Friday 17 March 2017

The MacKenzies - "The Legendary Peel Sessions of 1986" (a Die or DIY? Compilation)


Whereas I was complaining that The Shrubs put too much on one record, The MacKenzies didn't put enough stuff on any recorded music format....until now!
Their entire vinyl output was an excellent 7" single, and a not so excellent 12" EP of naff  eighties dance remixes of 'Mealy Mouths'.
They did, however,record two Peel sessions before they broke up; the first of which was so admired by the venerable DJ that he repeated it a record seven times!?
A tragically under-recorded and long forgotten, late flowering of the Postcard sound was The MacKenzies. Fast choppy indie-funk, that made those pale young men just wanna dance,even without the aid of a fistful of disco biscuits.
The MacKenzies would fall victim of the ensuing 'dance' revolution,but not before releasing, a fine single,and one of the very rare 'shit' records on Ron Johnson. The Peel Sessions are the only place where this fine group's well-oiled machinery was ever captured in action.
The bastard offspring of the Fire Engines and Josef K,this group flickered into existence only briefly like a man made heavy element in a particle accelerator.Whose existence can only now be proved by mathematical theory as we wait for the next unstable creation to form.If they had stayed around like an inert gas,or The Fall,they would have been a cult element on the periodic table of pop. Like number 117, Ununhexium, or Uuh; which some lunatics believe is the basis of an anti-gravity system that could propel mankind deep into the cold heart of empty space,where only the most distant stars inhabit.....rather like the music star system.Its best to stay earthbound rather than reach for the stars only to find out that they harbor no life,and confirm that we are,after all, alone!
What I am saying is, that it's best to stop before one does something you're gonna be ashamed of artistically and personally.
If Dire Straits had stopped after their first single, we'd have thought that they were a pretty good group.....but no;and the rest is a tragic example of why one should bow out well before the crest of the wave starts to form.

Track Listing:

01 New Breed (10-2-86)
02 Man with No Reason (10-2-86)
03 Give Me Everything (10-2-86)
04 Gobstopper (10-2-86)
05 Milk (30-7-86)
06 Big Jim (30-7-86)
07 Mealy Mouths (30-7-86)
08 Jingle (30-7-86)

DOWNLOAD the legend HERE!