Miracles of Modern Science

Miracles of Modern Science are a string section in mutiny: guitars overboard! The Brooklyn, NY band squeezes together classical textures, disco kinetics, and explosive dynamics you might file under "post-rock" if their instruments weren't decidedly pre-rock.

The band began at Princeton University, where vocalist/double bassist Evan Younger and mandolinist Josh Hirshfeld shared a hall their freshman year. Feeling out of place at a school where cover bands and Top 40 DJs dominated the nightlife, they hijacked open mics with off-kilter acoustic collaborations. They found kindred spirits in other restless musicians from the school's orchestras and jazz bands: conductor-by-day cellist Geoff McDonald, Aussie violinist Kieran Ledwidge, and finally drummer Tyler Pines, who spurred them to plug their miniature orchestra into amps. Since then, MOMS have been uniting crowds of discerning musicians and dancing party-goers alike through their brand of orchestral rock.

MOMS' 2011 debut Dog Year earned raves from NPR and Paste and ended up on year-end best-of lists for Wired and Beats Per Minute. Their new followup EP, MEEMS, pushes the limits of their acoustic instruments even further, ending up both crazier and catchier than its predecessor. The result resembles pop music, but you can sense the band ripping apart and rearranging its underlying mechanics like mad scientists.