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PAUL MEANY
Step 1: Download one of the Revenge of the Nerds movies from the eighties. Que it up, hit fast–forward.
Step 2: While the video is fast–forwarding, prepare 2 separate music players with headphones, one with Radiohead’s Kid A, the other with Mars Volta’s Amputechture.
Step 3: Right before the Nerds perform the musical number, put Radiohead’s “Idioteque” in
one ear and Mars Volta’s “Viscera Eyes” in the other. You’re almost there.
Step 4: As the Nerds begin to perform, hit fast forward a couple more times to really speed things up. Focus on the sped–up spastic musicians and ignore the “rapper.” Rewind and repeat if you missed it.
Well, despite all the presumptions this exercise brings, this is definitely not nerd rock. Even with the keytar, not even close. Mute Math’s sound is described as piano driven post–rock, but while those terms correctly suggest their arena–sized crescendos, they miss the contrast of the refined jazz elements sprinkled into the raw power emanating from the live performance.
And that group power is immediately apparent by the egalitarian stage setup: drums, keys, guitars and mics all in a line, all up front. But over the course of their set, things don’t stay that way.
Paul Meany, lead vocalist and keyboard player, treats his instrument like a jungle gym, flipping it, head–standing on it, flying under and over it. No song is immune to any number of items including stools, mic stands and drum sticks becoming percussionary props for every band member. And then drummer Darren King takes things over the top, literally redecorating the stage with stacked drums designed to climb and then batter—then he takes it into the audience. It’s this type of energy you can expect on the Green Stage Friday night:
