#Dear Mark J. Mulcahy I Love You

[thebowerypresents]

Mark Mulcahy Delights Rough Trade NYC with New Music on Friday Night

Mark Mulcahy – Rough Trade NYC – October 18, 2019

You may know of Mark Mulcahy from a lot of things, or maybe you're one of those people who don’t know who he is but should. In the ’80s Mulcahy led the fantastic but underrated college-rock band Miracle Legion. In the ’90s, he fronted Polaris, the semifictional house band of the (also severely underrated) Nickelodeon show The Adventures of Pete & Pete. Through the late ’90s and early ’00s, Mulcahy held down a successful solo career, taking a pause following the unexpected death of his wife before returning for some performances with Polaris in 2012. He then went back to his solo career in 2013 with the fantastic and under-recognized Dear Mark J. Mulcahy, I Love You and later reunited with Miracle Legion in 2016.

Mulcahy’s concert on Friday night at Rough Trade NYC began with him alone onstage performing “Wicked World,” off his latest, The Gus, an album inspired by George Saunders’ writing. It started off tranquil but the words hinted at some evil brewing—it all felt very 2019. Bass and drums joined in as the song boiled over and Mulcahy’s lyrics dissolved into a repeated “do ay do ay do ay.” “I took a walk around the neighborhood today, that’s a lot of progress,” he remarked, not quite earnestly but several times between songs. By the third time he dryly said this, Mulcahy followed up with a more earnest observation: “I don’t know why you don't miss the shitty-ness.”

In interviews, Mulcahy’s mentioned that Saunders’ writing inspired him to up his own lyrical game for The Gus, although he’s consistently been a strong songwriter throughout his career. Sometimes taking a page from Randy Newman, Mulcahy’s written some incredibly honest, upbeat-sounding songs about sad subject matter, like on “Where’s the Indifference Now?” which deals with the Heath Ledger’s untimely death. Other tracks feature a strong sense of heart-on-your-sleeve sincerity, like “Happy Boat,” about moving Mulcahy’s aunt from an “old folks home” in New York to his home state of Massachusetts. He performed it without a guitar, front and center stage. “Taking Baby Steps,” off the latest album, was lan outright power-pop anthem, easily one of the best in his considerable catalog. Mulcahy had the audience chant, “Bob! Bob! Bob!” to lead him into “What if I Go Off with Bob?” which peeled into a motoring beat. The set ended with Mulcahy in full falsetto for “Ciao My Shining Star,” a lullaby of sorts. —Dan Rickershauser | @D4nRicks

Photo courtesy of Dan Rickershauser

[innerspacesoundlabs]

Acclaimed singer-songwriter Mark Mulcahy continues his support of independent record shops with the announcement that his brand-new LP, The Possum in the Driveway, will be available on limited-edition gold vinyl on April 22nd as part of Record Store Day 2017. If fans aren’t lucky enough to snag a copy on Record Store Day, Mezzotint will be issuing a general release the following week on Friday April 28th. Possum marks Mulcahy’s fifth solo album and first since his celebrated 2013 return record, Dear Mark J Mulcahy I Love You. Long heralded by contemporary luminaries like Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and fellow songwriter Ryan Adams, Mulcahy makes bold new strides on Possum both as a songwriter and performer. His trademark jangly guitars drop out in favor of lush orchestrations that moodily underpin his dynamic deliveries without ever feeling forced or over-produced. Unshackled from his normal styles, Mulcahy’s voice embraces a wider emotional range than ever before: plaintive and tender (“Stuck on Something Else”), crackling and soulful (“The Fiddler”), and seductive and menacing (“I Am the Number 13”) all in the span of a few tracks. Possum is that rare record that ventures out in many different directions but always manages to find its way back home by song’s end.   “This record took years off my life to make,” Mulcahy says of Possum. “The war is over. I won.” The battles included a recording studio burning down, having to shelve the project for a number of years, and maintaining a vision as he and collaborators Ken Maiuri (Pedro the Lion, B-52s), John Panos (Augustines, Mates of State), and album producer Scott Amore (Butterflies of Love, Quiet Life) drifted from studio to studio before finally wrapping at J Mascis’ Bisquiteen studio. In the end, though, Mulcahy counts the struggle among his proudest accomplishments. “I’m in love with the art of making albums,” he explains, “especially vinyl ones.”

credits

released April 28, 2017 Produced and Mixed by Scott Amore Mastered by Ian Kennedy Recorded at InnerSpaceSoundLabs Additional Recording at Bisquiteen Engineers: Justin Pizzoferrato and Keller Glass Artwork: John Foster Photos: Michael Ackerman Management: Rich Murray All songs written by Mark Mulcahy 2017 Paymarx Music

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