Members of Mobius Band have apparently relocated to Brooklyn. Lord knows Brooklyn needed more young, scruffy, literate indie musicians, who only make up approximately 99% of the borough’s current population, all of them hunting for an audience not composed solely of other striving art bands.
Judging from the jacket photo, Mobius Band certainly look like nice guys who will be entirely comfortable shooting pool with They Might Be Giants, and I think Brooklyn might do them some good.
The Loving Sounds of Static was written in a basement in Shutesbury, Massachusetts, and in some places it suffers from the listlessness and claustrophobia that this setting would imply. But it also bears up well under repeated listenings.
It’s a very comfortable, friendly little album – sort of amiably depressed. The vocals are understated, the melodies are satisfying, the tone is generally mournful. And yes, like the label says, The Loving Sounds of Static does make you think of the Postal Service almost immediately, and especially on tracks like “I Just Turned 18” and “Detach.” Those tracks feel more bright and hopeful, like the soundtrack to one of those stop-motion films of flowers growing, clouds scudding across the sky, and brake lights smeared into neon streaks. Koyaanisqatsi!
And even if the final product is occasionally similar to Postal Service, the skeleton of these songs is significantly different. Postal Service is powered from within by electronics; for Mobius Band , electronics are a layer on the top, as if the songs had been translated. It may not make Mobius Band more popular – overall they don’t have quite the infectious sheen of Give Up – but it makes The Loving Sounds of Static feel more essentially human.
– Thomas Vale
Mobius Band (Ghostly)