Me Rex - “Skin, It Itches”

SXSW 2022 - OEB Score: 8; Popularity Index: 2

Pairs Well With…Frank Turner, The Hold Steady, Bleachers

An upbeat and full capture of UK indie pop/rock, Me Rex’s latest single “Skin, It Itches” is a collection of twee synth and guitar melodies matched with a slight post-punk twist in frontman Myles McCabe’s snaking vocal lines. It’s a theme that continues through the bulk of Me Rex’s music, songs that are organized in unique ways starting with 4 EPs in 2020 to kick off their musical career. There’s sweetness in Me Rex’s sound, influenced in pop-punk and emo rock, but softened to a degree and employing enough hazy overlay to not be too transparent with such a catchy form of rock songwriting. There’s a nice balance of fun and seriousness in Me Rex’s music, one overflowing with ambition. This is clear on the band’s 2021 full-length debut Megabear, an experiment in music as much as a collection of songs. Featuring fifty-two songs that barely top thirty minutes total, Me Rex encourage listeners to play Megabear on shuffle for a unique experience each listen. Either thirty or sixty seconds in length and in the same key, fragments of music loaded with congruent hooks and moods play the role of puzzle pieces always drawing a new picture. Spinning the roulette wheel of Megabear really does work and it is proof that Me Rex are worth keeping an eye on, a band that shoots high and is willing to chart their own path from note one. (Kevin McStravick)