The Three Mice - Where Is My Mice?
Artist: The Three Mice
Author: Sarah
Date: 06/29/2026
Listen: Apple Music | Bandcamp | Spotify
While their self-titled debut EP was a solid enough, if unspectacular, attempt at making twee pop out of early Stereolab and perhaps a bit of Spacemen 3, on Where Is My Mice?, the Three Mice establish themselves as one of the decade's most exciting bands. Indiepop purists may be disappointed from the turn away from twee aesthetics and greater embrace of emo conventions, but anyone with love for indie rock in general is going to find a lot to love.
At their core, the Three Mice really haven't changed that much since their debut. In general, their songs still prioritize a strong, metronomic rhythm over the melodies, and that rhythm is drilled into the listener with 5+ minutes of distorted guitar. It's a pretty simple formula, but here they seem to put a bit more force behind the guitar, with wonderful results.
Of course, on Where Is My Mice?, the Three Mice are doing more than just rehashing the sound of their self-titled EP; they're also trying to expand their boundaries. Most prominently, they're greatly expanding the use of screamo-type vocals where a more typical band might add harmonies, something that previously only really showed up on the closing track of their debut. Those who, like me, don't usually consider themselves screamo fans might be a bit uneasy about that concept, but by mixing the screamed vocals well below the lead singer, they actually do work shockingly well as harmony replacements!
Beyond that, they do step outside of the rhythm-first indie rock that they're establishing themselves in; for example, "Good Morning :)" finds them in a more conventional quiet-loud shoegaze mode, or on "再见米老鼠" they flip their script from screamo-influenced indiepop to more of a Your Arms Are My Cocoon-style indiepop-influenced screamo. They're maybe not quite as effective in those alternative styles, but they fit in pretty seamlessly with the rest of the album.
Unfortunately, with all the focus on the driving rhythm and the dominance of the guitar, the melodies on Where Is My Mice? aren't really given as much attention as they should have been. While repetition and scream-harmonies might help with keeping the choruses in your mind, the verses fall by the wayside. While the inclusion of a cover of "I'll Be Your Mirror" as a closing track is actually done fairly well, it unfortunately mostly just highlights the way in which the Three Mice have fallen short as pop songwriters.
Even if the songwriting isn't quite everything I wish it could be, the Three Mice have taken so much of a step forward as performers that Where Is My Mice? is probably my favorite album I've heard so far this year in any genre. While there's been quite a few bands recently who try to bridge the gap between indiepop and screamo from the screamo side, I think the Three Mice are the first ones I've heard making an attempt at that starting from the indiepop side of the divide. And you know, they've succeeded enough that I'm praising screamed vocals, so probably the sky's the limit for them!