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| From | "Stewart Mason" <craigtorso@verizon.net> |
| Subject | Mexico 70 re-release |
| Date | Thu, 07 Feb 2008 01:11:36 -0500 |
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Mexico 70's comeback album from a couple years ago has been reissued
by the band's own label, after a misguided association with the label
that first released it. There was a little bit of talk about this
record when it came out, but not much, so I thought I'd throw it out
there for those looking for a solid old-school power pop record.
Here's my review:
Mexico 70 seemed destined to also-ran status during the Britpop wave:
the idea of a band led by a minor adjunct member of '80s cult pop act
Felt (singer/songwriter Mick Bund) almost sounded like a snarky
hipster parody of, say, Cast, the band led by the guy from the La's
who wasn't Lee Mavers. Overshadowed by the excessive hype of the time,
Mexico 70 have, shockingly, persevered, albeit on a low-key level:
following a solo record that disappeared almost immediately upon
release, Bund reformed Mexico 70 in the sense of borrowing his friend
and producer Tim Patalan's band, Detroit power poppers the Fags, and
recording a new album with them under the Mexico 70 name. Thirty Five
Whirlpools Below Sound was originally released in 2006 through the
Madacy Entertainment label, a terminally unhip imprint specializing in
bargain-bin compilation records. Extricated from that association and
reissued on Bund's own Toucan Cove label, Thirty Five Whirlpools Below
Sound turns out to be a surprisingly solid collection of crisp, catchy
power pop songs that lack the hipster accoutrements of Mexico 70's
'90s albums. There is nothing fancy or of-the-moment about this
record: it's not even minimal-sounding enough to count as "stripped
down." Songs like the dreamy, harmony-heavy "Movin' On" and the brisk
opener "Hello Hello" sound timeless, like they could have been
released at any point in the preceding three decades. More than
deserving of a second shot after its unheralded first release, Thirty
Five Whirlpools Below Sound turns out to be Mick Bund's best work yet.
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