“
After 2 months on the road soul searching i have come full circle back to the loves i thought were destroying me……a child of light i am not afraid of the darkness anymore, and i feel immortal again.
I want to thank everyone who in my absence kept my wife feeling strong……..i am looking forward to the road ahead, and know that my spirit is more powerful than i ever could imagine…….Thank you all
” — Xmas Woods
No SXSW this year, in case you were wondering.
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“Take one part Rock ‘N’ Roll High School, one part Thin Lizzy, one part Cheap Trick and one part T.Rex. Mix in a shot of the youthful exuberance of The Exploding Hearts. Add a dash, now just a dash, of cheese-metal guitar riffs. We don’t want too much cheese metal. And we’re close to all the ground the Chicago band Mickey covers in their debut album, Rock ‘N’ Roll Dreamer, an album of teenage party-rock that stubbornly refuses to conform to three chords, three kegs, and three days with the parents away. Songs like, “Dance,” and “My Lady” take the sexy swagger of a Marc Bolan boogie and inject it with the speed and enthusiasm of punk rock. While numbers like “She’s So Crazy” and “For You” are their inverse — Starting with a framework of The Ramones and filling in the details with glam’s big guitar lines and seductive shimmy. As long as Mickey keep things relatively simple Rock ‘N’ Roll Dreamer is thoroughly entertaining. It’s when they try to cram too many of their Rock ‘N’ Roll heroes into too tight of a space that they begin trip themselves up. “Kids Crazy in Love” suffers an identity crisis when a perfectly fine take on the trash-rock of the New York Dolls gets interrupted with power guitars, a disjointed chorus, and pounding instrumental passages from who knows where that fit neither the verse nor the chorus. “For You,” has a similar penchant for quick changes and could use similar streamlining. While “Scream With Me” never quite makes up its mind between pop-metal, proto-punk, or proto-metal. Once Mickey learn the fine art of keeping all those influences in check, there’s no doubt they’ll be the stylish, Rock ‘N’ Roll animals of their album cover. Until that time, we’re left with a record that knows it wants to rock, but doesn’t always know when, where, or how. 6 out of 10 on The Rockometer.” — IROCKCLEVELAND
“Garage rock was hot in 2011, especially in Chicago, where the HoZac record label is the center of an exciting scene. One of the bands in this scene, Mickey, plays fun but frequently sloppy live shows, filled with drunken energy. The band tamed that rambunctious recklessness just enough to let the strength of its songs shine through on this debut studio album, which sounds like a lost classic of the ’70s era of proto-punk and glam. Long live rock ’n’ roll dreamers!” — Best of Albums of 2011
“What’s not to love about scuzzy glam garage from Chicago? Replace a few ‘s’s with ‘z’s, a few ‘y’s with ‘ee’s, in titles like Bright Lights Big City, Kids in Love, and Baby We’re Gold, and this album could sit proudly next to the likes of Sweet and Slade.” — CHIRP Radio Best of 2011
“HoZac’s latest compilations are a necessary reminder, of the Chicago label’s most promising acts (Davila 666, Wax Idols, Mickey) and the fact that trashy punk isn’t always scuzzy punk.” —
MTV’s Hive Five: Soundtracking Your New Years Eve
BASICALLY THIS MEANS MTV SAYS MICKEY IS ONE OF HOZAC’S MOST PROMISING ACTS. COOL.
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Mickey
Rock ‘n’ Roll Dreamer
(HoZac)
It seems that the hope shared by a number of people in the local garage rock scene—namely that Rock ‘n’ Roll Dreamer would catapult local scuzz-glam band Mickey into rock superstardom—have been dashed. As of this writing they aren’t causing any teenage riots in London or booking shows at the Budokan. I’m not sure where to place the blame, but it definitely doesn’t go to the album, which sounds every bit like something you’d hear blasted over an arena-size PA.
” — This Year In Music: Best Chicago Albums by Miles Raymer“The Spits — What costumes will this wild and comic Seattle punk band wear for their Chicago NYE gig? The mind reels. Mickey and TV Ghost open at 9 p.m. at the Cobra Lounge, 235 N. Ashland. Tickets: $20 at the door. Call (312) 226-6300; cobralounge.com.” — BARELY A MENTION… BUT IN THE SUN TIMES NO LESS!!
“3. Sure to cause a scene or a brawl are openers Mac Blackout Band. The group is celebrating the release of its new album America Stole My Baby out on Burka for Everyone records. If Mac looks familiar, it’s because he’s the lead singer of notorious glam punks Mickey. But when he’s not covered in copious amounts of blood and glitter, Mac Blackout is growling over trippy psych-punk cuts with his backing band. It’s pretty out of sight.” — GO SEE MAC TONIGHT AT CROWN TAP!
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Mickey is the worst opening band you’re likely to encounter. Its live shows exhaust everything—blood, sweat, beer, spit—and leave the headliner performing in a pool of residue to a crowd that’s already seen what its paid for. The band is a discordant mix of libertines who only barely tie everything together through a mutual affection for chaos.
But the one thing Mickey does unanimously agree on, its musical output, is much more focused than its dialogues. Its debut LP for Hozac Records, Rock ’N’ Roll Dreamer, is an airtight assault on contemporary rock, fusing the now-divergent roles of glam’s theatrics and punk’s intensity. The group’s members say they’re already halfway done with their follow-up, but that’s assuming they don’t change their minds and scrap the whole collection for something better. The A.V. Club talked to Mickey’s members about the band’s process and its output before Mickey plays the Cobra Lounge on New Year’s Eve.
” — READ THE WHOLE HILARIOUS INTERVIEW HERE
“Top 11 albums of 2011
by WHITE MYSTERY: Miss Alex White & Francis S.K. White
1. Thee Oh Sees: Carrion Crawler (In The Red)
2. Heavy Times: Jacker (HoZac)
3. Cave: Neverendless (Drag City)
4. Night Beats: S/T (Trouble in Mind)
5. Jacuzzi Boys: Glazin’ (Hardly Art)
6. Davila 666: Tan Bajo (In the Red)
7. Mickey: Rock’n’Roll Dreamer (HoZac)
8. Apache: Radical Sabbatical (Burger)
9. People’s Temple: Sons of Stone (HoZac)
10. Tyler Jon Tyler: “Tyler Jon Tyler” (Slow Fizz)
11. Schiller Killers: Wicker Park Strangler (Rubber Vomit)”
— Top 11 lists by more friends of Flesh
APPARENTLY THIS IS WHAT A MICKEY FAN LOOKS LIKE!!!! NOTE: HE’S WEARING THE NOW-FAMOUS “MICKEY ROSE” PIN.