Mary Timony helped define the thorny detachment of '90s indie rock with her band Helium, and as a solo artist she has continued to explore skewed love stories and treble-kick guitar lines. Here are her monomanias, from a Sunshine State of mind:
5. Blowfly in Ft. Lauderdale: In the 1970s, Blowfly was part of the legendary Miami disco label TK. Now in his late 60s, his thing is lowdown and dirty X-rated rap and blues. On the night we shared the bill, pretty much every song was about pussy of some kind, and he wore a purple sequined costume with a cape and a mask. He's a legend too.
4. Dan Carver: On an off day in Bradenton, Fla., we played gin rummy under an umbrella at a beachfront café. Most of the patrons were at least 80, but we all enjoyed the music of one-man band Dan Carver. Dan rocked a lot of '50s and '60s hits on a Casio keyboard, and had prerecorded his own backup vocals. Amazingly, he made every song sound like it was the music from a video game.
3. MacGyver tattoo: One night in Orlando our waiter showed us his new tattoo — a gigantic, glistening portrait of MacGyver that covered his entire forearm. Mac's mind is no longer the ultimate weapon.
2. Best-ever Vegan hot dog stand: Besides the best '80s TV tattoos, Orlando also has the best vegan dogs ever, right across the street from "the Social" on North Orange Avenue.
1. R. Thomas: This Atlanta restaurant is filled with talking parrots in cages, as well as fabulous food. It's our favorite, obviously.
Monday, May 29, at the Lager House, 1254 Michigan Ave., Detroit; 313-961-4668. With Fred Thomas and Kalkaska.
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