Galaxia Records

“Feeling Hands,” the latest release by guitarist Jared Mattson and drummer Jonathon Mattson reveal the duo continuing to synthesize their influences into a cohesive statement. Listening to their music, you can hear Bud Shank, Chet Baker, The Chicago Underground Duo, Tommy Guerrero, Blktop Project, Money Mark, and Tortoise coming out in their music. But the level of musicality the duo has reached on Feeling Hands was not an overnight epiphany.

When the Mattson 2 released Introducing the Mattson 2 in 2009, which can be described as either a long EP or a short full length player, the twins were stepping away from the traditional jazz they first cut their teeth on. Dissonance, and sounds reminiscent of a lot of those ultra-hip Chicago instrumental bands and their post-rock tendencies, began to creep in. Their music, despite being a duo format, gained a bit more depth, a bit more hipness, and simply became a bit more interesting.

Introducing the Mattson 2 was followed by Ray Barbee Meets the Mattson 2. The duo’s sound, with the addition of skateboard guru/guitarist Ray Barbee’s lead voice, harkened back to a 1950’s Bruce Brown surf movie but with 60 more years of musical experience informing it. The post-rock edge the duo showed on Introducing the Mattson 2, shifted toward a sunnier disposition; likely the result of Barbee’s influence. If their first album was meant to be heady, this album was meant to be fun.

Now with Feeling Hands, the Mattson 2 sound like the voice they discovered on Introducing the Mattson 2 and which they shared with Ray Barbee has been refined and perfected – wherein these previous albums co-exist in the same recorded space on Feeling Hands.

Meaning Feeling Hands feels more like a journey then a single musical statement. “Chi Nine” (with its sunny disposition due to Ray Barbee’s presence) and “Give Inski’s”(with a sort of instrumental Beastie Boys vibe due to Tommy Guerrero’s presence) sound like songs befitting those earlier releases. But they also provide a respite from the entirely new and heady concepts of “Mexican Synth” and “Obvious Crutch,” with its punk rock elements. While on “Ode to Lou,” the duo balances between the early 1950’s jazz it loves and the dissonance of Tortoise, and yet unlike earlier attempts sounds entirely unique. Similarly new and unique, “Black Rain,” mixes soul music horn charts with a post-rock instrumental framework. But these tracks are all tied together with the duo’s voice, the thread which they first spun in “Introducing the Mattson 2.”

The entire album appears to be telling a story through these tracks. The theme and the tale to be told I will leave to the Mattson 2 and those who purchase Feeling Hands.