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Major Matt Mason USA "Me Me Me"
Olive Juice Records, 1998, released: 1998
When I was a youth I was heavy into G.I.Joe. It was the toy that defined my childhood. Hours spent fighting wars and inventing little games. My best friend Bill Bland had a different aesthetic than I did when it came to toys. His action figure of choice was Major Matt Mason, a figure more in line with the action figures of today, smaller in scale than G.I.Joe and with outer space as the motif. Anyway, I'm not sure why this artist has chosen to name himself after this slightly obscure toy figure from the 60's. It has severe militaristic overtones; the music doesn't.

The music is folky and perhaps also a throwback. But it is definitely post punk, slightly self indulgent folk music. Lone voice and acoustic guitar sets a very specific stage. And the voice is a bit grating. It is not totally grating but to say that he can sing would be overstating the facts. I have always believed that a singer should not be held accountable for their voice. If the singer must sing then so be it. Plenty of people have made it large with lousy voices -- Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen come to mind. So the voice here will repulse some (most?) but the songs are what this is all about. Listen past the simple presentation to find the art of it and there is something of value. At first listen the record intrigued me, as I heard more and picked up on the vibe I learned to love it. Another artist that comes to mind is Hayden. Very personal songs played without concern for the ultimate sonic landscape.

By the time I reached the end I had changed my initial response. This guy is good. The record in question could use some editing. But there is this feeling that he sat down in a studio some where, let tape roll, put out a record. That relays a nice off-the-cuff approach. There are a few instances when background noise interrupts the song, the song continues. It's about the songs, listen to the songs. The final track, "Plutonium", is truly a great song but I'm not sure why we have to sit through 55 minutes of music to get to it. Musicians these days can't seem to look at these records as final products, whole objects with a beginning, middle and end. And not all of these songs are keepers.

Hat tips: Cheap Trick are quoted whole at the end of song 4, "Ballad of Danny Scheer".
A song called "Krooklyn", hello to Spike Lee.
Hayden for permission and a bit of guts to even consider this.

[Bdev 9/15/99]