M. Bison ::: photo by Josh Lovseth

With this week’s self-titled release, M. Bison are living up to the high standard the band has set for themselves with their live performances, by embracing what they do best — adventurous pop songs. Songs that would be completely over-the-top if they weren’t so god damn catchy, touching, full of humor, and beautifully orchestrated.

I have to confess, my fondness for this album comes as a bit of a surprise.  I’ve been seeing the band play around town for the past three years and while I’ve always been impressed with their live sets, especially two memorable  nights where they acted as Seattle’s best cover band, M. Bison was never anything I came home and listened to.  I enjoyed M. Bison, but I wasn’t excited by them. My, how things have changed. Since I received their record earlier this Fall, there’s been few shows I’ve been anticipating as much as their record release tonight at the Lo-Fi with We Wrote the Book On Connectors and Heatwarmer.

The band’s full length debut is a surprising stunner. The album opens up with “Samurai Showdown,” a song you’ll recognize if you’ve ever seen M. Bison live. It starts out all playful pop before going into a section I can only describe as an 8-bit aria. These ’80s video game inspired nuggets pepper the album in between straight up pop licks that wouldn’t sound out of place in heydays of The Kinks. (If I had to compare M. Bison to anyone, Ray Davies is the big name I would drop.) That M. Bison’s sound is hard to pin-point is a great thing. They sound like everyone and no one else. It’s theatrical and earnest. Saccharine and sarcastic. It’s piano pop, it’s soaring video game melodies, it’s a simple song that sounds so right on listen one that it feels like it’s been around for 40 years.

It’s an album of constant surprises, especially with the band’s signature twisting bridges that take songs like “Johnny’s Got a Girlfriend” and “All Things To All People” to places you’d never expect they’d go. These explorations, on themes and styles, are all made possible because M. Bison is made up of some of Seattle’s most skillful and accomplished musicians. These guys are no joke. I’ve heard the word genius used to describe pianist Brian Kinsella on more than one occasion by men who have themselves been described as savants. M. Bison are musicians’ musicians.

The album is perfectly pleasant pop that will burrow in your head, but that’s okay, because you don’t want it to leave.  A couple listens in and you’ll find yourself belting along to M. Bison’s lushly layered harmonies like it’s a show tune. I’m pleased to report that M. Bison is no longer just a band to enjoy live, they’re no longer just Seattle’s best cover band, they’re not just a fascinating quirk. With this album and their considerable talent, M. Bison is exciting, incredibly so, and definitely something I’m coming home and listening to now. Easily, one of my favorite local releases of 2009.