Someone will kill you for a secret kiss

Mi Ami's Steal Your Face was one of those albums that immediately clicked for this listener. The sweaty, passionate junkyard danceparty they put down hit musical buttons on more levels than anything I'd heard in a while. That level of interest causes the listener to investigate the band more deeply. And since Mi Ami only had one other album, further exploration was needed. Turns out 2/3 of Mi Ami used to be in another band, Black Eyes. On Dischord. With an album produced by Ian MacKaye. Sold.

And you can hear the Mi Ami DNA in genetics of this band. While obviously punk-er (with the vitality of youth), Daniel Martin-McCormick's nasal keening and slashing guitar-scraping are present, as is the presence of bass-loving dub influence. It makes sense that such a combination would find a home on the Fugazi label. Granted, for this listener, Black Eyes is only a methadone to Mi Ami's heroin (and, sadly, Mi Ami's new electro stuff is like ditch-weed). But this is still a real strong album, and I regret not getting the opportunity to see it live where I know the energy almost-but-not-quite-captured on this album would have blown faces to the back of the room.