MØN is a rock orchestra from Paris, France. While France's musical community is diverse and healthy, it hasn't really produced many exceptional post-rock bands. Sure, acts like All Angels Gone, Kwoon, and Don't Look Back have all made impressions over the last few years, but the country has lacked a powerhouse band with staying power who continually churns out one excellent album after another. While I've no doubt that any of these bands could attain such a title, at least regionally, the relative lag between releases has made it difficult for any of them to pick up momentum and embed their name into the forefront of our memories, closely associated with that fleeting word. MØN is a band who can change all the rules.

We originally heard from this septet in 2006 with their self-titled album. I was actually a little slow on the uptake here and didn't fully invest my time into the album until well into 2007, but was it ever a stunner. With (only!) three guitarists, the band's sound is unexpectedly crisp and uncluttered, playing like a focused quartet who just happens to sync up perfectly with an accommodating violin, cello, and keyboard. With several irresistible tracks, MØN played inside my head for months, lingering until I knew the tracks like a long lost friend.   

Since the release of that album, the band has done some touring, some recording, and is now shopping around a three track demo (which I'd prefer to call an EP, but we'll leave semantics at the door). Although MØN's sound hasn't drastically changed - the band still sounds somewhat like Magyar Posse playing with The Ascent of Everest but with sparse vocals that greatly overshadow both bands - there's still the sense that these tracks are a development and progression over the older material, if only slightly. The music is elegant, sophisticated, free of cliches, and still satisfying in all the ways we expect post-rock to be. In short, they accomplish the very difficult task of finding their niche in the post-rock world - of sounding fresh and unique, but still familiar enough that their music is easily approachable and lovable with a short learning curve. Most importantly, it's just awesome music that pulls me in, so much so that I want to spend hours soaking it all up.

A short rundown of the tracks can't hurt, as there are only three of them. "Lukrym" begins a bit heavier than MØN is accustomed to, with looming guitars that ebb in time, picking out soft melodies and then leading very gently to the string section. The song's progression strikes me as unorthodox, more classical in nature than the general post-rock crowd: climaxing early, establishing a lengthy bridge, and then reprising before a very tense fade into "DaakTyle Rhak." The second track flaunts the band's cohesion, as well as the smoothness of their compositions, as the septet masterfully play as a single entity, a unified sound. Here the keyboards get more use and the strings play more background support to the guitars than in "Lukrym." Vocals make an appearance in the ever gloomy motif that the MØN loves; of course it's a perfect fit. "Finne" is the most noticeable change from MØN's normal style on the demo. The track is more somber and vocal driven, sounding almost like Efterklang if you gave them all a truckload of depressants. The stripped down work is quite enthralling, and shows there's a lot more to the band (stylistically) than just the first two tracks demonstrate.  

In terms of proving its worth, this demo passes with flying colors. It also excels as an EP, providing three strong tracks with no fat, reinforcing the strengths of the band, and opening up some ideas for future exploration. As a "demo," I'm led to think that these tracks will resurface on a proper full length sometime in the near future. As long as they find themselves among good company, I have no objections to this proposal. 

-Jordan Volz