Mirror Stories - ‘30/30’ | EP Review
November 15 | Written By Jessica Pispisa
If you were a teenager around the early to mid-2000s, then you might recall there was a boom of compelling and dramatic bands that where a mix of nu-metal, alternative and pop punk, but all shared the same lyrical DNA of nihilism, hopelessness, and an attitude of “whatever, we’ll make it through this”. We found comfort in these bands, and with the wave of nostalgia that is moving away from the 90s and straight into Y2K, a new generation is getting their own class of musicians with sounds that give you a slice of what that felt like.
30/30 is the new ep from the Paris, France-based Mirror Stories, and it’s a collection of five songs that come across as a soundtrack for a traveller trying to find his place in the world; metaphorically and physically (a lot of name checks of UK cities. If you hear yours, raise a glass!).
Sober is the rock-riff driven opener that is about anything but trying to maintain sobriety: “will someone hand me a goddamned drink!” is not implied, but demanded. With it’s Travis Barker-like drums, it is a blink-182 rouse to get things started. At Last follows, and it finds the musician with a doomed affair and a place where one can only make the best of:” Jack of all trades/master of none/I’ll try my best to make this my home”. You start to get the feeling that the restlessness he is feeling inescapable, which is further made obvious with the middle track, The Toll. This is the song that has him wandering about the United Kingdom, and, while taking in what these cities have to offer, wishes to go back home, or the last place he felt less like an outsider: “Please take me back/reel me in/to this place I was once fitting in”. There’s something in there that reminds you of a Linkin Park song from the Meteora era, and that’s comforting spot to find oneself in. McNabs features melodic guitar and worn-out vocals that help to accentuate this tune about traveling. “As soon as the plane landed/I knew there was nothing for me here” is not an enviable position to be in, considering how expensive flights have become thanks to inflation, but that is most likely not what he meant. Traveling is only fun when you end up somewhere you want to be, not the other way around. The EP closes with Cold as Fuck, and it is the most unguarded track in here: “I can’t help it/ I hurt all the time/Every look, every word/ they hit like a knife”, the expression as naked as it sounds. It might recall the listener to one of Seether’s most vulnerable singles, and makes one wish Mirror Stories has come out of the other side in a better place, as the stream of consciousness coda whispers that ties up this collection of songs might suggest.
Mirror Stories describes his sound as like “Eels and Charles Mingus having a late-night G&T in Leeds, while trying to write a song for Taylor Swift”. There’s a little element of each in here, but as it is the first EP, there is time to expand his sound with his preferred influences.