GHOST MICE was playing a show in CT with JOHNNY HOBO AND THE FREIGHT TRAINS and after the show Pat "the Bunny" came up and gave me the MICHAEL JORDAN'S TOUCHDOWN PASS CD-DEMO. I was familiar with the JH+TFT's recordings, so i was expecting something very lo-fi and maybe hard to listen to. we were touring in or friend stephanie's (the TIGER'S little sister) car and it had a CD player. we put in the CD and when it was over, Hannah asked, "can we hear that again?". we listened to it about 20 times on that tour and i wrote Pat an email telling him that i think he should really release MJTP on a real CD and in a pro looking package on his label (spare change records). he said he didn't have enough money so the idea of a split release came up and i offered to be 1/2 of that deal. the DIY bandits got involved too and we got the CD out.
WHO ARE THEY?
well at first (and on their debut release on PIX) "they" were just Michael. he played all the instruments and recorded the album in his bedroom at his parents house when he was 16 years old. Now Pat plays bass and he's got some other guy playing drums (sorry, more info coming soon). They are from VT.
A REVIEW FROM RAZORCAKE (who seem to hate PIX even though we have the BANANAS and THIS BIKE IS A PIPE BOMB)
"Gotta say, when I saw the crayoned cover, noticed that MJTP was one of those projects where one guy sings and plays all the instruments, and noted that it was co-released on Plan-It-X, I was steeling myself for some shitty folk singer blathering away about anarchism in only the basest and most idealistic, simplistic way. Yet again, thats what I get for judging stuff prematurely, because what Im hearing is a younger, ragged (though some might say more vulnerable or honest) version of the Weakerthans. I mean, on songs like Sedan-Sized Truck and Ill-Planned, Feeling III, this kid is an absolute dead ringer for Weakerthans crooner John Samson, even at times using his exact same sense of meter and alliteration. And thats a good thing: this guys onto something he's borrowing heavily at times but theres too much passion and focused intent here to call it stealing, you know?Acoustic guitar, keyboards, minimal percussion, layered vocalsthe songs are deceptively simple, but theres some incredibly catchy moments on here and the lyrics somehow come across as both cynical and joyous, and all-around razor-smart. Is it punk? Depends on how you look at it, I guess. Is it sincere, memorable, and just pretty much awesome? Yeah, theres definitely that." ---Keith Rosson
