Mighty Clouds Mighty Clouds. The last few entries have been about ambition. Partly. Certainly not on my part. I am a slacker. But an appreciation of ambition as a concept. This record is not ambitious. It is lovely all the same. It is Fred Thomas and Betty Marie Barnes, two who were once together in Saturday Looks Good to Me. Then she wasn't in Saturday Looks Good to Me. Perhaps this was due to her height, she is statuesque and beautiful. I haven't any idea how tall Fred Thomas is. In spite of living in Michigan mostly at the same time as when Saturday Looks Good To Me first became a going concern I never did see them play live. No matter. I didn't see them when they played here in Denver either. I did just recently see a clip of Rocketship at Zoots. I did see that show, way back when. Dustin Reske is not tall. This record is mostly acoustic guitar, charming Betty vocals and occasionally a bell or twinkle in the background. Thankfully Fred does not sing. He's got his strengths, but mostly, lately, he sings like an emo. Second track now, acoustic guitar, double tracked vocals, high/low, charms abound, it's really really terrific. The next entry will probably revert back to ambition but sometimes it is pleasant to revel in the mythology of a guy and his guitar and a girl and her voice(possibly a tambourine) plugging in and making a record in an afternoon. No idea how many afternoons it took to make this record. I don't seem to have any answers at all. Mythologies are interesting things, my former boss had created a mythology that he carried about and informed everyone about rather emphatically. Strangely he always came out on top in his gauzy little anecdotes. I don't have a mythology, I carry around a toolkit of pathos instead. My new boss has his own mythology. I have worked with him for rather a long time so I am aware when this mythology contradicts history but I keep silent when these fudges come out of the shadows. He is my boss. Perhaps one day we will sit together and create our own mythology as a duo fighting crime and creating world shattering excel spreadsheets in the face of danger. But for now he'll only generically populate my banal entries on the Mighty Clouds. The first three songs were great. The third song is too short. The fourth song is also great. Betty Marie Barnes was in Pas/Cal when the Pas/Cal was taking on water below the surface. I don't blame her. It has already been somehow, here, sometime, established that when the bass player left they died too many little deaths and could not recover. She was young. She is still young. Isn't she? I don't know. This sounds like Saturday Looks Good To Me demos, marvelous demos. Perhaps they have a mythology, about their origins on the mean streets of Detroit, being car jacked and being forced to play pop hits in the back seat of a Dodge Stratus to keep from being whacked by crazy kids from the mean streets of Bloomfield Hills. Matthew Jacobson, O.G. I went to school in Bloomfield Hills. I was not gangsta. Fifth song is also great. This record was mostly slept on. Has it been officially released even? What label are they on? I drove to buy a book today. To The Lighthouse, I am very excited about it. Brand new for 2.99. I drove past the Thornton town hall and there is a statue that has been recently erected and it is in the presumed shape of some vague platitude about good will or working together can make us stronger. It is two hands in embrace, snooze, but then this is all that is acceptable today with the new egalitarian spirit allowing a selfish wrongheaded interpretation of anything because fascist concepts like the truth or history are outmoded. In this country riven with historical figures that could be moulded into mythological beings we are stuck with fuzzy concepts of togetherness and diversity. And yet in Detroit when they cast a fist of fury at least it was Joe Louis' fist, ready to stand vigilant against the trespassers from Windsor trying to float across the river to escape the tyranny of Socialism. But then there isn't much familiarity with the shared mythology of this country or anything at all. I mentioned Prometheus at work when we were discussing the "borrowing" of an idea from another company and blank stares around the table. Fred Thomas has probably not written a song about Prometheus. Graeme Downes would. Sixth song is also great. That is 6 for 6 thus far. It was perfect Mighty Clouds weather this weekend, brilliant sunshine, gentle chinooks and the temperatures soared into the 60s. Tuesday the forecast high is near zero. Ah, Colorado. Seventh song has started, guitar recorded down a telephone wire, a count-in, double tracked vocals, I am assuming each voice belongs to Betty Marie. Would I address her as Betty Marie should I ever meet her on the street? "Hello Betty Marie!". Or "Betty!"? "Marie!"? This track is a bit indiepop circa 1990, very DC/Slumberland or Cambridge/Harriet once upon a time. I would call her Betty Marie. Next track, still acoustic, still dreamy, still great. Why has this record not attracted the sort of love it deserves? The last Saturday Looks Good to Me I avoided due to it being an all-Fred all the time affair. When he started he was a bit Gedge, Bright Green Gloves was totally Gedge but recently he's trying to convey his pain and it is painful, sometimes. Ah, now a Morrissey cove. Even this has endless charms. Is Your Arsenal actually better than any of the Smiths records? Possibly. Well save Louder than Bombs which isn't a real album but which just may be the greatest collection of music ever made. Certain People I Know. I have a memory strongly associated with this song. My oldest brother and me driving to Windosr, downwind of Joe Louis' fist and arriving at my Aunt's home blasting Your Arsenal. This, with my brother the King Kobra and Pearl Jam fan. Your Arsenal was pretty rocking after all. Surprisingly they did not suspect us at the border, we were not strip searched for illegal contraband. We hadn't anything to declare, except for the greatness of Morrissey but that is already expressly conveyed in NAFTA. Next track, not a cover. I don't think. It could be a cover, similar to the sort that is on records hipper than I am. This is also great. So is this the greatest record of all time? No. There are drums on this track. I am thinking these are the first appearance of drums on this record. I bet Fred plays drums. People in Michigan are crafty. I never saw Saturday Looks Good To Me but I did see Godzuki and they switched instruments on practically every song, Erika in her red starred white blouse on drums singing groovy pop songs was a dream. Erika was later in Saturday Looks Good To Me,s he could be still, she could have played on that last track. who can be sure. Last track, a short one, has fairy tale qualities, has folky tra-la-la backing vocals. Detroiters, they are an innocent breed.