Mates of State

FUN FUN FUN FEST 2011

• Fun Fun Fun Lists

• Friday Interviews

• Public Enemy

  BY CHASE HOFFBERGER

• Anarchy Championship Wrestling

  BY RICHARD WHITTAKER

• Omar Souleyman

  BY AUSTIN POWELL

• Saturday Interviews

• B L A C K I E

  BY CHASE HOFFBERGER

• Tune-Yards

  BY MELANIE HAUPT

• Paint It Black

  BY RICHARD WHITTAKER

• Neal Brennan

  BY CHASE HOFFBERGER

• The Damned

  BY MARC SAVLOV

• Sunday Interviews

• Henry Rollins

  BY RICHARD WHITTAKER

• Slayer

  BY RAOUL HERNANDEZ

Fun Fun Fun Platters

• Boris

  Heavy Rocks

  BY AUSTIN POWELL

• Beatbox

  Goblin

  BY CHASE HOFFBERGER

• Hull

  Beyond the Lightless Sky

  BY RAOUL HERNANDEZ

• Black Lips

  Arabia Mountain

  BY DOUG FREEMAN

• Girls

  Father, Son, Holy Ghost

  BY AUSTIN POWELL

• Mates of State

  Mountaintops

  BY MELANIE HAUPT

• Lykke Li

  Wounded Rhymes

  BY MELANIE HAUPT

• Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

  Hysterical

  BY AUSTIN POWELL

• M83

  Hurry Up, We're Dreaming

  BY RAOUL HERNANDEZ

• Joe Lally

  Why Should I Get Used to It

  BY RAOUL HERNANDEZ

• Russian Circles

  Empros

  BY RAOUL HERNANDEZ

• Tinariwen

  Tassili

  BY AUSTIN POWELL

• Cold Cave

  Cherish the Light Years

  BY MELANIE HAUPT

• Jim Ward

  Quiet in the Valley, On the Shores the End Begins

  BY RICHARD WHITTAKER

Mates of State

Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel have re-embraced the organ-meets-drum dynamic for their quirky, lo-fi indie-pop. Mountaintops, the pair's seventh studio album, feels like a long mash note between the long-married couple, charting the highs and lows of connubial (sometimes) bliss. The melancholy "Unless I'm Led," a tale of loneliness in partnership, is paired with the adorable "Total Serendipity," which leads out with a sly sung "unicorns!" that feels like a wink at the duo's hearts-and-flowers image. Singing sometimes borders on yelling, but the promised heights reach their summit. (Sun., 3:20pm, Orange stage)