Review: Glass Mattress – Told A Lie
The difficult thing about evaluating any kind of music is balancing the unquantifiable (is it fun/enjoyable to listen to) with some sense of objective quality (how sophisticated is this music, does it say something or achieve something new and different). The pop-y-er the offering the more difficult this becomes. Pop by its very nature is meant for mass consumption, to cast the widest net possible. As such a lot of pop-y music tends toward the fun, but not terribly interesting or dynamic. This is evident in the one-hit-wonder phenomenon. Glass Mattress, however, manages to deftly inject actual interest in their music while still maintaining a healthy level of fun and listenability.
To call Glass Mattress pop is probably not a fair categorization. But it’s just so. Damn. Fun. Their new single, “Told a Lie”, lives entirely in a very approachable, major key, up tempo place creating a general sense of, well, pop music fun. But even a little more active listening reveals a goldmine of nuanced delights. There’s a real attention to the dynamic and while the verse-chorus-verse general structure can be found here, Glass Mattress injects variation and employs thoughtful transitions between parts of the song in a way that betrays a real attention to the craft of songwriting. All of this is to say, don’t let their upbeat demeanor fool you, Glass Mattress isn’t phoning in vapid pop-rock.
Glass Mattress will be at Sinkhole November 23rd to celebrate the release of “Told a Lie” with Kyoto-Lofi, Gill and Lindy Slopper.
MCM Culture is here to celebrate local arts and believes that the music, art and culture of St. Louis are vital, necessary components of a community. We cover small venues and local arts because we believe they deserve serious coverage and a greater share of attention from the public.
