Macseal is likely my favorite midwest emo band, and it might have been close if American Football and The Hotelier didn't exist. I have a few thoughts on the musical development of Macseal, which might not mean anything to you, dear reader, but I find it very personally perinent that I write it down. I will be considering only the following releases, as they are complete releases (ordered chronologically) and are easily available on Spotify:
As their debut release, Macseal really did come out swinging with their self titled ep (The Wonder Years reference intended lessthan3). S/T, as I will refer to it from now on, is a incredibly finished piece. It's simply tight, there arent any mixing issues I can point out, and there arent any musical aspects that bug me whatsoever. It's definitely the most math-y release of Macseal's, but I think each song is incredible in it's own right and is great and complete even placed within the context of the discography in general. The song Cats is a banger to end all bangers, as made clear by its popularity.
The sophomore EP, Yeah, No, I Know (YNIK), is a masterpiece. From end to end it is filled with amazing songs, each of which has accompanied me through my embarassing failed talking stages and heartaches. This EP is, by far, their most popular release, with an average of 2.25 million streams per song (Spotify). This is interesting to me, because YNIK is probably the most experimental work of Macseal's. It maintains much of the mathiness of S/T, but the mixing and effects dip into something I don't see often in Midwest Emo. YNIK takes a notably more ambient approach, this is seen especially with sections like the ending of Twilight Funzone(my personal favorite track), but also throughout the EP there is a constant haze. It's not quite like the vinyl crackle of Kekht Arakh, but it's there and you do pickup on it when listening. I think this was a fantastic decision, because it aids in the "dreamlike" nature of the EP. This gives the release a vibe, a particularity that keeps it interesting and special. You can also see this with two particular aspects: (1) the track name of Twilight Funzone, which evokes a dreamy or nocturnal image, (2) The album art, a blurry image of a masculine and feminine person playing some game of footsies on a bed, possibly a Polaoid. The blurriness as well as color correction crafts a feeling of nostailgia and dreamlike haziness. My academic thesis is as follows:
"This album is the most popular work of Macseal's because of the vibe and image it creates and maintains. Though one could argue that it's popular because of the quality of songs, this is not true because Macseal's earlier self titled EP and later releases are all of higher quality, and many more easitly digestible to the 'popular crowd.'"