May 1998 Muckafurgason, live/album review/interview by Danielle "Betelgeuse" Tropea
Andy Ure, the Human Beatbox
Chris Anderson Sings
John Lee, the Rock and Roll Teen
CB’s Gallery, Backstage
PerformingLunch, part 1
Performing Lunch, part 2
The Boys on the Couch
Me and the Boys on the Couch
Climbing the ladder of success
Apparently, a number of people have a problem with Muckafurgason's flexibility in various music genres. Not only do they play musical chairs with their instruments, they leap seamlessly from sarcastic and sentimental pop to country to old-time jazz to rap. They're not unfocused; they're just having fun. Their first CD, "Tossing a Friend," released in February on Deep Elm Records, plays like a mixed tape you make for a friend, any friend.
Julie, my old roommate, who once admitted, "the only music I enjoy is country," loves their country tunes like "Crying" and "Sweethearts." When I take him to their next show, my 20 year old brother is going to love the live version of "Lunch," the joke-y rap which features a rapper who calls himself "MC Speller" and spells "spell." If my granny was still alive, I bet she would love "Sweetie Pie," the 30's-ish song which uses dessert as a metaphor for a lover. It not only sounds like a 30's-ish song- it literally sounds like it was recorded in the 30's. Like a brittle vinyl record playing on a Victrola.
Wit is all abound, but that's not all there is. When I first saw them play live at the second Heart & Tongue Festival at CB's 313 Gallery organized by my Hampshire classmate Doug Stone (who plays in a great polkabilly band called Pinataland that I'll write about another time) in the fall, I was struck by the overall humor of most of the songs. Their energy was a little high for this somewhat folksy-music sibling of the infamous CBGB, and later, too loud, when I saw them play at Two Boots, a little Cajun/pizza joint in Park Slope, Brooklyn. This time I was captivated by their energy and charisma. The third time I saw them, I evaded a Seder to catch them at Brownie's, a dump in Alphabet City. The fourth time (yes, I'm a groupie), at CB's Gallery again, they headlined and were fondly embraced by an audience comprised of an alarming number of black-glasses-wearing hipster doofuses. During their encore, they even inspired a couple of chicks to get up and dance to their cover of "Fame." Hell, I'd go to their shows just for the extemporaneous 30 second songs.
Here's the obligatory band history: John Lee and Chris Anderson met at San Francisco State while John was studying film and Chris was a theatre major. After graduation, about 4 years ago, they moved to New York and met Andy Ure, an unaffected Brit who liked math. The next day, they started Muckafurgason even though they didn't really have their shit together. Though no one knew how to play drums and Andy had never played bass, they taught themselves because they didn't want anyone else in the band. Meanwhile, Chris already played trumpet and French horn, John played a mean clarinet and Andy had picked up beatboxing in his boyhood rap band. In the beginning, they played out more than they practiced, but by January 1997, they managed to impress John Denver's doppelganger, John Szuch, who signed them to his primarily Emo-core label, Deep Elm.
While they're definitely developing a cult following, Muckadisciples don’t buy enough CDs to support them so during the day, John and Chris are assistant Avid editors (the Gen X occupation of choice after web designer) and Andy works for the British Government. (He pulled a "If I told you what I do, I'd have to kill you" but we all know that "maintenance officer" is just a fancy word for janitor.) They told me that they were in rock to get better day jobs. Although they want to be rock stars, they realize that they'll never fit into the standard format played on MTV. That would mean settling on one style of music and one instrument per band member.
Before you grumble, "who needs more eclectic rock?" stick "Tossing a Friend" in your walkman. Have you ever found yourself giggling and humming at the same time? Well, my friend, be prepared for a new experience.
Some songs are delicately whimsical, like "Spanish Fly" in which Andy asks his girlfriend to pretend she's foreign because he's obsessed with flamenco dancers. Some are more obvious, like "You Ain't a Man (Until You've Had a Man)," an unreleased track, which preaches homosexuality as a bolster for the concept of masculinity. After all, "only a man knows where, what and why." Others emulate the genre they're mocking, like "Punk Rock," which sounds like a classic power punk tune squeezed out of the Ramones and the Sex Pistols. John invites us to verify his claim to being a "Bad Ass Fucker" by asking his "fucking mom cos she's a bad ass fucker too." In "Go Teens," a sarcastic pop dream, John longs for "bubble gum and little jeans, Cute Band Alert in Sassy magazine." If this was Sassy, I would be obliged to tell you that Andy is married, and although my friend thought John was gay or had a harem, he has a very cute girlfriend. Chris is currently single but you better hurry up before my friend Julia snags him. (Mmm, redhead...)
Other songs surprise you. When "Sweethearts" starts out, you think it's going to be a joke- but it's not! It's a sweet country ballad about a good ol' girl who is determined to leave the sticks despite the love of a good man. Chris, the most theatrical of the trio, corners the market on non-cheesy country songs like "Married," which I hope will be on the next album There are, of course, the requisite whiny indie boy ditties, but even those are pretty awesome. "I Wanna Be Your Guy" (also scheduled for the next release) seems pretty innocent but I think it's about a stalker, eg. "I already know the way you walk home." There's also "Sounds of Love," a pop longing, "Consuela," about wanting a girl who's no good ("I'll admit my problems if you show me yours,"), "Atari" which simultaneously celebrates and critiques childhood nostalgia, or "Wasting Time," a reverse anthem about love'em'and'leave'em girls. Sometimes itÕs hard to tell when they're goofing around and when they're being sincere because that happens in the same song. In "Forsyth Street," backed by acoustic guitar and trumpet, Andy asks "Where else in the world can you watch a naked man masturbate/ in the park opposite your apartment while you're sitting on your fire escape?" but also mentions that he met his girlfriend on Forsyth Street (now his wife).
There are two ways to interpret Muckafurgason, as a band. My initial impression was that they're a bunch of jokers with a couple of conservative-indie-flavored pop tunes. After some contemplation, I got the impression that the Muckaboys are somewhat disconcerted by their rather goofy lyrical highjinks and prefer to be seen as a wittier-than-most indie band. This would be an egregious mistake. What draws people like me, my friend Chris, my boss Fredric, and others to this band is how fun they are, which is pretty rare with the bands I've seen lately. They've also been enticing a growing number of celebrities and almost-celebrities like the older Pete from Nickelodeon's "Pete & Pete," and Dave Cross from Mr. Show ("he said, 'three cheers for Muckafurgason... hip hip hooray...' and he did all three"). Uber-hipster-comedy goddess Janeane Garofalo has been spotted at their shows and John claims "she has a pair of Muckafurgason underwear." So many bands these days are so serious about being punk or indie. Not so with the Muckafellas. They're good AND they're funny. Who else would insult your mom during a performance?
And who else wouldn't be offended if you asked them if they were star fuckers? And admit "I guess we are star fuckers."
They currently play NYC twice a month and it will probably be a while till they hit the west coast. In the meantime, buy Tossing a Friend and make copies for all of your friends.
Access their fun web page, complete with journal entries.
Deep Elm Records Post Box 1965 New York, NY 10156-1965 USA Tel: (212) 532-3337 PopVinyl@aol.com
