August 2002 • Rockbites Alternative Daily
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August 2002 • Rockbites Alternative Daily
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Mecca Normal keep it minimal and true 23 August 2002
For their new album The Family Swan—out this week for the US on the Kill Rock Stars label—Vancouver, British Columbia avant-garde/folkie duo Mecca Normal pursued a radical approach relative to what they’d done before. In particular, they allowed their new crop of songs to blossom and mature on the road before committing them to tape. “We used to be on a cycle of recording then touring, and we always felt the songs got better after we’d played them live,” vocalist/songwriter Jean Smith told Rockbites this week in an exclusive interview. “For this album, everything was the way we wanted by the time we recorded.” Indeed, Smith and guitarist David Lester had neither a label nor a producer in mind when they started writing and performing the songs that would make their way onto The Family Swan. They took a full year to play and refine the music, unexpectedly meeting their producer-to-be Dave Doughman while touring with Unwound. Doughman, Unwound’s live sound engineer, fronts Dayton, Ohio’s Swearing At Motorists and does sound for Guided By Voices. Smith told Rockbites “As soon as I heard [Swearing At Motorists’ single] Number 7 Uptown I knew I wanted to work with him. “He came to Vancouver after the tour and generously produced and engineered the album. Which was perfect—he’d just heard us live for about three weeks on the road, and, by the last few shows, he was mixing our set so he could hear us the way he wanted.” The Family Swan is also radically spare, with one voice, one guitar, and no overdubs for most of the tracks. This is Mecca Normal in their purest form, devoting the entire canvas to Smith’s provocative, subversive, deliriously intense vocals perfectly balanced by Lester’s masterful, sublime guitar work, hypnotic and electrifying in equal measure. Although Mecca Normal have been recognized by the mainstream press including Rolling Stone, The New York Times, and National Public Radio, their critical acceptance has everything to do with Smith’s media savvy and nothing to do with compromise. “An element of culture that has reached the mainstream is in its final resting place. It lacks potential, and potential is what I love about life, music, and art.” she told us. “Mainstream culture has zero potential. We’re doing what we want, we’re not waiting for someone to tell us we’re OK, or tell us what we need to do to be OK.” Transparently personal, expansively emotional, and boldly thought provoking—not to mention hummable and rockin’—Rockbites loves this record. Five bites out of five. Rockbites ratings 5: life changing, 4: stunning, 3: captivating, 2: amusing, 1: annoying. Read all of Jean Smith’s exclusive interview with Rockbites next week. Mecca Normal go back on tour for the western US and Canada, visiting galleries and schools, on 5 September; check the Kill Rock Stars site for dates. | Mecca Normal | | MN on Kill Rock Stars | | Ice Floes Aweigh (full length MP3) | | CD from Amazon US | | top of page | |
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