Brooklyn band Miracles of Modern Science has been a longtime favorite at raven + crow. Since we happened upon them opening up for an eccentric British band in a dark, off-the-beaten-path spot some six or seven years back, we’ve watched the band grow and improve with every step of their evolution. They’d likely best be described as chamber pop in one of its most literal interpretations, playing their poppy, catchy, remarkable originals and frequent covers with traditional stringed instruments and drums. We’ve featured MOMs on these pages a number of times before and even did a phone interview with band founders, singer/stand-up bassist, Evan Younger, and mandolinist, Josh Hirshfeld, in 2011.

Now, Miracles of Modern Science seems to be entering a new phase of their life as a band, releasing a second full-length—Mean Dreams—just last month full of refreshingly inventive departures to their song-writing, embarking on a massive US tour, and taking on some line-up changes, the most recent of which is the departure of longtime cellist, Geoff McDonald. We took a few minutes to talk with Evan on the road as they prep for a show in Hollywood tonight. Read on to hear about the band’s growing pains, check out their copious, always excellent covers, and read about what into the making of their new album.

raven + crow: So, we first caught you guys at Death by Audio in…maybe 2009? 2008? You all were opening for Micachu + the Shapes and Anni Rossi, which turned out to be an earth-shattering show all in all. We talked to you all back in 2011, but how have things been going for the band over the past few years?

Evan Younger: That was a great bill! It’s funny to think about though, because it feels like our entire “career” has happened since we last talked. We put out our first LP (and now our second), went on our first (and now fourth) US tour, and started making YouTube videos, which are now a big part of what we do. We’ve had our share of struggles and doubts in that time also, but they’ve made for good lyrical fodder for the new album.

Yeah, totally—we’ve really enjoyed watching you all “grow”, as it were. It was a huge, awesome surprise to discover three bands we ended up loving so much in that one fateful night in Brooklyn, and we’re glad you all are still making a go of it; beyond that, you all have just gotten better and better every year. But I feel like, the older we get, the harder it is to balance band life with work life or family life…or just other life in general. Have you all struggled keeping the band together and active while keeping everything else going?

Oh yes. When we’re not away on tour, we’re locked in our tiny studio all day (and stressed about whatever we’re currently writing/recording/mixing/shooting/editing). It takes a toll on relationships, friendships, sanity. Mean Dreams is more or less about that struggle—especially “Mothers in Jeans“, “Theme from the Magicians”, and “Fidget.”

All awesome songs, if it’s any consolation. Staying on the topic of terrible pain, I know it’s still fresh, but how has the loss of Geoff (former cellist) hit everyone—Geoff included?

The transition came at such a crazy time that we haven’t fully processed it. We’ve had videos to shoot, an album to release, a new cellist to find and had to get up to speed for a huge tour—so any questions about our creative identity we’ve had to shove aside for now. And Geoff is moving to Germany with a baby on the way, so I don’t think he has much time to ruminate either!

He helped record the new album though, right? Was this a decision he came to after or before doing that?

While we were writing and recording last year, Geoff was stretched very thin, with conducting jobs in multiple states and a long-distance girlfriend (now wife) in Germany. But we tried our best to work within his small pockets of availability. He and we both knew it was an unsustainable dynamic, but he was such a crucial creative force in the band that we felt compelled to see the album through with him. It was only after we finished that he got the news that he was going to be a father, and that made his decision obvious.

It sounds like it tipped the already tipping scales for him and you all. And now the MOMs are all uncles, so that’s great. How’s Kirin fitting into the fold then? It must be tough to suddenly be thrust into this tight-knit group, three of you who’ve been at it since the beginning, right?

We came to her with such a crazy ask—”Hey, are you free for 2 months of touring, starting in 2 weeks? You’ll have to learn our entire repertoire. Oh, and we need to shoot 3 music videos before we leave.”—that I’m amazed how well she’s rolled with the punches. We do have a massive back catalog of inside jokes, but she’s catching up quickly.

