September 8, 2004

{ Macha: Forget Tomorrow (Jetset) }

If you can find a hotter set of bandmates (except the one guy with the creepy fu manchu (I don'�t know if he's still in the band), I'd like to be forwarded all press releases, pin-up shots, whatever. I've only been to Athens, Georgia (the current location of Macha) once, and while it was indeed a wild weekend of PBR overindulgence, I lurked around for one thing and one thing only: to catch a glimpse of the McKay brothers. Alas, I was too shy to talk to them, and remained in the shadows of the 40 Watt watching a man dressed in a gorilla suit dance to disco music - but that's another story. Macha finally released their 3rd full-length album on August 3rd, after mysteriously being waylaid since May by Jetset. In eager anticipation, I had a friend of mine burn me a copy in July. Macha is known on the indie rock circuit for their meshing of Indonesian instruments (like the nipplegong and the javanese zither) with soft and sexy vocals. It's something different in a sea of bands who sound the same; which is much needed, if you ask me. Macha's last record was an EP of songs put together with the extremely snoozy and also fraternally-related band Bedhead. 'Macha Loved Bedhead' did not make up for the gap of five years between full-lengths, even though the EP did have a hilarious cover of Cher's 'Believe,' befit with a melody of touchtone phone sounds. Imagine my surprise as I popped 'Forget Tomorrow' in and discovered that Macha has bought into some of the recent musical trends that have ruined so many potentially good bands; you know, the Gang of Four rip-off thing that the Rapture made big? I find no issue with 'punk funk' (as the All Music Guide refers to it), but I do begrudgingly wonder what made Macha decide they needed to update their sound when it was already so unique? Nevertheless, the title track of 'Forget Tomorrow' has been engraved into my brain for over a month. When you mix that kind of bouncy tempo with their americanized Indonesian sound, it somehow sounds good. Gone are Josh McKay's dreamy vocals'instead he's got a tougher voice with some borderline cheesy lyrics. I don't particularly care for this tradeoff, but 'Forget Tomorrow' is still catchy as hell; still works despite the weirdness. And 'Forget Tomorrow' is not without the beautiful instrumental tracks that fans of Macha may need to accept the changes that they've made. Overall, I'd recommend 1999's "See It Another Way" if you'd like to learn more about Macha as I knew them once, but "Forget Tomorrow" is entertaining to listen to. Hey, I might even dance a little bit when I see them out on tour this fall. Contributed by Claire Buxton

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By Alan Smithee in Music | Comments:

Comments

How have I missed Macha up to this point?
Thanks for being honest about the newest release-
I'll track down "See It Another Way" before stepping up to "Forget Tomorrow". You should totally corner the band for an interview and find out why they've latched onto the funk-punk gravy train.

Posted by: Adam at September 8, 2004 5:55 PM

Hey! I think I was at that show. I always liked the 8 Track Gorilla. Many of my friends were embarrassed by him. . .

Posted by: benjamin at September 9, 2004 4:41 AM