REVIEW: “Blub Blub” by Welk’s Mice
‘Blub Blub’ is Welk’s Mice second album release with 8 tracks. I had a lot of fun listening to this album as it had a very unique and distinctive sound. This duo, Max Weiss and Andre Welks-Fabritti, work incredibly well together, and their music is only made better by the contributions of the engineer/producer Derick Evens.
The album starts with the song Showing Up. I was surprised to hear mallets in the songs, but they honestly add an interesting sound that works well. Showing Up deals with life and how people need to show up, and how sometimes that is not enough. Welk’s Mice use their instruments in a new and interesting way that keeps you interested.
The second track is Honesty. It starts with strings and then immediately goes back to the mallet sound with added guitar. This song, like most of their album, is really fun to listen to. Honesty hits you with an immediate wave of nostalgia. The duo experiments with a lot of instruments so, vocally, they do not have to add a lot to make their songs intriguing.
The third track is called Generous. This is one of my favorite songs on the album. Generous explores the idea of love, making you question if it is worth it to be generous. There is a lot of much-appreciated repetition in the song. The background clapping and modulated voices are interesting elements.
The fourth track is Our World. This is another one of my favorites. The melody is very catchy. Our World is a song about how, even if everything feels bad in the world, maybe everything will be alright if you just leave the house. It has a storytelling aspect that makes it fun to listen to and enjoy. The song is simple throughout with mallets and vocals, with more elements added to the end to make it fuller.
The fifth song is called Piece of Crap. As the title suggests, this song is about feeling like you’re a piece of crap. Welk’s Mice added a lot of instrumentals like a shaker, guitar and piano, to name a few. This song feels more fuller in sound than others.
The sixth song is called Nashville Cats. There’s a fun bass melody added to the guitar and mallets. Nashville Cats deals with that crossroads in our life when we do not know what direction to take. The instrumentals feel like something you would play at a beach. This song also has some funny lyrics that add to the song.
The seventh song is called Tape Case. This song is very fast, like a stream of consciousness added to background mallets. Tape Case is about being stuck in a rut where days feel the same. This is a very fun listen and one of my favorites on the album
The last song is called Maple Creemees Two. This song starts out slowly with long chords held out. Eventually, mallets and other instruments are added in. This song is a self reflection on how this duo came to be. It is a very sweet and slow song that I think was a great choice to end the album. With it being a sweet and soft song, they have some funny lyrics that got a laugh out of me.
Overall I think Welks Mice has an authenticity that makes the duo stand out from the crowd. I really enjoyed listening to them and highly recommend that you should listen too!
