The Dykeenies, "Sounds of the City"
The Scottish rock band the Dykeenies headline this premier post because they are, in both name and reality, the ultimate Mad World Mix Tape artist.
With MWMT, we seek to cast (an ever so slightly) brighter light on the "almost-weres" and "sort-of-ares" of the rock/pop & songwriter world. To most, these artists are just another face in the crowd. But to their hundreds or thousands of fans, they are musical giants. Veritable dykeenies.
As for the actual Dykeenies in question here, Wikipedia says they hung it up back in 2012 after two albums. Their biggest hit peaked at #53 on the UK singles chart.
I always feel guilty when I discover a band posthumously (um, after their passing, not mine). As if I failed to be sufficiently musically vigilant or log sufficient time on Pandora. Surely my $20 worth of downloads, passionate rebuking of the YouTube downthumbers and personal promotion efforts (against the three friends who actually tolerate my musical taste) would have given them the will to carry on.
And it's hard not to feel like a bit of a tool when I'm wearing out the replay button on songs whose actual creators have moved beyond. Or even distanced themselves from.
Case in point, venture deep into the low view count bowels of YouTube and you'll find the former Dykeenies' lead singer's new and decidedly anti-anthemic gig -- The Mouse that Ate the Cat. I kind of dig it, but it's also an absolute aural repudiation of his past. The past that I am still enjoying wallowing in.
For my feature Dykeenies' track I went with "Sounds of the City". That sound you here, no doubt, is the real Dykeenies fans throwing things at the screen. I'm not saying it's their best song. Yes, the intro sounds familiar (Coldplay?). Yes, the lead singer struggles with enunciating his "R"s. No, I probably wouldn't like it as much if I had never seen the video. And no, lyrically we're not hanging out in the deep end of the pool (but go check out "Traps" and "Clean Up Your Eyes").
But what the musical cognoscenti often overlook is how a song makes you feel. And this one always has me bouncing about with the goofy glee of a seven year old on Xmas morning (or a Monkees montage reject). The song is about someone's struggle with drug dependency (thus making an interesting prequel to the "Clean Up Your Eyes" 12 step meeting themed video). But to me it's about remaining optimistic and passionate in the face of life's inevitable come-up-shorts. Like when your video gets outviewed by "Gangnam" Style 10,000x over.
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My Dykeenies Starter Mix Tape:
Image: Pat Joyce, Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)
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