After flying under the radar for years, local garage rockers get a shot at stardom tomorrow
By James Reed, Globe Correspondent | August 13, 2004
In a city that exalts and roots for its homegrown stars (hello, Aerosmith, the Pixies, the Dresden Dolls), the one local band that's poised for national exposure this weekend has flown mostly under the radar. Regulars at the Abbey Lounge in Somerville have been hip to Muck and the Mires' catchy garage rock for years, but otherwise the band hasn't exactly broken the ice with audiences.
Tomorrow could change all that. Little Steven's International Underground Garage Festival in New York promises to give Muck and the Mires its biggest shot at stardom yet.
The all-day Randalls Island festival, founded by Steven Van Zandt -- DJ, longtime guitarist for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, and actor who plays Silvio Dante on "The Sopranos" -- features the definitive garage-rock lineup. Muck and the Mires will play for just 10 minutes. But they'll share a bill that includes Iggy & the Stooges, the Strokes, the New York Dolls, Bo Diddley, the Raveonettes, and the Mooney Suzuki. Even seminal garage-rock pioneers that disbanded long ago (the Creation, the Electric Prunes) are on the roster.
Not bad for a band that began as a lark in 2001. Leader Evan Shore was playing in a rock outfit called the Nines (and before that the Voodoo Dolls) when he started Muck and the Mires. He wanted an outlet to make vintage '60s garage rock, so he became a one-man side project. He made a demo, played all the instruments on it, shopped it around to some labels, and basically forgot about it until he got a call from Larry Retard of AMP Records, an indie label in Ontario. Retard said he had put "A Little Twist," one of Shore's songs, on his label's upcoming compilation of garage rock.
"He said, `I hope that's OK,' and I thought, `Well, yeah, it's OK,' " Shore says backstage at the Abbey Lounge before a recent show. "Then he said he had some gigs lined up for Muck and the Mires in the area."
Uh-oh. Shore was still the entire band at that point, and even Retard didn't know Muck and the Mires was actually just Muck. Shore began assembling a band, starting with drummer Linda Koury, his wife and bandmate in the Nines. She was reluctant to join.
"I told him that I thought it should be four guys like the Beatles were," Koury says, adding that she chose Jessie Best for her stage name. "That kind of sounds like a guy's name, right?" Turns out, all band members have cheeky alter egos, including Joey Muccarino (Shore), Brian Mire (lead guitarist Brian Martin), and Frankie Mire (bassist Chris Miller).
As much as Koury admires the Beatles and as often as Shore tells funny stories about seeing Dee Dee Ramone, the band says its musical model is the Dave Clark Five. Even Van Zandt has called them "Dave Clark Five without the sap." Their straight-ahead rock will remind some of the Ramones, too (think minimal chord changes, 2-minute songs, and catchy lyrics). Their image is classic garage rock, from Shore's black wraparound sunglasses to the band's matching red shirts.
"We couldn't play in the Boston contest because of other conflicts," Shore says, noting that the band's Providence win ruffled some feathers. "Some people were really upset that we won there, but the rules didn't say that you had to be from the city where you played." Since then, Muck and the Mires has finished its first West Coast tour, where the band played the International Pop Overthrow in Los Angeles and other venues. As for tomorrow's big show, sure, it'll be great to see Iggy Pop and Bo Diddley, but bassist Miller is excited about one particular performer: Nancy Sinatra. "I'm a huge Nancy Sinatra fan," he said from the Abbey's bar, though the tattoo of Frank Sinatra on his right arm was already a tipoff.
Muck and the Mires plays the Las Vegas Rockaround next month and the Middle East in October, but no matter how far the tour takes them, Shore honors the band's origins. "We love the Abbey," says Shore. "It's sort of our home when we're in town."
The feeling is mutual, of course. The Abbey has the latest Muck and the Mires album, "Beginner's Muck," on its jukebox, and Andrea Gillis has been booking the band for the past three years, even when it initially drew a small crowd. "I couldn't help it," she says. "I just loved the band's sound. I thought it was really refreshing and everything about them seemed real."
Muck and the Mires plays Little Steven's International Underground Garage Festival tomorrow on Randalls Island in New York. Gates open 10 a.m. Tickets are $25. Call 212-307-7171 or visit www.littlestevens undergroundgarage.com/festival.
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