Seems like. Bigs ups to Kirin! Great video for “Follow Your Heart (or Something)“, by the way. GoPro + jogging around Greenpoint is a winning combination. Was that song lyrically a sort of play on the pop anthems of today?

Thank you! We weren’t trying to parody anything in particular. We had written this rah-rah arena-rock chorus, but we were feeling pretty downtrodden and cynical, so we had trouble writing anything earnest and uplifting without scare quotes. So we ran with that—the group vocals deliver the uplifting message, and the lead vocals undercut it with doubts.

Sounds very life-like. Are you all working on any other videos for singles from the album?

We just put one out for “Mothers in Jeans” and we have two more in the can—one for “The Chop” that has some stop motion elements, and a dance-based video for “Bad Body“. We have an idea for “Don’t Feed the Party Animal” we’re excited to shoot when we’re back from tour.

That all sounds 100% awesome. We’re huge fans of the single you all recently released, “JimJams“. It seems like a bit of a departure in terms of the nuanced sound. It’s definitely still you all, but with the plucky melodies and especially Serge’s hyperactive drumming, it seems like you all were pushing for something new—true?

Serge was pretty new to the band when we started writing “Jimjams”, and his drumming definitely shaped the direction of the song. The song began life with Josh’s opening mandolin riff, but it went into the “must finish” pile once Serge started playing crazy breakbeats over it.

Yeah, it comes through that the drumming drove the song, in a way I really love. And the rest of the album—do you feel like it’s a lot of departure or forced growth from you all?

Yeah. We’ve kept the same instrumentation across every album—that has been, so far, our defining creative limitation. But most of all we wanted to write better songs on this album. We used to drape lyrics over otherwise finished songs, almost as a reluctant afterthought. But this time we set out to write coherent lyrics that would seem to motivate the musical moods and structures, even if the instrumental parts were written first.

No, we’ve noticed a certain lack of tongue-in-cheek sci-fi steampunk themes. I like sci-fi steampunk, but I’m probably a bigger fan of sincerity in lyrics. Tell us about the album title, though—Mean Dreams.

It came about as a playful iteration of MEEMS, the title of our previous release. But once it was uttered, we realized the album is about our “mean dreams”—in multiple senses of both words.

Got it. I’m definitely getting a clearer picture of the struggle you all have faced as a band over the years. In between albums though, you all do some really, truly great covers—anything new you all are working up for tour?

We just put out a cover of “Lean On” by Major Lazer/DJ Snake/MØ, and we’ve got a couple more on the way.

Oh, totally love that new Major Lazer album. It’s got some great stuff. How’s tour going so far? It’s a pretty big one.

Before we left, I was more stressed than excited, since it was such a mad scramble to get everything done before we left. But now that we’re on the road, we’re having a blast.

Looks like from the various social medias. Nice Breaking Bad shot, by the way. Any non-show plans at along the way? Scale the letters of the Hollywood sign? See that giant ball of yarn, wherever it is? Find your spirit animals?

We don’t have too many days off, honestly! But our best tour adventures are usually unplanned. We’ll keep you posted….

Please do! And have a great show tonight.

MOMs play the Hotel Cafe in our neighborhood tonight—if you’re around, you should go. Check their Facebook page to see when they’re hitting a town near you and visit the band’s site to order their new album, Mean Dreams, in physical or digital formats.

Check out the video for “Mothers in Jeans” below.

The other day, someone asked me how the Mt. Vesuvius Black Ash cheese was from Miyoko’s Kitchen and I realized I’d never written about it here.

We’d first mentioned the mid-caost nut-based cheese-maker back in November, including shots of a wide range of their then current products, but we’d yet to experience their most goth of offerings at that time. The malady was quickly remedied though, and I thought I’d take a quick moment to share some shots of the visually impressive cheese.

As described by Miyoko’s, the cheese is “coated in black ash with a dense, smooth, creamy texture, and a mildly tangy, buttery sweetness” and is “great served with fruit or baked en croute.”

