The happiest
dogs are the ones set free The brighter you burn, the clearer you
see - from "Friendly
Advice"
From
the heart of the Tampa Bay Area comes the brightly burning band known as
Mighty
Joe Plum. The Floridian fourpiece have already established themselves as
one
of the leading lights of the Southeast scene, and now,
with
the Atlantic release of "THE HAPPIEST DOGS," MJP are setting out to
bring
their joyful noise to the rest of America.
Anthemic
yet vulnerable, "THE HAPPIEST DOGS" is fraught with Mighty Joe
Plum's
bittersweet blend of empathy and energy, from the warm jangle of
"Irish"
and "Please" to the melancholic melodicism of the regional radio
smash-
and first single from "THE HAPPIEST DOGS" - "Live Through This
(15
Stories)." Brett Williams' muscular and emotive vocals are backed
by guitarist
Marlin Clark's power strum and the propulsive rhythm team of bassist Davy
Mason and
drummer
Mark Mercado to form a robust, timeless rock
The
story of MJP begins, as so many rock legends do, back in the sixth grade,
where
Williams, Clark and Mercado first became friends. As they grew
through
their teens, they began learning to play their respective instruments.
Though
they spent plenty of time jamming in one garage or another, they
never
really focused on putting together a band. Post-high school, the three
drifted
apart, to college and jobs, but a Battle of the Bands held at
Lakeland,
Florida's Southeastern College brought them back together. They
brought
in Mason, a friend of Mercado's, and the quartet was
complete.
"We
did three covers," Clark recalls. ""In God's Country" by U2, the
Lemonheads'
version of "Mrs. Robinson," and an Indigo Girls song." "We
lost,"
notes Williams with a wry grin.
Defeated
but not dejected, the new band retreated back to the garage, where
they
wrote some songs of their own and tightened up their act. Next time
Battle
of the Bands happened, they were prepared and emerged victorious.
With
a win under their belts, the fledgling foursome chose a
moniker
for themselves, blending the name of a classic giant monkey movie
with
that of a favorite piece of fruit. "It just works," says Williams of the
unusual
tag.
In 1995,
Mighty Joe Plum began gigging around the Tampa area, not an easy
task
considering the region's proclivity for country music and death metal.
"It
takes
a while to get known around there," Williams says. "We did a lot of
covers
to keep people interested, and even then, they were barely
interested.
So we tightened up, we started getting a better response and
then
it snowballed."
The
little money they made playing pubs and clubs was channeled into recording
three
tracks at a local studio. A handful of CDs were pressed, one
of which
was sent to Orlando, Florida where the local rock station was
putting
on their own high-falutin' version of Battle of the Bands. "They had
this
show at the Hard Rock CafÄ there," Mercado says. "They'd bring a
band
in, advertise it, play your song on the radio one time and people would
come
see you."
The
show was a resounding success and Mighty Joe Plum soon found their
"Live
Through This (Fifteen Stories)" becoming a radio fave. With demand
growing,
Mighty Joe Plum returned to studio and laid down another
bunch
of songs on a fifteen-track analog recorder. Fifteen-track?
"One
track was broken," Mercado laughs.
After
"Live Through This (Fifteen Stories)" was slotted into the WXTB/Tampa -
a.k.a.
98 ROCK - playlist, listeners kept calling in to request another spin.
The
tune soon began duplicating its popularity at other regional radio
stations.
With momentum building daily, the song became a multi-format hit
, equally
pleasing alt-heads and classic-rockers alike.
"We
played a big show for 98 ROCK with a bunch of other bands and there were
a lot
of people there," Mercado says. "Tons. We played "Live Through
This"
and right when we started into it, people went nuts. It was great."
"We
played another big show in Orlando a few weeks later," Clark adds, "and
the
same thing happened. That's the true test of a song. If people like it."
Between
the hit status of "Live Through This" and the band's increasingly
stirring
live sets, the self-released "AARDVARK" began spilling out of Florida
record
shops. "We were selling like 200 CDs a week," Mercado
says.
"And that money was coming back to us."
With
such success comes the inevitable interest from major labels, and Mighty
Joe
Plum decided to hitch their wagons to Atlantic. Once signed, they set
out
to re-record what would be their "debut" album. Produced by Justin
Niebank,
known for his work with Blues Traveler, "THE HAPPIEST DOGS"
flirts
with folk, pop and good old-fashioned rock 'n' roll, all given life through
Williams'
ardently raw vocal delivery. Clark's inventive guitar work -
encompassing
country pickin', edgy drone, and jangling pop chords - mark
Williams'
finely crafted uplifting tales of Americana like "Lumberjack,"
as well
as more personal songs such as the emotionally naked "I Fell In" or
the
urgent "Borderline."
"We
pretty much rethought all of the songs," Williams says. "We had a chance
to mull
them over and do stuff we didn't get to do. We were able to
go in
there and take a whole new look at it, go for new sounds, new
avenues.
We kept the core of it, decided what was necessary, and went
from
there."
At the
core of Mighty Joe Plum's songs is a modern sense of spiritual struggle
and
restless
ennui, born of influences that include passionate populists like the
Smiths,
Radiohead, and R.E.M..
"Humanity,
mortality, facing everyday struggles," Williams thinks out loud when
asked
what his songs are 'about.' "There's definitely relationship issues in
there,
but we try to take a new twist on it lyrically. I'm not necessarily trying
to
present
a certain message, just kinda looking at it from an honest
perspective."
With
MJP's gift for cross-pollinating genres, their surprising influences and
original
sound,
it is almost impossible to pigeonhole "THE HAPPIEST DOGS." File
Mighty
Joe Plum Under: what?
"Polka-Gone-Bad?,"
suggests Mercado with a chuckle. "Nah, we're just a rock
band."
"We
never actually directed ourselves towards one style of music," Clark says
, "because
we all listen to different things. So all that is thrown into the
pot
and naturally, it comes out Mighty Joe Plum."