Long ago, in a galaxy far far away, ambitious moms across the world were introduced to the divine sublimity of Harvard alumnus Yo-Yo Ma, and conflated highbrow musical genius with academic success, and then everything was, well, history. Yo-Yo wannabes applied to elite schools en masse, and though admissions officers grew weary of reading, for the umpteenth time, about life-altering orchestra trips to Colombia or the Balkans, they ended up having to accept several of the smarter ones anyway, which explains why MIT, a dumping ground for socially inept math nerds and future Nobel Prize-winning physicists, is also home to an impressive Symphony Orchestra.

In 2005, instead of joining the Princeton University Orchestra, a group of instrument-brandishing undergrads decided that it would be much more interesting to don spacesuit-like getups and invent music that was proudly - defiantly - peculiar. The indie (minus the rock) sextet that is the Miracles of Modern Science comprises vocalist and double bassist Evan Younger, mandolinist and backup vocalist Josh Hirshfeld, violinist Kieran Ledwidge, cellists Tina Kim and Geoff McDonald, and drummer Tyler Pines.

On the band's MySpace, underneath a snapshot of Abraham Lincoln, the group pitches itself as a "bluegrass band sent into outer space in a giant disco ball spaceship," and this is, in fact, as serious as Honest Abe's monochrome countenance itself. MOMS does sound like "futuristic pop, antebellum balladry, and sea shanty singalong" and it's all the greater because of it.

The band's self-titled EP, which is available for free on Amazing Wow, consists of four songs: "MR2," "Eating Me Alive," "Luminol," and "524". Each track is eerily entrancing; Miracles of Modern Science is like the Pied Piper's angelic cousin, leading naive listeners to a fountain of pure ecstasy.

After the jump: more review and a photo of the band.

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