Honestly, like all of her cheeses, it’s great, but the taste of the Mt. Vesuvius itself is pretty on par with the rest of her firmer-yet-smooth cheese. What sets it apart is what you can see here—the visually striking contrast of the creamy white cheese wrapped in the stark black of the vegetable ash used by Miyoko’s.

As a whole, there’s a close-to-equal contrast in taste, as the rich, nutty base contrasts the smokey, ashy bitterness of the coating that’s interesting. But there’s no beating the aesthetic of seeing this cheese wheel cut up on a plate of hors d’oeuvres.

As with all of her products, highly recommended. And, this month, 1% of all of Miyoko’s sales benefit Compassion Over Killing—all the more reason to order.

Below, our unabashedly admiring parade photographs of the Mt. Vesuvius Black Ash cheese.

Greetings from the south-facing shores of Atlantic Beach, North Carolina.

Thalassic thoughts as we embark on some inter-coastal travels—another photo from our archive of our long ago trip to Kawaii, this one taken as a storm approached the eastern shores of the island.

A gentle reminder—for us as much or more than others—to reconnect with the why of what you do as often as possible.

Pictured, Katie with Maria, the rescued goat and celebrated resident of Farm Sanctuary‘s Southern California Shelter, a shirt drive north of Los Angeles.

A song that’s been in heavy rotation at KCRW of late and caught our ear is Eliot Sumner‘s excellent “After Dark”.

Little did we know that Sumner is the daughter of Sting and Trudie Styler and lent her vocals to myriad songs over the years, including our favorite Miike Snow track, 2009’s “Animal”.

Her unique vocal style plays out well over her own work, which is subtly catchy and just poppy enough. KCRW’s featuring “After Dark” as today’s Top Tune, so head over to their site to download the track for free today only. She’s also playing a show tonight at the Echo with the also excellent trio, On and On.

“After Dark” comes from Sumner’s just-released EP, SMPLR, which you can listen to + buy via iTunes.

We have yet to add any of this work to our portfolio—cobbler’s children’s shoes, you know?—but just thought to do a quick shot of these bookmarks we did for author, Christina Garner.

Based on the artwork we did for each of the three books that make up her young adult series, the Gateway Trilogy, the imagery involves a pretty involved, interesting process that we’ll be sure to expand on once we get the books and these promotional bookmarks up in the proper portfolio.

Subject floating in a pool in Kuwaii, 2003.

I just came across this scan of an old-school 3 1/2″ floppy disk in our files and it immediately filled me with nostalgia for the slower computer-using days of my youth, filled with many hours of Gold Box, Quest for Glory, Ultima, Keef the Thief, and trips to Babbages. Ah, Babbages.

I’m just going to take a moment and breath that nerdy, nerdy comfort in.

Breathin’ it in.

This of us who live and work in Los Angeles are in the midst of a pretty rough heat wave…for us, at least. As with most things Angelenos complain about, it’s nothing compared to what seasoned New Yorkers are used to dealing with.

In these hot months, though—especially if you, like us, usually work outside—it can be a struggle to keep cool, especially around lunch time, when the easiest, cooling go-to is a salad. Let’s face it though—salad gets pretty boring pretty fast, no matter how creative you are with your dressings.

Enter chilled melon soup, a dish that may sound a little odd, but, once put into practice, hits all the right notes—sweet balanced with a  little savory, smooth, cooling, and stupid-easy to make.

Essentially, buy a large melon from the farmers market or your local purveyor of produce—we went with an orange flesh honeydew, a  melon described as “similar to the Honeydew on the outside but has a similar interior color, taste and aroma that of a Cantaloupe.” Get it home, scoop out the seeds, and then either cut into chunks and then trim off the exterior rind or (as we did) simply scoop out the flesh of the melon provided it’s soft enough. Either way, then just place the melon chunks or scoops in a decent blender along with some ice and blend until smooth. Serve with a powdering of smoked paprika or chili powder and a garnish of your favorite green leafy herb. Sit back and enjoy not sweating for the next ten to fifteen minutes.