After a brief stint away from the writer’s desk, Mad Mac returns to the fold to pen more words of wisdom on the current ‘hot’ acts that are trawling the musical airwaves. After the slamming he gave (The) Foals last time, how will indie-darlings Johnny Foreigner go down? Let’s see…

(If you want your band/song/face reviewed by Mad Mac, drop us a line to the usual e-mail address or why not try the ‘Ask Mad Mac’ button at the top of the page.)

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The Hold Steady – Sequestered in Memphis

During this very long intro I was begining to loose the will to live, in fact I was not sure I would live long enough to hear it finish. But finish it did. I felt the vocalist lost his way wondering around the Southern States. With enough listens I think this one would grow on you, but then so can ringworm.

 

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Me First and the Gimme Gimmes – The Boxer

Puts me in mind of the Sex Pistols trying to annoy by murdering a well known classic. Remakes can be risky and can be rubbish if the rendition does not work – it does not work. Pity.

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Jay Reatard – See/Saw

Very hard on the drums (ear drums). I feel the drummer brought his own drum kit along and they had to let him play, even though it tried to drown out the vocalist (if only.) The lyrics very samey all I could understand was “she freaks me out” repeatedly, a bit how I felt at the end.

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She & Him – I Was Made For You

High school musical type tune, I felt it tried to remind me of “Grease” – it didn’t. The girl tried her best, hope she is good looking and they have better material than this. (She is and I perhaps should have picked a better song, faux pas on my part – Ross)

Johnny Foreigner – Salt, Pepper and Spinderella

Bad sounding percussion. Reminds me of banging your head against a metal locker at school. The ending cannot start too soon, or be too short, unfortunately is does go on a bit to make the track seem longer, it succeeds.

 

Pulled Apart By Horses – The Lighthouse

Pulled apart by horses? It felt like it! The end would be a blessed relief, which is exactly what it was. The finish was a bit abrupt it does seem that the “Music Appreciation Society” or the “Noise Abatement Society” had got to the mains power. My life was not enriched by this listening experience.

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Nice. If anyone has any ideas for gigs to send Mad Mac to, post your comment below or drop us an e-mail. Preferably somewhere he can sit down if need be and one that won’t cost me an arm-and-a-leg in ticket price/travel/beer.

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Links

‘Stay Positive’ by The Hold Steady is out now through Rough Trade.

‘Have Another Ball’ by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes is available from the Fat Wreck Chords site. You can also download an MP3 of ‘The Boxer‘ as well.

Jay Reatard stuff can be bought from the Matador Records site, including the singles comp that ‘See/Saw’ comes from.

‘Volume 1’ by She & Him is out now on the Merge Records site.

‘Waiting Up Til It Was Light’ by Johnny Foreigner is out now on Best Before Records, but the site seems confusing, so try Amazon if you want to get it.

Pulled Apart By Horses have all their songs available for free download from their website, check it out.

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Intro – Ross
Words – Mad Mac