluesy, as well as a bit twangy, sound that is strikingly minimalist, but completely rock. It’s rock that evokes a sound more akin to that of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Dead Weather, and fellow Brits Royal Blood than Alice In Chains or Soundgarden. As powerful as it is, their sound only carried them so far their first album, Reeling (2022). On that album, The Mysterines reveled in their muddy and “grungy” sound, putting it to good use, but leaving their listeners with the feeling that they were capable of more. With Afraid of Tomorrows, their second LP, the band merges their powerful sound with mature songwriting, and the result is a listen that one rarely experiences from a band at this stage in their recording career. 

So, while their sound isn’t really “grunge” writ large, it is a grungy, muddy sound that relies heavily on its volume. Eschewing lightning fast soloing and the guitar histrionics that often permeate this type of rock (with bands like Pearl Jam really being one of the few left that do lighting solos deftly as well as respectably), guitarist Callum Thompson relies upon thickly laid, and thickly amplified, minimalist riffs that a band from the legendary home of The Beatles might indulge in. Honestly though, The Mysterines being from Liverpool doesn’t really have anything to do with their sound per se. It’s just a hype lead for most press on the band: “Liverpool’s latest sensation…” etc. etc. In fact, Afraid of Tomorrows was recorded with producer John Congleton in Los Angeles. Whatever influence Liverpool has on the band travels well with them, and recording location, as well as locus of origin, is irrelevant. 

The new album’s lead single “Stray” is one of the album’s fastest and most hard rocking songs. It was definitely a great introduction to the new album, but it isn’t really representative of most of the songs on the album, excluding “Sink Ya Teeth” which is the album’s other arena style rocker. It is also one of the few examples of the less than poetic lyrics on the album; lyrics that the previous album reveled in. Metaphors like being “hung up on you” and “all these things I’ve done” have really run their course in popular music, and while they may make for a great and easy sing along in those aforementioned arenas, they do little to build a band’s lyrical relevance. On Afraid of Tomorrows, Metcalf finds a more succulently ambiguous middle ground with the listener by weaving content that allows the listener to join her in creating the meaning in her lyrics, thus bonding more tightly with her audience. It’s a major step forward for the band as a whole as the deeper, more intricate lyrics work well in tandem with the more intricate and edgy music. Songs like “Hawkmoon” with its BRMC reminiscent acoustics and open spaces brings the album to a near grinding halt about halfway through and is indicative of the slow burn type of grind that the band engages in on most of the songs off Afraid of Tomorrows. The song is a standout with its near halt, its distorted radio voice blurbs, and its soaring outro. “So Long” and “Tired Animal” also smolderingly grind along exquisitely, with “Goodbye Sunshine” and title track “Afraid of Tomorrows” finding a nice middle ground tempo between the two outright rockers (“Stray” and “Sink Ya Teeth”) and the burners. “Goodbye Sunshine” is the album’s hidden gem. The band puts it all together here, making the most of their signature sound. 

Collectively, The Mysterines take a substantial songwriting and lyrical leap forward on Afraid of Tomorrows. Not every song is destined for the hall of fame, or heavy rotation (“Jesse You’re a Superstar” and “Inside a Matchbox” leave much to be desired), but overall the band has nothing to fear from the tomorrows their career will be bringing them.