Minmae

Years ago, Minmae songwriter Sean Brooks picked up and moved from sunny San Diego to much darker Portland, Oregon. This new location (and specifically Portland's infamous weather) obviously plays some part in the songs Brooks creates. The garbled vocal noise loops that play over the sad, reflective pop of tracks such as "Capitols and Caliphs" (from Minmae's ninth full-length, 835) sound like what one would expect the inside of someone's brain to sound like after six straight months of gray and rain. In fact, Brooks even picks up on the theme of meteorology with tracks such as "Your Band Controls the Weather," a jab at buzz bands that almost-ironically uses the same wordplay that's made hype recipients such as Pete Wentz famous.