Unlike in our other Listen Out For posts so far, today we are going to use some actual science* to evidence their popularity and back up our assertion that they are likely to go places in 2013. Since we posted the debut MS MR single back in May, more people have found the site by googling for MS MR, Hurricane or variations thereof, than by using any other search criteria. Similarly, that post has been viewed more than any other in the last 12 months, amassing double the number of hits than the next most viewed. See, science.*
Since then the duo who had shrouded themselves in mystery and intrigue but who we now know to be Lizzie Plapinger (MS) and Max Hershenow (MR), broke new ground by drip feeding the release of their Candy Bar Creep Show EP, week by week, on Tumblr. Secret identities, intrigue and an embracing of social media; it’s no wonder the blogging world fell over itself in excitement about these two.
The intrigue wasn’t entirely by design mind you, more that they were giving the music a chance to stand on its own two (four) feet. As head of Neon Gold Records, Lizzie was keen that her position in the industry didn’t colour people’s opinions of the sound, as she explained recently to Idol Magazine, ”to give the music a fighting chance and for it to be fairly judged on its own merit we wanted to keep ourselves anonymous so that people could come to the music organically”.
And organically they came, well via a PR in our case but let’s not split hairs. The songs were damn good too, that always helps. “Hurricane” was a ship of infectious down-tempo pop traversing the tormented cold and murky waters of paranoid self analysis. Elsewhere on the EP, as you’d expect from the title, is a macabre world of glitchy electronics, incessant rhythms, swirling strings and deliciously gloomy vocal harmonies. It is a heady mass of brooding energy, of dark and light that can be sung along with just as readily as it can be listened to in the shadow of the night. The tracks are ghoulishly intricate affairs, like a labyrinthine Ghost House with layers of sound crafting aches, pains and heartbreak within their ample arrangements.
With their popularity proved by science* and a set of properly excellent songs under their cape, we have very high expectations for MS MR and cannot wait to see what 2013 brings for them.
* It’s not really science is it? Not properly.
Candy Bar Creep Show is out now and available digitally or on ltd edition 7″ vinyl.
Read More: Review: MS MR – Candy Bar Creep Show EP / Free Download: MS MR – “Hurricane”
Stalk MS MR: Soundcloud / Bandcamp / Tumblr / Facebook
Alphabet Bands 
its like Soul music, if it was one of those tormented souls that chase people around on Paranormal Witness….hauntastic tunes.