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Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. A band of brothers that truly just did what they did for the enjoyment of making music. My passion for Sparks has been undying since I first began listening to them back in high school. Their sound and style totally blew my mind. Refusing to be held hostage to the inclinations of the music industry, like Frank Sinatra and Sid Vicious say ”they did it their way” sailing off on a slow boat and leaving a discography rich with a uniquely cinematic & whimsical world vision in their wake. Spanning decades and the confines of genre with a sharp comedic wit, throughout their prolific career they have always been simultaneously a little ahead of their time but still little rooted in the past. This was a great strength of theirs in the long run - nobody did it quite like Ron & Russel Mael.
May 28, 2025

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Maybe a few of you might know Mercury Rev from the altogether more lovely/pastoral "Deserter's Songs," which spawned three hit singles in the UK alone when it was released in 1998. But this one -- the band's 1991 debut, with a different singer and an entirely different (lysergic) outlook -- comes straight outta the rust-bucket wastelands of a very economically distressed Buffalo, NY. I wrote about it at length for Magnet -- it was the first time the six original members of the band had gathered to talk about it. "As (singer Jonathan) Donahue predicts, the results represent six different creation myths that sometimes synch with one another, but just as frequently spin out in space, going in seemingly every possible (opposite) direction, often simultaneously. “Six chefs, one cauldron,” laughs Donahue at the memory of it now. “Six witches, one spoon.” They are my friends and one of my all-time favorite bands but it's amazing that they survived the craziness of that period, which I think is baked into the sound of this totally acid-fried classic. Taking drugs to make music to take drugs to. https://magnetmagazine.com/2015/08/19/magnet-classics-mercury-revs-yrself-is-steam/
Apr 22, 2024
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If you didn’t grow up in Canada it’s likely you’ve never heard of this Band. If you did, like me, well you might have memories of your parents playing their 1980 debut album “Cognac & Bolonga” on repeat and have formed a deep nostalgic tie to that LP cover bizarrely adorned with mustard dripped stacks of bologna. Fronted by former magazine cartoonist Doug Bennett - an everyman with the appeal of a quirky used car salesman and a distinct golden voice - they had something truly special going on that sadly went under the radar outside of the great white north. Doug And The Slugs have an overall style that’s hard pin down, it’s rock but it’s playful pop, it’s soulful, complex and at times it’s even a little bit influenced by ska and reggae but not in the most obvious of ways. Their music videos were always comedic and quirky and really well thought out. They reminded me a bit of monty python sketches. A blue collar guy at work gutting fish, an trip through classic tv shows, a gang of sci-fi space rangers sticking it to the music corporation and team of on call sex therapists for when you need help “makin’ it work” As silly as they could be they had a poetic depth evident on tracks like “Dangerous” and “Partly From Pressure” - a song I’ll quote to close off my ramblings
 ”Tell me another tale Of how a man succeeds I know the way he fails You're on your way to what it means Partly from pressure Feelings undefined Don't follow me you'll throw it all away..”
May 26, 2025
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IS THIS THE GREATEST PSYCHEDELIC POP SONG OF THE 1960’S? THE FOUNDER OF THIS GROUP WAS A BIZARRE BLOKE. HIS NAME WAS BOB MARKLEY AND HE WAS ADOPTED BY AN OIL TYCOON. HE HAD A STRANGE, OBLIQUE BOWL CUT. SO PSYCH. CHECK OUT THEIR SONGS. THEY HAVE SO MANY GOOD ONES. OH YA
BOB MARKLEY MAY HAVE BEEN A NONCE. HENCE THE SONG TITLE. BUT THE SONG
PERFECTION. A MINIATURE MOMENT OF SPARKLING DARKNESS THAT EMANATES A DERANGED, CAPTURED INNOCENCE. CLOSE YOUR EYES AND YOU MIGHT SEE CHARLEY MANSON’S FACE APPEAR OUT A BLACK CLOUD OF FUNERAL SMOKE. MUCH LIKE MANSON’S STUNNINGLY HAUNTED SONG “ LOOK AT YOUR GAME GIRL”, THERE IS A DEEPLY FORLORN QUALITY TO THIS TUNE. WHEREAS THE BEATLES TENDED TOWARD THE WHIMSICAL, PLAYFUL AND LET’S BE HONEST, BLOODY FUCKING GOOFY SIDE OF THINGS, THIS SONG HINTS AT SOMETHING MUCH MORE NEFARIOUS. GO LISTEN TO THE SONG WHILE LOOKING AT THE SEVEN OF CUPS CARD FROM THE RIDER WAITE TAROT DECK. AND THEN LOOK UP THE LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN AIR FORCE STATION IN LAUREL CANYON. AND THEN CHECK OUT THE BOOK “CHAOS” BY TOM ONEILL. AND THEN READ “WEIRD SCENES FROM THE CANYON” BY DAVE MCGOWAN AND ONLY BELIEVE HALF OF IT. AND THEN READ ABOUT THIS BAND. AND THEN REWATCH MULHOLLAND DRIVE. AND THEN ASK YOURSELF: WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH LOS ANGELES?
Jan 30, 2024

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I made it for a friend, inspired by his cat Hazel.
May 15, 2025
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I can’t find a picture of one in the flesh but these were my go to back in the day.