...and no, I'm not crazy about the name either
Mikingmihrab Persona Non Grata (CD-R)
This trio doesn't sound like they're taking cues from the honeypot of the very late 70's so much as growing out of the same patchy, graceless sod. The litany of influences have become the cliches of modern music discussion: Gang of Four, Mission of Burma, occasional percussive spasms reminiscent of A Certain Ratio... Like Clinic and Electrelane before them they sort it out by sheerness and stubborness of will.
Another thing that keeps them out of the charades game with bands like the tie-wearing, The Rapture (hardly seems fair anymore, huh?) and exclamation mark-using (and tie-wearing) Panic! At the Disco (hardly seems fair anymore does it?) is how M. Stephen A. can sing his way through muscular, if familar, dance rock without adopting the Scottish shout that seems to have become the standard. Better still are his nods to John Doe , whose own ability to balance city punk and country trash in one tremulous sound has yet to get its just due (!?). A. carries "Mexico" with a dramatic sensibility like Doe's. It's still a little puzzling; artists like Ryan Adams, Will Oldham, and Pinetop Seven get the caricature of the singing redneck, thowing back to the Eagles and a broadstroke version of white blues that has more to do with facial hair than a musical fire. Meanwhile the white blues could really use a revival...as in, you could make money!
The fire is something A. leaves all over his choruses. It's not to say this is country music. Though as indie rock goes, this is as close to it as there is--the lap steel replaced by tinny blues guitar (Bassholes?), and the easy gallop by spattering restless drum crashes and pfunk bass slaps. Mikingmihrab's "Schuylkill River" reminds me of the Karl Hendricks Trio's heartbreaker, "The Dress You Bought in Cleveland". Though musically the two have little more than their fuzzy edges in common both songs capture a derelict sense of home that is somehow proud and self-deprecating all at once. Maybe its Pennsylvania, but unlikely. This is the national abstraction, and it owes as much to Minutemen tapes as it does a lonesome train track crossing wherever in a drizzle. Fact is Mikingmihrab grab attention because their funk is clean. If there is some heaving suit handing them used Leo Sayer lps in hopes of cultivating a new thing I'll be damned if I hear it. And rest assured in the fall of 2006 the last thing I'm looking to carry around on my shoulder like Webster is another f-punk band.
Artist: mikingmihrab
Title: Welsh for Mutton Chops
Style: Folk/Punk/Rock/Alt.Country
Website: http://www.mikingmihrab.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/mikingmi hrab
Label: Father Devine Records
Musical Influences: Johnny Cash, Woodie Guthrie, Sonic Youth, Henry Miller.
Band Members: M. Stephen Adams ( vocals, guitar), Zach Price (drums), Kevin Cooper ( bass).
Rating: 8.1 out of 10
By Senior Writer C.W. Ross
Are you tired of being force feed the same old music over-and-over? Then mikingmihrab's music is what you need. The band music is an unusual blend of folk and alt. country meets punk and indie rock styles. If not done right the result might be a musical train wreck of sounds. Fortunately for the band and the listeners they manage to pull this unique mixture of styles off. The songs are filled with lightning fast guitar parts intermixed with brutal drumming from band drummer Zach Price that I'm sure have his drum skins crying out for mercy. Bassist Kevin Cooper's parts are always lurking around in the songs waiting for their moment to strike like a rattlesnake. Rounding out the groups sound are the vocals of M. Stephen Adams. His vocals match the songs well with their gritty, rough edges that go from being lyrical to screaming If your up for it the music found on Welsh for Mutton Chops will give your ears a ride on the wild side of music town.
