2nd LP from Pittsburgh's Möwer.

Our take: II is the appropriately titled second album from this d-beat rock and roll group from Pittsburgh, and while I liked their first album a lot, II is even more scorching. Mower isn’t shy about their inspirations—their aesthetic is grounded firmly in Motorhead and Inepsy—but their music is far from formulaic, the style serving as a framework rather than a set of constraints. The band is on fire here too, the raw and live sound showcasing their power as players and the blistering tempos—Mower is fast!—keeping the energy level through the roof. While the punkier parts are straightforward, loud, and fast, Mower frequently slides into extended instrumental breaks that give them the opportunity to go further out, with blistering guitar solos, complex bass runs, and deft instrumental interplay serving as the perfect foil to the straightforward rippage. I’ve heard plenty of bands in this style that can wear thin after a track or two, but II is a smartly sequenced record that changes up the tempos, structures, and feel from song to song to keep everything super lively. Excellent stuff.