We recently got a note from Evan Younger, vocalist/bassist for Brooklyn-based orchestral rockers Miracles of Modern Science mentioning a single he wrote, “The Singularity.” How could I resist? I punched up the podcast link.

Yes! Very nice! Powerful lyrics that definitely get it, and the music combines the richness and intelligence of acoustic strings with the energy of a rock beat. Accelerates my thinking. I have to say it’s the most inspiring music I’ve heard in a long time. So what was the back story? Younger explained in a followup note.

“In 2011 I shared a house with our band’s mandolinist. One night I was browsing his bookshelf for bedtime reading, and his copy of The Singularity Is Near caught my eye. Not knowing what to expect, I started to read and was immediately spellbound. Despite my useless arts and literature background, I wanted to become a part of the movement.

“So I immersed myself in AI literature and even started an intensive crash course in computer science (via MIT OCW, the inaugural Udacity courses with Sebastian Thrun and David Evans, and this awesome book).

“I actually made myself a little crazy on our band’s subsequent national tour: every day I’d drive 8–12 hours, play a show, do coding assignments all night, and then get up to do it again. My pace of learning eventually slowed as MOMS got back to writing songs for a new album, but I remained enraptured with Singularitarian ideas.”

Younger said he poured all his excitement and optimism into the lyrics for “The Singularity,” a new single that is also featured on the group’s upcoming EP, MEEMS (more below — preorder here).

“I hope that the song’s optimistic message resonates with Singularitarians and perhaps inspires unfamiliar listeners to learn more about Kurzweil, AI, and the Singularity.”

Lyrics

By the time that we all go deaf, I know that we’ll find a cure for it, yeah

People say that we’ll die someday, but we just don’t believe it
Long before we are old and gray, we’ll find a way to beat it
Fight against physical decay, keep our bodies breathing
By the next quarter century we won’t even need them

So shoot the supplements into our veins so we can reprogram our genes
And let the nanobots swim through our brains to keep our neurons sharp and clean
There’s not a problem that we cannot solve with our technology
Just as long as we can stay alive until the singularity

Maybe you think we’re mental
But if you doubt anything we say, check out our man’s credentials
Our evolution is underway, and it’s exponential
There’s no reason to be afraid

We’ll shoot the supplements into our veins so we can reprogram our genes
And let the nanobots swim through our brains to keep our neurons sharp and clean
And we will all transcend biology and merge with our machines
Just as long as we can stay alive until the singularity

So play it loud, turn up the kick
Cause by the time that we lose our hearing, we’ll have a fix for it
So play it loud, crank it up to ten
Cause by the time that our ears are broken, we’ll have no use for them

From MEEMS, released 19 February 2013

Miracles of Modern Science upcoming EP, MEEMS

Orchestral rockers Miracles of Modern Science’s upcoming EP, MEEMS, will be available February 19, 2013. The release will be followed by Miracles of Modern Science’s largest national tour to date, including stops at the 2013 SXSW Music Festival.

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 LP 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.

“Miracles of Modern Science play consummate major-key space-pop that sounds like something new,” says Wired.

Tracklist

1. Ahem
2. Dear Pressure
3. Breather
4. Don’t You See?
5. The Singularity
6. Physics Is Our Business

Tour Dates

Feb 21 – New York, NY – MEEMS release party @ The Studio at Webster Hall (tickets)
Mar 6 – Washington, DC – 9th and Beats (tickets)
Mar 7 – Charlottesville, VA – The Southern (tickets)
Mar 8 – Durham, NC – The Garage @ Motorco Music Hall
Mar 9 – Athens, GA – Athens Slingshot Fest @ The World Famous
Mar 10 – Nashville, TN – Cause A Scene
Mar 11 – Hattiesburg, MS – The Thirsty Hippo
Mar 12-16 – Austin, TX – SXSW
Mar 19 – Phoenix, AZ – TBA
Mar 20 – San Diego, CA - TBA
Mar 22 – Los Angeles, CA – The Hotel Cafe (tickets)
Mar 23 – San Francisco, CA – Hotel Utah Saloon (tickets)
Mar 25 – Mountain View, VA – Googleplex
Mar 26 – Portland, OR – Bunk Bar
Mar 28 – Seattle, WA – The High Dive
Mar 29 – Boise, ID – Red Room
Mar 30 – Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court
Apr 1 – Denver, CO – The Walnut Room (tickets)
Apr 2 – Lawrence, KS – TBA
Apr 3 – Ames, IA – TBA
Apr 4 – Madison, WI – TBA
Apr 5 – Chicago, IL – TBA
Apr 6 – Pittsburgh, BA – TBA
Apr 7 – Philadelphia, PA - World Cafe Live

More info: Evan Younger