I could listen to this very early gem by Tyvek —one of Michigan's finest musical ensembles of all time— "Mary Ellen Claims," far more than five times in a row. Here we have the original single version off their first release (I believe — don't effigize me if I'm wrong, TermBo nerds!) plus four live takes from around the world, with different lineups.
Don't say I never gave you nothing. Also, this band has always been great, and continues to be great whenever they remember they're a band and get together and play or record.
So much gratitude to X! and M'Lady's records for releasing this beautiful thing in the first and second places.
Metro Times music editor Mike McGonigal has written about music since 1984, when he started the fanzine Chemical Imbalance at age sixteen with money saved from mowing lawns in Florida. He's since written for Spin, Pitchfork, the Village VOICE and Artforum. He's been a museum guard, a financial reporter, a bicycle...