Mi Ami

Steal Your Face (Thrill Jockey)

By Dana Raidt
Published: April 9th, 2010 | 7:00am

Often described as a “drum-punk” band, Mi Ami is probably not what you’re thinking. A far cry from the drum circles of the Rainbow Gathering crowd, this San Francisco-based trio is no hippie jam band. In fact, in the year between the release of their full-length debut, Watersports (Touch and Go/Quarterstick), and latest album, Steal Your Face, Mi Ami has toured, become more cohesive, and apparently become (according to their label) “a near-telepathic unit.”

Evoking ESG more than it does ESP, Steal Your Face delivers both the momentum of four-on-the-floor disco beats and the intense primal power of tribal drum circles. Standout track “Latin Lover” is a six-minute guaranteed party-starter in the vein of !!! or LCD Soundsystem, while the eight-minute “Dreamers” is hypnotic and relaxed. “Secrets” is where the punk aspect of “drum-punk” finally appears with distorted, half-screaming vocals plus plenty of cymbals and angular rhythms.

Equal parts dance-y and ambient, Steal Your Face makes you want to both get up and move and sit down and stay put. While the individual songs—though they can get a little long—have more direction than those on Watersports, the album as a whole never really reaches a resolution between the two extremes. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have fun trying.

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Thrill Jockey