‘Weekends Away EP’ reviews

by Marc Hogan, Pitchfork
The lead track off Math and Physics Club’s debut EP nips a classic Lucksmiths opening line for a title and sounds like The Clientele performing the first Smiths record– after a Saturday night alone with Go-Betweens B-sides. In other words, yeah, I’m predisposed toward this stuff. That said, the songwriting does live up to its jangling guitars and roomy, Sarah Records-style production. Math and Physics Club set the match of literate, vivid lyrics and irrepressible melody to their faded-picturebook boy/girl harmonies. Organs straight from a 16-millimeter waking dream smolder in response, a perfect complement to the nascent summer heat. A warning to the recently single: This song depicts, literately and melodically, two contented lovers on a moonlit drive, complete with heads leaning on shoulders. “I read the map while you do all the driving,” sings vocalist-guitarist Charles Bert, and the notion of putting one’s direction in the hands of another (what’s a metaphor between fellow travelers?) has never sounded more appealingly reckless.

by Mike Doyle, Splendid Magazine
The band name seems to say everything. Faux-Brit sad-sacks dwelling on the innocence of youth? Check. Bookish charm and awkward sexuality? Check. Twee guitars and weepy strings? Check. What the band name won’t tell you is that Weekends Away is a brilliant EP. This fey five-piece draws from the best elements of its peers without tending toward sarcasm, like, say, Belle and Sebastian, or falling into the muck of melodrama a la Trembling Blue Stars. Like a shy schoolboy watching his father pore over bills and regrets, singer/guitarist Charles Bert is clearly nervous about what the future holds. In a desperate attempt to stave off the inevitability of boredom, he evokes calm summer nights, the sweet smell of dew-drizzled grass, and road trips with a lover — all with an objective plainness that only heightens the romance. Opener “Weekends Away” throws you in the back of a beat-up car to watch quietly while the two lovers up front drive through the night to get anywhere, so long as they’re away. The pretty keys, hushed drums and shy, rolling basslines provide the hint of optimism needed to carry the young couple toward freedom, even if it’s only for the weekend. After listening to “Sixteen and Pretty”, you’ll wonder why you just saw your whole life flash before your eyes: “Staring through the window glass / I took your photograph / with my reflection looking back / memories in white and black.” Bert whispers. Is it a little too nostalgic? Yes. Will you want to bathe yourself in Bert’s winsome heartbreak? Yes. “Oh, God only knows / I was just like any other boy.” He sings throughout the chorus, and that’s just the point: If you can’t relate to this EP, you should probably find work as a mannequin. By the time you’ve listened to the courageous strings on “Love, Again” and the jangly, lyrically sly “When We Get Famous”, one thing will be clear: these four short, simple tunes quietly announce the arrival of a great new band.

by Don Yates, KEXP
This Seattle band debuts with an utterly charming EP of dreamy twee-pop reminiscent of other soft-but-smart types like the Lucksmiths, the Go-Betweens and Belle & Sebastian. The band’s gentle folk-pop sound is spiked with some instantly hummable melodies

by Johnny Mac, Friends of the Heroes, UK
If springtime sunshine hasn’t yet reached your corner of the world it soon will. If you’re still trapped in the cold dark grasp of winter and can only dream of summer days, bathed in warm rays, soft, gentle breezes and long soothing evenings sipping chilled drinks on the patio then this record is just what you need. From the opening chimes of the title track the mood is set, it’s uplifting, it’s heart warming, it’s an indie kids heaven. Reminiscing about the halcyon days of our youth is always a winner, when summers were longer and hotter, people were happier and days were endless adventures of life and love and happiness, and this record has it all by the bucket load. Through the up tempo jingle jangle of ‘Weekends Away’ to the poignant ‘Sixteen and Pretty’ the listener is captivated, the imagery is so vivid, so detailed, yet I challenge any of you to listen to this record and not see yourself in the place of the subject matter… ‘I’m kissing my first kiss, I’m wishing my first wish…’ ‘Love, Again’ is an endless run of chiming arpeggios crafted around a tale of hopeless optimism, that leaves you wondering if optimism can ever be hopeless. Closing the record is ‘When We Get Famous’, a clap-along mish-mash of all the three songs that have gone before, a bit of everything in here, and it works well. It’s not a new genre, it’s not pushing any boundaries, but Math and Physics Club are certainly a pure out and out indie force to be reckoned with. They chime like The Lucksmiths, They swoon like The Smiths, they are as infectious as The Housemartins, and craft songs that Bobby Wratten would give his right arm for. This record epitomises all that is good about pure guitar lead pop, it’d be wrong to label it as belonging to a genre which may colour your idea of what it is, but with these sweet tunes, luscious melodies and readily embraceable lyrics you’d be mad to miss out. It’s indie pop with balls, It’s indie heaven.

