waste/drag down 7” press release
We needed a press release for the record and decided to ask dave hyde (author of the terrific ‘cheap rewards’ column) from t.b. here’s his (tentative) review of our new record for the web-zine’s next update…
Mordecai “Drag Down” b/w “Waste”
Mordecai embody the DIY punk ethos, embracing all of its glorious limitations—amateur musicianship, home recording, hands-on artwork—to turn out this beautiful gem, which is worth more to me than a thousand perfect power-pop 45s. Seriously, I have no use for a slick pop tune in a world with “Drag Down”, where you can hear the bass come in prematurely, then immediately back off, only to start back in again like it never happened—all within the first 10 seconds. No need to edit that out as they’ve just as soon moved into the heart of the song, where the hypnotizing percussive rhythm of the guitar strumming battles for attention with loose, wild solos. Here and especially on the flipside, the wailing guitars fall somewhere between an ambulance siren and crying baby, but are in the hands of some thoughtful composers who can shape what may have seemed an aimless noodle into a fist-in-the-air riff. And the riff in “Waste” takes its time; you can see it trudge up the hill before turning around its hook. Besides an intense feeling that John Morton was in the room lending his spiritual guidance for this recording session, “Waste” kinda has a bit of a Crime feel (a thought that did not disappear after giving the old-timers a spin on the turntable). This is the second vinyl release from what is truly among the more exciting groups going. It does strike me as a very studious deliberate endeavor, perhaps a bit like No Wave analyzing and deconstructing punk before cobbling it back into something noisy and interesting.
(Wantage USA, PO Box 8681, Missoula, MT 59607, wantageusa.com)
-DH
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