The Arts and Sciences are solo artist Paul Melançon and his band, together at last.
Purveyors of literate and melodic indie pop music, the band calls Atlanta, Georgia, home and originated as Paul put together a band to tour in support of his acclaimed 2002 Daemon Records release Camera Obscura. Good players are all fine and well, of course, but the most important consideration when forming a band is can we spend time in the van together? This band is van-tested, from extensive touring along the east coast and two stints touring with the Indigo Girls (favorite road activities include getting a local dial-up number, visiting historic places, and checking out Shrimply Tuesday at Red Lobster).
In many ways, Hopeful Monsters is the antithesis of Camera Obscura. Where Camera took a year and a half to record, Hopeful Monsters was recorded over the course of two weeks at Rob Gal's (Josh Joplin Group) studio. The band recorded it virtually live, with only vocals and the occasional solo overdubbed later. The goal was to record something much more immediate and personal than the last record and the result is a sometimes painful and raw exposure of personal weaknesses. While it still shares the same core influences as Camera, the band and Hopeful Monsters have more in common with Elliott Smith and Death Cab for Cutie than Michael Penn and Elvis Costello. However, both still retain the trademark of Paul's unusually gifted voice, this time perfectly complemented by guitarist Lee Cuthbert and the rhythm section of Chris Pollette and Erin Dangar (along with Erin's harmonies), adding the key ingredient to each song: the "rock," as the kids say.
The band worked on Hopeful Monsters together, leading and testing and challenging each other, and the final result sounds like a group who knows each other and plays together with comfort and familiarity. Best of all, they know Paul, and Hopeful Monsters is a work which brings out the best in his songs. (Another member of the band would like to interject here that Melançon is in actuality very funny - an excellent joke teller and quite sarcastic - and he also enjoys the jokes of others. In many ways, he resembles a normal person. He just had a difficult year.)
"He can still express in five words more than most lyricists can in an album's worth of material" - Southeast Performer
"Should be the songs coming from your favorite indie rock kid's iPod" - High Bias
"At their best, they exude indie Athens charisma or the literate dexterity of the Decemberists" - PopMatters
"Melancon's amazingly clear voice is teamed with bassist Erin Bradley Dangar's harmonies, and they blend so well that it's sometimes difficult to keep your composure while listening to them" - Splendid