Spotlight—Meet Me in St. Louis

Sunrise and sunset. Alpha and omega. The beginning and the end.

It’s amazing how some things are gone before you get to appreciate them.

The previous posting I made about the “silent war” on creative hard music was inspired by the band Meet Me in St. Louis. Instead of celebrating a newfound discovery, I’m contemplating a menagerie of “what ifs.” Like so many other creative hard bands, Meet Me in St. Louis broke up without realizing their potential. This break-up served as my personal tipping point.

I’m not going to reiterate what I’ve already said. I will, however, highlight the amazing music this group of individuals made.

So consider this a posthumous edition of Spotlight.

Meet Me in St. Louis was an example of how groundbreaking post-hardcore could still be unearthed, like a nugget of musical gold at the base of a muddy river of blandness and mediocrity. I found out about the English band through my flirtations with Secondsmile and the also-defunct Jairus. The three bands are on the British label Big Scary Monsters. Meet Me in St. Louis had a distinct sound—employing complex time signatures with frenetic guitar work and meandering bass lines. Think post-mathcore.

Borrowing a line from an earlier review I did for a Hot Cross album, Meet Me in St. Louis’ music is an academic listen. But the band still managed to create an approachable sound.

I had been planning to write about the group on BST but never got around to it. Unfortunately, my first article about them will probably be my last. Yet, it’s important to appreciate what Meet Me in St. Louis accomplished during their short lifespan. At least the guys chose to end their experiment quickly instead of picking the popular option—bringing in new band members and risking the complete bastardization of their music.

For now, appreciate the work of Meet Me in St. Louis by watching the video below and by clicking here.

Good luck chaps.

Meet Me in St. Louis—All We Need is a Little Bit of Energon and a Lot of Luck