Gorky's Zygotic Mynci
Beggars Banquet
Along with compatriots the Manic Street Preachers and Super Furry Animals, Gorky's Zygotic
Mynci has spent the '90s proving
that there is such a thing as Welsh rock
music. Actually, Gorky's has been
around since the mid '80s, when a group
of college students in Carmathen, Wales
embarked on a bedroom recording project
that turned into a career. After a
number of LPs in Wales, the band
increased its international presence
with its first American release,
Introducing Gorky's Zygotic Mynci
(1996). They followed that with
Barfuddle (1997), Spanish
Dance Troupe (1999), and The Blue
Trees (2000).
On each successive effort,
Gorky's continues to brew up its
delightful blend of hippie
neo-psychedelia, mixing melodic
songcraft with wacky eccentricity to
create a totally engrossing and unique
musical experience. Acoustic guitars
dance with mourning fiddles under thin,
pure harmonies, occasionally punctuated
by languid brass, gentle pianos, and
haunting woodwinds -- or by quirky
keyboards and miscellaneous chants,
hoots, and hollers. It's remarkably
distinctive music that eschews
conventionality in favor of something
much more emotionally immediate, and
something that's somehow profoundly
Welsh. Sometimes Gorky's sounds
like an egoless Belle and Sebastian on copious quantities of psychotropic drugs -- and it's a sound that will make you want to laugh and
make you want to dance. Sometimes the
band sounds like a less self-indulgent
and less suicidal Nick Drake. In
fact, there's a lot of sadness and
melancholy running through their
records, but it's never oppressive, in
large part because it's embroidered with
so much whimsical nonsense, and
expressed through lyrics that are like
nursery rhymes for grown-ups. As wistful
and lonesome as some of the songs are,
they are also richly populated with
vital bursts of sunshine.
"Spanish Dance Troupe," the title track
from their 1999 album, is a quixotic
masterpiece of melody and caprice, a
strange little fairy tale that
luminously articulates the band's unique
cultural and musical location. "Face
Like Summer," from the Blue Trees
mini-LP, is a perfect piece of forlorn
folk-pop. Simply put, Gorky's Zygotic
Mynci is one of the finest and most
delightfully quirky bands in the
business today. It's a shame more people
haven't heard them yet, and one can only
hope that will change in the years to come.
Jesse Ashlock
last updated:
12/17/01
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