Muuy Biien is the real thing. No college degrees, no connections, no future. Kids in their 20’s raised in the Georgia countryside, born to work in fast food—the band members met while all working at fried chicken chain Raisin’ Cane’s, eventually moving in together like some kind of white trash Monkees.
But art springs forth from the unlikeliest of places (though you’d think everyone would know by now that being rich in Brooklyn doesn’t give you access to anything besides access. Or excess. Yet for all their antics—getting kicked out of local awards shows, self-mutilations both verbal and physical—the members of Muuy Biien are first and foremost artists. The power of DYI is palpable and real, but so is the sense of craft that hangs over it. Like the latest Laurel Halo, the album closes with a fractured piano instrumental. They might go anywhere from here.
Muuy Biien is that rarest of punk bands—someone who’s pissed off at all the right people, including themselves. Frontman Josh Evan’s rage may be scattershot, it may be convulsing in all directions, but in his songs you hear the struggle of someone trying to get it right, reminding themselves to try and hate the powerful first. DYI is the sound of a band learning to rage correctly. Mankind may be a virus, but who do you want to see die first.
Too melodic, too artistic, to truly be punk. Too engaged with the outside world to be indie. Too good to be true. DYI is the sound of a band exploding with ideas. Stay tuned for the next evolution.