Album Review | 'Wake Up!' 

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The exclamation point’s modern usage reportedly dates back to the 14th century. Italian scholar Alpoleio da Urbisaglia introduced it as a means of adding emphasis and emotion to written script.

In music, the symbol has punctuated iconic tunes from The Beatles, Outkast and many more. Add to that list “Wake Up!,” the first-ever EP from Rochester’s Mice Advice, released in July.

Lightly psychedelic but buzzing with energy, the three-song arrival from the mellow pop quartet pairs perfectly with the haze of its midsummer debut. This is music for letting the drapes sway in the breeze.


The first song runs into the second, which in turn melts into the third — a neat trick that presents an uninterrupted listening experience akin to catching the band during a live set. It also reflects the recording sessions, captured in a single day at Ben Morey’s Submarine Sound Studio in early June.

Here’s where the typographical emphasis enters the scene.

The strongest song here, closer “Good Morning!,” shines with the brightness of 1990s pop-rock groups like The Sundays and The Cardigans. But unlike those bands, Mice Advice blurs its melodicism by prioritizing groove (courtesy of bassist Liam Welch and drummer Emily Chesebro) and floral lead guitar lines from Edward McAndrew.


This grounding allows vocalist El Laurette, who also plays guitar, to haunt the upper realms of the sonic range with airy delivery. Opener “Exit 15” features El leaving space for wobbly guitar solos to color outside the lines.

“Couch” perhaps best encompasses the mood of the EP’s trippy cover art, in which a photo of tall flowers and a blue sky continues in on itself in a Droste effect.


As a call to action, “Wake Up!” begins drowsily but ends up delivering a peppy, unexpected and overall fun take on psych-pop. Mice Advice’s debut earns its punctuation.

Patrick Hosken is an arts writer at CITY. He can be reached at [email protected].