Miracles of Modern Science: MEEMS EP

Miracles of Modern Science is a quintet consisting of an upright bassist, a mandolinist, a violinist, a cellist, and a drummer working under the self-described style of “orchestral space-pop”. The title of its new EP, MEEMS, possibly refers to Michigan Technological University’s Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics building. Needless to say, if you’re looking for rock ‘n’ roll edginess, you won’t find it here. What you will find, however, is a handful of blissful tracks that would have sounded right at home on the band’s full-length debut, 2011’s Dog Year. Despite feeling a bit spare even by EP standards, MEEMS still manages to run the gamut from upbeat meditations on heavy scientific concepts (“The Singularity”) to beautiful, all-too-short snatches of more traditional string-based compositions (the 19-second “Breather”). Yet you need not be a science or a string geek to enjoy MEEMS, and this should speak highly of its pop faculties.