Before guitarist/vocalist Blake Connally went on to front the crusty grind/powerviolence band Dead In The Dirt and then the deathgrind band Infernal Coil, you could find him mixing mathcore, grindcore, screamo, sass, noise, and more with Me and Him Call It Us, who released their second and final album Loss in 2006. Blake's later bands are more pulverizing, but MAHCIU are undeniably the most chaotic. On Loss, they sound like they're destroying their instruments as they're playing them. Songs change shape and fall off their hinges at the drop of a hat. One works in a harshly screamed interpolation of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart" ("Just Can't Function No More"). One includes so many minutes of guitar feedback that even the members of Sonic Youth might turn it off (and it's called "Headache"). The album feels like it's going to fall apart at any given second, and it kind of makes sense that the band themselves imploded the following year. I don't know how much longer something that sounds this combustible could possibly last. - Andrew Sacher
Brooklyn Vegan
Now, Loss is an excellent LP. It consists of 13 original songs and “Innocent Bystanders Watched in Horror as Peter Jennings Drew His Murder Weapon”, a re-vamped version of the same song found on The (C:) Drive of Love Stories. A track by track of this cd would be both difficult and entirely unnecessary, as most of the tracks would have the same descriptions. The tracks can be divided into two different categories: The traditional grind tracks, with fast tempos mixed in with chaos, and the ambient tracks, trading in down-tuned guitars and blast beats for serenity and dark-undertones.
Most of the tracks on Loss are of the traditional grindcore variety. The first track, Sarsaparilla, is a great leading track because it foreshadows what the rest of the album sounds like. It begins with an explosion of noise, with guitars blaring and screams abound. The track calms down towards the end, leading into the next track. The next three tracks begin the same as the first, with an early explosion of noise and strained vocals. Just Can’t Function No More is a great track, with an extremely heavy part fourty seconds in.
The ambient tracks are just as good as, if not better than, the heavy songs. …Into Troubled Waters, I Sink shows where Me and Him Call It US differentiate themselves from most other bands of their genre. The track is a beautiful mix of ambiance and a distant drum set, giving the listener a break from the onslaught of tracks before. The song fades out gorgeously into the next track, Heartache.
Speaking of lyrics, they are entirely incomprehensible. After four listens, the last three listens getting my full attention, I have yet to understand a single word of any of the songs. The lyrics aren’t important at all, but they do have some fun ones, especially…
“I'm biting the carpet as hard as I can, And the ceiling is still pregnant” Maybe it’s a good thing that the lyrics can’t be distinguished.
The guitars on this album serve their purpose, mostly playing behind the vocals and never really being too loud or too soft. They do shine for a few moments, particularly on the last track, Encirclement of the Dancing Scarecrows. The track ends with a haunting guitar part that concludes the album. The drums on this album are fantastic, always contributing to the track, whether it be with chaos or contributing with a smooth, calming rhythm during a softer track. - DWittisarockstar
Sputnik Music