by Sam Metcalf, Tasty Fanzine, UK
So fragile, they might just break if you love them too much, Math and Physics Club make the sweetest little ditties. This is their first Matinee release, and they’ve set a pretty high standard. Theirs is the sound of The Harvest Ministers, East Village and maybe even The Lucksmiths. The title track is the best here, and is that most beautiful of things - the road trip song. I look forward to this band’s next moves with moist palms.

by Skif, Vanity Project
Archetypal Matinée stuff with Marr-like guitars rattling like a sunbeam chased around a barrel, drums tap-tapping like entertained feet. “Weekends Away” then, where matters of map-reading and driving duties are divvied up. ‘Sixteen And Pretty’ and ‘When We Get Famous’ cup their ears to a jaunty 60’s hark, a la the Housemartins tickled with Simon & Garfunkel folk tambourine.

by Jennifer Maerz, The Stranger *** stars (out of 4 possible)
For a twee indie-pop group, local five-piece Math and Physics Club have all the correct components in place. Band name that invokes timeless yearbook snapshots of geeky, concave-chested academics whose quest for love will have more success in personal journals than in practice? Check. Touchstones from pop’s precious past–the Smiths, Belle & Sebastian? Check. Earnest messages of shy admiration that no Myspace connection could ever break through? Check. By the time “Love, Again” rolls around on the Math and Physics Club’s debut four-song EP, you sense the narrator wouldn’t dream of cheating on his unrequited crushes by eyeing the cute barista at the local coffee shop. These are sensitive songs of handholding, first kisses, road-tripping it with your head on the driver’s (cardigan-clad) shoulder, and riding bikes. The delicate hand that pens the lyrics is also applied to the songwriting, as minimal instrumentation, handclaps, and heart-plucking strings are allowed to add only the faintest wisps of color around the prominent, weak-kneed vocals. Revenge of the nerds sounds too sweet.

by Joseph Kyle, Mundane Sounds
Now, out of the gate and a nominee for prettiest pop band of the year is Math & Physics Club! This Seattle-based quartet are a gentle lot, with a quiet sensibility that’s quite smart, and they’ll quickly cause your heart to smile. With a gentle shuffle and quiet drums and a lovely, subtle violin in the background, this young band is best described as sedate. It’s a lot like a warm spring weekend with a newfound love, this. “Weekends Away” and “Love Again” are charmers, thanks in part to lead singer Charles Bert’s coy voice. Their style’s a little bit similar to the Ocean Blue, but with a more indie-pop edge. Dig the handclaps on “When We Get Famous,” too! All four songs on this little record are smile-inducing toe-tappers, and I can’t complain one bit about that–can’t wait to hear more!

by Chris McFarlane, IndiePages
Ever since I first heard of them last summer (when I saw them play their first club show), this band has had a pretty quick rise in popularity, with some successful shows here in Seattle, a couple radio sessions, and now this brilliant debut ep on Matinée. The songs are simple jangly tunes in the vein of the Smiths and the Lucksmiths, with very catchy melodies and somewhat melancholic vocals. The title track and closer, “When We Get Famous”, are both upbeat and absolutely perfect pop hits, while “Sixteen And Pretty” and “Love, Again” are a bit slower but just as lovely. Just you wait, there’s more where this came from!

