When bassist Jacob Long left Mi Ami early this year, the San Francisco/NYC trio decided against seeking a replacement. It was a change that affected more than just their roster. On Dolphins, their first release since Long's departure, remaining members Daniel Martin-McCormick and Damon Palermo have abandoned guitars and drums and with them the dubby post-punk alchemy of earlier efforts. In their place are a series of aqueous electronic discoscapes that are are every bit as confrontational. And what this release lacks in hooks or noisy cross-pollinating, it makes up for in continuity. Whether it's the mania of Martin-McCormick's vocals or commitment to head-hitting, rhythmic expanse, it's still obvious that you're listening to Mi Ami.
It's not only made clear by Martin-McCormick's distinct, flailing vocal work. At four songs in just over 30 minutes, Mi Ami are still as economical as they were when wielding guitars-- as many ideas are at play, you never get the sense that anything has been shoehorned into any given portion of a song. In fact, by virtue of their sonics, this is a far sparer and roomier affair than anything else they've crafted until now. What's most problematic about that, though, is that it leaves Martin-McCormick's vocals out in the open. With just a sampler and a keyboard to compete with in the mix, Martin-McCormick doesn't have much else to slam into here, an issue that's at its most jarring in the early seconds of standout closer "Echo" or the EP's brooding title track. The quilled texture of his voice simply doesn't match up well with the smooth, temperate tones this band is playing with as a duo, despite their typically violent, overwhelming interplay.
That said, whether working with this palette is a one-off experiment or the beginning of a lengthier adventure isn't easy to hear. Dolphins is both hypnotic and staggering at times, but it lacks the extraordinary stamina that those earlier Mi Ami long-players kept from end to end. Take for instance the neon groove of "Hard Up", a song whose pulse can only be matched in murmurs by the blank wandering of "Sunrise". That they're able to so accurately translate their singular energy from one setup to the next is a feat. Should they decide to stick with it, finding a way to spread all of that out would be another.
