Although winter doesn’t officially start until December 21, it already feels like winter, doesn’t it? The shorter days, the half-arsed rain, the constant temptation to snuggle up somewhere and not move until the world outside is as warm as it is underneath the covers…Anyway, the point is that in this most depressing of times, the market for depressing music picks up significantly. Mimas, a 4-piece from Denmark, have little regard for this business opportunity, despite having the prerequisites (stemming from a Scandinavian country, playing thoughtful Post-Rock…) to make a killing this autumn.

‘The Worries’, despite its pessimistic title, is an overall upbeat, fun record. ‘Mac, get your gear on’ for example may contain somewhat dark and cryptic lyrics, but it also displays gang vocals and crescendos reminiscent of the shambolic Indierockers of Johnny Foreigner, before dissolving in a flurry of drum rolls, trumpets and whirring guitars.

‘Dads’ is constructed the other way around, with a noisy intro making way for an instrumental break before making room for singer Snaevar Albertsson’s vocals and slightly nonsensical lyrics to take centre stage. One cannot help but feel that this is when Mimas are at their strongest: Albertsson’s vocals have an intangible humour, a slight smirk that tells the listener: “Cheer up, it’s not all bad”. Even the blueprint slow-mo rock of ‘Keep quiet’ carries with it a refreshing positivity.

The post-rock genre, besides being an annoying term, does set limits to the accessibility of the music, which made the otherwise lovely Secondsmile album a slightly frustrating album. But aficionados of the genre will note that, in this case, Mimas have chosen to take the positive approach and made an effort to set themselves apart. And in the process, made a thoroughly enjoyable Album to listen to in the cold (and warm) days to come.

By Matthias Scherer

Format: Album
Rating: 8/10
Release Date: 06/10/08
Label: Big Scary Monsters
www.myspace.com/mimas