SOUND BITES

After an experiment in minimalism that left many fans cold (2015's Vitals ), Mutemath's fifth album marks a welcome return to the band's fully fleshed out and no holds barred approach. The most obvious carryover from Vitals is the reliance on electronic flourishes (and, in turn, less reliance on guitars), although Mutemath remains very much a rock band on Play Dead ; that said, this is an album that's at its wild hearted best when it's at its least traditional. Hit Parade 's sinewy rhythm and multi-layered melodies make it an unlikely earworm, and yet the song does crawl inside your head upon repeat listens. Stroll On , meanwhile, uses odd samples and off-kilter rhythms as jagged puzzle pieces; when the full picture is reveled, it's as surreal as it is undeniably catchy, even as it threatens to go off the rails completely in its closing moments. There aren't many places Play Dead won't go, from the '80s funk-soaked tones of Break the Fever ...

MUTEMATH Quarantine From: Odd Soul Released: October 4 You may remember Mutemath from their 2007 video for Typical , a revolutionary clip that was shot with the music and action in reverse.  If you do, you probably also remember Mutemath as kind of a standard, run-of-the-mill mid-aughts rock band; angular guitars, electronic flourishes, anthemic choruses, etc.  Furthermore, if you answered "yes" to both A and B, after hitting "play" on the nicely embedded video and taking it in for the next seven minutes, you will probably need a moment to reflect on just what the hell you heard and then another moment to come to grips with the fact that this really is that same band you remembered. Odd Soul is only Mutemath's third album, but it bears the stylistic leaps befitting a band with at least twice as many albums under their belts.  After slightly tweaking their sound with 2009's Armistice , Mutemath set fire to the house before making Odd Soul , and it ...