My Education - Bad Vibrations (Strange Attractors)

My Education - Arch

My Education - Britches Blanket

My Education - Sluts & Maniacs

My Education’s Bad Vibrations is such an intense paradox that it almost seems like it is at war with itself. I can’t imagine any other band at the moment who can introduce so many contradictory elements and achieve this level of harmony and balance as a result. These Austinians will test your patience as they begin to create uneven and treacherous territory. This music is progressive in every sense of the word - it is as if the songs develop a mind and will of their own and continually find ways to become bigger, better, and more powerful without damaging their foundation one bit. Not many artists can dwell on one simple idea for an entire eight minutes while keeping your interest and curiosity intact.

The first few minutes of the record are reminiscent of the instrumental work on Nickel Creek’s Why Should the Fire Die, except they are immediately more menacing, regardless of their warmth and twang. The second track “Arch” does at first sound very borrowed and conventional, which explains the one thing I didn’t like about this album - it failed to fully prepare me for how brilliant it eventually became. In retrospect, I feel that may actually be part of its charm. The band subtly foreshadows upcoming shifts, but you will most likely never see them coming. I wouldn’t describe it as “experimental” - experimentation implies a degree of uncertainty in the result, and My Education seem way too confident for that. Each song on Bad Vibrations blooms and explodes with increasing complexity and excellence, as sure as light shone through a prism yields a full spectrum of color.

Bad Vibrations later reveals a structure that’s strikingly similar to progressive metal band Opeth’s softest record, Damnation, or Kayo Dot’s Choirs of the Eye, but with much smoother transitions. It becomes a very orchestrated exercise in chaos. And yes, this is all pretty hard to imagine considering I began with comparing them to Nickel Creek. Things get even trickier as they introduce very rich texture through guitar work similar to My Bloody Valentine, but by now they’ve proven themselves capable of juggling pretty much anything they can throw into the mix. Once you think you’ve figured this band out, another twist arrives with “Sluts and Maniacs,” an instantly groovy and chill out-of-tune piano jam accented with eerie strings and what must be a glockenspiel. This is one of the most infectious tracks on the album. You feel this percussion in your head and down your spine. It’s like a rock version of the Cinematic Orchestra. Finally, the titular closing track is like Beck’s Sea Change pleading temporary insanity. It’s very intimate and personal with dark, brooding undertones, and ends the album on an ambiguous note. Strangely familiar yet so refreshingly different, Bad Vibrations works on so many levels.

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