Search - El Toro :: May & Marielle

With its combination of dynamic instrumentation, diverse and accomplished songwriting and lyrical catharsis, May and Marielle stands as EL TORO's most commanding performance to date, and it is one of the most uncompromising and exciting pieces of music you'll hear in 2005. May and Marielle is a singular work: an operetta of sexual and emotional confusion and conflict set to a musical backdrop that mirrors and expresses the entire range of emotions involved. By turns wildly and beautifully, thundering rhythms and disjointed guitars mesh in a symbiotic relationship with Ludwikowski's narrative—replete with recurring themes and a resolution that ultimately leaves the players and listeners both sated and spent. May and Marielle achieves and exceeds the promise of EL TORO's early demos that embellished the trademark EL TORO intensity. Metaphorical and rife with self-reference and examination, Ludwikowski's confessional lyrical style weaves storybook sensibility around his inventive narrative. This could possibly be owed largely to the relative collaborative efforts of his band mates, but whatever the case May and Marielle finds EL TORO reaching yet another peak. In the last year EL TORO hit the road with a vengeance. They shared the stage with HEAD AUTOMATICA, CRU JONES, THE FAINT and PLANES MISTAKEN FOR STARS. The rest is more or less history. Having found a unique balance between beauty and chaos in the most dynamic instrumentation of EL TORO's short history, May and Marielle stands as the most commanding performance of the year. Somewhere between a calmly calculated conceptual album and tongue in cheek satire, the band delivers a fearsome and lavish diatribe. Wild dissonant electronics, tearing and beautiful lyrics, thundering rhythms and disjointed guitar lines align together in a symbiotic relationship among the instruments. The result is some of the loudest but most melodic moments we have yet to hear from any band.