by Mark Barton, Losing Today
This cute nugget literally just dropped through the letterbox and in just one little listen we surrendered. ‘Weekends Away’ is the debut single by the hotly tipped Seattle based quintet Maths and Physics Club and let’s just say those of you out there still holding tightly to those threadbare early Sarah, Summershine, Bus Stop 7″ thinking that those days of shy awkwardness and soul mate hand holding in front of the late night transistor listening to the Caretaker Race and Hey Paulette where to remain an odd but cherished snap shot to growing up had better think again. These maudlin gems will sound like the second coming of that age from the sprightly chime of the skipping chords on the angelic sounding opener ‘Weekends Away’ that’s so succulently bled through by the visible breeze of Hammonds to the reminiscent cardiac arrest ache of the nimbly drawn ‘Sixteen and Pretty’ which hits you cold and hard in the face like a downcast twist of Terry Jacks ‘Seasons in the Sun’. ‘When we get famous’ shirks and saunters with the spirits of the golden age of the Go Betweens running amok, jaunty, catchy, seamless melodies - what else could you ever want. Best of the lot though is the cruelly beautiful ‘Love, Again’ which take my word for, is carved from the same tugging threads that made those early Smiths releases both introspective and loveless and yet essentially life affirming brought out best by the contrasting shade to light morose matter of fact vocals rubbing oddly against the effervescent sunshine glee of the tumbling fret board workmanship. A classic all said and done.

by Dixie Ernill, penny black music
For fans of The Smiths, The Housemartins, The Trash Can Sinatras and The Lucksmiths” is the proud boast on the press release for this perky four track debut single, and it’s easy to see why. I would be more tempted , however, to file under ‘B’ for Belle and Sebastian, as I think the sound and general feel of the tracks lend themselves more readily to Stuart Murdoch’s mob, who I’d wager are probably (to some degree) fans of the aforementioned bands! Kicking off with the very jaunty ‘Weekends Away’, the record instantly takes you back to a summer day in Somerset in 1986, when The Chesterf!elds, The Brilliant Corners, Sarah Records and jingle-jangle pop were the musical drug of choice. ‘Sixteen And Pretty’ and ‘Love, Again’ are less immediate, but equally enjoyable, certainly doffing a favourable cap towards The Lucksmiths, whom the band will be touring with (Stateside) in April. ‘When We Get Famous’ justifies a deserved comparison to The Smiths, as much for the exquisite way that singer Charles delivers the word “famous” as anything else! Go out and buy…

by Tim Sendra, AllMusic.com
Math and Physics Club are five very sweet and gentle kids from Seattle playing indie pop the likes of which would have sounded right at home on a Rough Trade Indiepop collection. Equally influenced by the lovelorn sounds of Sarah Records bands like Brighter and the laid-back romanticism of Aussie bands like the Lucksmiths and the Go-Betweens, the band’s first EP is a four-track gem that manages to escape any charges of imitation by dAlelivering very strong songs loaded with tender emotion and easygoing charm. The band plays it very straight throughout, with loads of jangle and some lovely violin from Saundrah Humphrey. The only downside to the record (and band) is vocalist Charles Bert’s tendency to lapse into Morrissey territory from time to time. Still, Weekends Away is a very nice debut from a very nice band, and nice isn’t a bad thing to be.

by Dave Heaton, Erasing Clouds
Math and Physics Club’s debut EP, Weekends Away is not going to turn heads for innovation. They have a shuffle similar to the Lucksmiths’, a singer whose voice occasionally brings the Smiths to mind, and a sound that’s exactly what’s likely to come to mind whenever the phrase “indie-pop” is uttered. No, Math and Physics Club is not going to get your attention by sounding brand-new…but they are going to get your attention. The four songs here are warm and welcoming. In their lyrics — which tell of first kisses, weekend road-trips, and daydreaming of what it’d be like to be famous — there’s an honesty about people and their lives that’s affecting. That genuine feeling alone makes the songs feel special, but what’s equally important is how gifted these musicians are at writing and playing songs. The melodies and arrangements are involving and pretty, and there’s moments when everything combines to make your heart leap - like the moment near the end of “Sixteen and Pretty” when the music drops out and we’re left with Charles Bert singing in a perfectly sensitive way about youthful hopes, about memories that are filled with longing. Weekends Away might seem somewhat typical at first glance, but in the end it will sweep you off your feet.